Ask 2 Lawyers: Can a Trustee Hire Himself to Do Work for the Trust Estate?

Can a trustee hire himself to provide services on behalf of the trust so this question brings us to conflicts of interest that's really the topic here so can a trustee hire themselves or can a trustee hire you know their brother or their sister their spouse to do things for the trust of state and it gets into conflicts of interest so what what what comes to your mind Stewart can't entrust you do this the general answer is no and and that makes sense because you don't want to trustee taking money from beneficiaries to pay themselves and also they're supposed to be there protecting the beneficiary so they're wearing two hats one that benefits themselves another hat where they're supposed to protect the beneficiary's California law says no we want trustees just to protect the beneficiaries of the trust and to follow the terms of the trust and not be in those situations where they're conflicted where they feel like they might want to benefit themselves more than someone else now what if all the beneficiaries agree what if you happen to be trustee you're very good handyman around the house and we all agree that hey it needs to be painted we want Stewart to do it Stewart says I'll do it if you pay me a thousand dollars and everybody's in agreement with that I mean I would if I was advising the trustee I'd say no you should not do that still but if all the beneficiaries let's say that you're a particular kind of handy person and you're really good at some kind of electrical work and one of the best in the area and the home needs some electrical work before it's sold and everyone says we want you to do that we're gonna give you a thousand dollars to do that you know I suppose you can do that I still think that what's gonna happen is down the road somebody's gonna get upset that's right dealing with beneficiaries is a little bit like herding cats because every cat is gonna have their own idea of how the trust should be administered and everyone may seem like they're on the same page but then at the end of the day they're gonna say yeah but you the trustee are ultimately responsible and you shouldn't have done X Y & Z here so while you can do that I don't think it's a good idea what do you think yeah and cats changed their mind because so you know that might be okay today but tomorrow they're not happy about it so yeah I think your best to stick stay away from it and conflicts of interests are one of the most dangerous areas for any trustee so the best advices just stay clear of conflicts of interest keep your nose clean as a trustee and that way you're not gonna run into problems in the future Albertson and Davidson is here to help you fight for your inheritance check out al dev law comm for our complete library of helpful legal videos and articles from your favorite California trust and will litigation law firm Albertson and Davidson LLP.