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Common Examples of Breach of Fiduciary Duty

If you can illustrate that a person who was appointed to act with particular legal responsibilities failed to do so, and that you and other beneficiaries suffered as a result, you have grounds to schedule a consultation directly with an experienced lawyer. A Philadelphia common examples of breach of fiduciary duty attorney can evaluate your individual case and give you more information about what to expect should you choose to bring forward a lawsuit.

A judge will be responsible for overseeing a case regarding allegations of breach of fiduciary duty. You might need to request a full accounting of all of the activity that the executor, estate administrator or trustee took in order to verify whether or not a breach of fiduciary duty occurred. You might suspect that someone has not acted appropriately in the case and that you should file a lawsuit.

But until you have an official sit down or phone consultation with a Philadelphia common examples of breach of fiduciary duty lawyer, you might not know for sure. A common examples of breach of fiduciary attorney in Philadelphia will evaluate the individual events in your case and can request the official accounting to figure out what went wrong and what rights you might have as a beneficiary. What a judge decides as an official breach of fiduciary duty is fact specific and will differ from one case to another but there are several different common types of actions that judges usually identify as breaches of fiduciary duty.

These include:

  • Fraud that is committed by a trustee or an executor.
  • Embezzlement that is carried out by an administrator or executor.
  • Negligent or intentional oversight or investment of assets that were held in a trust or by an estate.
  • Fraudulently transferring assets form one estate to a member of the fiduciary's family or to the fiduciary directly during the estate administration process without obtaining beneficiary permission to do so. This is especially problematic if this occurred not for fair market value.
  • Removal of property by an executor or a trustee without approval of interested beneficiaries.
  • Failing to carry out the instructions as laid out in the estate planning documents, like a will.
  • Failing to follow trust terms such as failing to make distributions in a timely fashion to beneficiaries.
  • Having a conflict between a trustee and a beneficiary that could serve as grounds to remove and replace the trustee.

In all of these complicated scenarios, it might be difficult to figure out your individual responsibilities but the help of an experienced attorney is necessary. A Philadelphia lawyer will guide you through what to anticipate and how to avoid challenges and problems in your case. The support of a lawyer is extremely important for understanding your own individual rights and ensuring that you have the necessary support from a legal representative when you need to initiate a claim.

All Philadelphia claims should be handled by only a lawyer to help you. You can make mistakes in your case if you try to do it on your own. Your lawyer will file on your behalf and handle the hearings and other requirements to pursue a case. When there is a challenge in the case or a chance to resolve the issues outside of court, too, your lawyer will be there to walk through whether or not it makes sense to close it outside of court. If you can’t fix things outside of court, then you might need to be prepared for litigation. Your attorney should have plenty of experience in this world to be able to handle your claims.

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