Commercial real estate owners often take title to the
property in an irrevocable trust. This way, the trust helps protect the
property from creditors while the owner remains in control as trustee. However,
planning for the disposition of the property (or often multiple properties) can
be tricky – whether it’s an apartment or office building, rental units, or the
family business headquarters.
A trustee has a fiduciary duty to all trust beneficiaries,
and is obligated to “prudently invest and manage the trust assets." The
prudent man rule dictates that “the trustee owes the beneficiary the fiduciary
duties of skill, loyalty, diligence, and caution.”
To read more about the trustee’s obligations,
considerations, and fiduciary duties, click here to read the entire article as
it appears in CPA Insider.