Presentation by Kenneth Stone

This week I spoke about the importance of selecting the right person to act as successor trustee of a living trust. I spoke about a case I recently handled where rather than selecting a professional fiduciary or trusted financial advisor, a married couple chose one of their children as succesor trustee who did not have the education, training or experience to handle their substantial trust estate. After both parents passed away, their daughter was persuaded to get involved in a number of risky investments that a seasoned financial advisor or professional fiduciary probably would have avoided.

I also spoke about the importance of professionals not providing services in areas that they are not familiar with. I used the example of a real estate broker, whose experience was limited to handling residential real estate transactions, acting as a mortgage loan broker representing private lenders and failing to provide her relatively unsophisticated clients with the required disclosures, which resulted in the loss of their entire investment.

My presentation also touched upon the criteria for objecting to a bankruptcy discharge and making a claim against the California Department of Real Estate Recovery Fund.