While COVID has undeniably had a tremendous effect on almost all sectors, trustees still need to be mindful of their fiduciary duties. Consider the case of trustees who left a letter unopened on a desk for a month. Although the trustees were attempting to uphold the duty to diversify investments by selling stock, the delay in the sale, in part caused by COVID, cost the trust $39 million. Fiduciaries should consider implementing procedures to help mitigate mistakes that can happen when individuals are not in the office.
Thank you to Farrell Fritz attorney Azi Baer for this week’s Tax Tracker post. #taxtracker