The Trustee-Beneficiary Conflict of Interest

[Music] Hi this is Keith Davidson at Albertson and Davidson in this video I'm discussing a trustees conflict of interest when you have a trustee who's also a beneficiary there's an inherent conflict of interest potentially in that situation a trustees the person who's going to make all of the management decisions for the trust so for example the trustee may decide to sell an asset or to keep an asset but that decision can have an effect on the beneficiaries the trustee has a duty to treat all of the beneficiaries equal but if the trustee is also a beneficiary they may want one result whereas other beneficiaries may want a different result so the trustee beneficiary may want to sell an asset whereas the other beneficiaries want to make one and retain that asset that can be a problem so how does a trustee who's also a beneficiary avoid this conflict of interest so that they're not later sued for breach of trust and the answer is that the trustee has to walk a very fine line they really need to think about their trustee duties first and foremost because those trustee duties are prescribed by California law and that means that they potentially could be sued for violating those duties they're not going to be sued for violating any duties as a beneficiary because there are no beneficiary duties it's only the trustee duties that they should be concerned about so they really should put those trustee duties first and foremost in their mind secondly they should consider having two attorneys one attorney to advise them on trust matters so that the trustee is getting independent advice from an attorney who's representing them as trustee and then a separate attorney who's representing their interests as a beneficiary by having two different attorneys advised this one person one is trustee one is beneficiary they can later prove that they were getting independent advice about what action to take and they can also hopefully prove that their actions did not breach their duties to avoid a conflict of interest Albertson and Davidson is here to help you fight for your inheritance check out Alda law comm for our complete library of helpful legal videos and articles from your favorite California trust and we'll litigation law firm Albertson and Davidson LLP.