A fiduciary is someone in whom property and/or powers are entrusted for the benefit of a client and who acts in the client’s best interest. This can include almost anyone in a high position of trust who provides personal or business services to others. While some states differ in their role names and definitions, generally a fiduciary relationship occurs when an individual acts for another as a Trustee or Trust Administrator, Executor or Estate Administrator, Conservator of an Estate, Conservator of a Person, Guardian of a Minor, and other similar roles of high trust.

A Private Professional Fiduciary manages personal matters for clients such as administration of trusts and estates, and also conservatorships dealing with daily care, housing, medical and financial needs, as well as case manager, representative payee, and bill payment manager. An independent Private Professional Fiduciary (PPF) can be an advocate, a neutral third party, or a defense line against potential mismanagement. This can eliminate conflicts of interest and feuding among family members or business associates, who may not realistically have the training, expertise, or time to properly handle these types of matters on a normal every-day basis. Also, this enables a single independent point of responsibility, control and accountability to handle all matters in a seamless, professional manner, and eliminates potential favoritism toward some parties as well as discrimination against others.

If you name a corporate fiduciary, such as a bank or trust company, to administer your trust or estate, with the attendant high overhead costs & fees and limited “office hours” time frames, you may experience long delays in actions to be taken, as well as institutional limitations regarding investing and managing. Instead, consider using an independent Private Professional Fiduciary to manage your trust or estate at far less cost and quicker turnaround times to get things done! This will provide you with experienced, personalized service beyond an outdated 9am to 5pm, 5-day work week, and give you someone with actual hands-on experience in unusual types of investments, like collectibles (art, coins, stamps, jewelry), oil, gas and mineral interests, and residential, commercial and investment real estate, as well as public and private limited partnerships, and blockchain cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.  Or, perhaps you need someone to act as a temporary Receiver of assets, property, to hold and maintain as a neutral third party, while ownership and/or control can be settled.  Finally, all cases/accounts should have a surety bond in place to cover potential loss of assets, which is essential to peace of mind – knowing that you’re “covered” in case of adverse circumstances.

A Private Professional Fiduciary also handles important business matters for which a company does not have the needed staff or management experience to perform, and urgency may be an issue. Services may be rendered in areas in which the fiduciary has specialized training and experience, for example: project and program management of technology and operations, or temporary management of a business organization held in an estate, receivership, or bankruptcy.

You can depend on SoCal Private Fiduciary® – an independent Private Professional Fiduciary – to handle your personal & business matters competently and expediently, with fidelity and privacy at all times.

FEES: Our current professional services hourly rate is $175.00 – $225.00 for all standard personal and business fiduciary work, unless set by the California Probate Code, such as for administration of estates.  However, professional services work done for expert witness submissions, deposition and testimony services rendered that may include activities such as research, data acquisition, analysis, synthesis, conclusion, and report functions are billed for actual time spent at $275.00/hour rate.  A more detailed fee schedule is provided to prospective clients during initial consultation meetings.