Fiduciary Accounting Services
Fiduciary accounting services
Reporting every transaction in an estate, trust or conservatorship — and presenting the complexities in a way that can be understood by anyone.
A fiduciary accounting is the detailed report a trustee, executor, administrator, conservator or guardian must present of every financial transaction that occurred under their watch. Its purpose is to allow the court or the beneficiaries to review and approve the fiduciary’s actions.
Tresp Law, APC assists fiduciaries with reporting all the transactions within an Estate, Trust, or Conservatorship and go further to present the complexities of these in a way that can be understood by anyone.
If you are a Trustee, Executor, Administrator, Conservator or Guardian you are performing the role of a “fiduciary.” Fiduciaries act on behalf of someone else (typically heirs of a decedent, beneficiaries of a Trust, a minor child, or an incapacitated adult). As a fiduciary, your legal and ethical duty is to make financial decisions that are in the best interests of the estate and the beneficiaries over your own interests.
One of your duties as a fiduciary is to present a detailed accounting of all financial transactions that occurred under your watch. The accounting should include income earned (interest, dividends, rental income, etc.), assets purchased and sold (including capital gains and losses), improvements to property, bills and debts paid, professionals hired, distributions to beneficiaries, the list goes on. The purpose of the accounting is to allow the court or the beneficiaries to review and approve your actions as a fiduciary.
Who owes a fiduciary accounting
- Trustees
- Reporting to beneficiaries of a trust
- Executors and administrators
- Reporting in a probate administration
- Conservators and guardians
- Reporting on behalf of an incapacitated adult or a minor child
- What it must cover
- Income earned, assets purchased and sold, improvements to property, bills and debts paid, professionals hired, and distributions
- Its purpose
- To allow the court or the beneficiaries to review and approve your actions
- Allocation standard
- The Uniform Principal & Income Act (UPAIA)
How we can help
- Collect & Organize. We work with you to identify all relevant and required financial information necessary for reporting as well as the ongoing administration of your estate, trust, or conservatorship. Our office can organize and manage this information to ensure it is readily available to you and other appropriate parties.
- Clearly Identify Assets. Our review of your case includes identifying and confirming the assets held in the estate, trust, or conservatorship, and ensuring all assets have been accounted and verified.
- Prepare Accounting Schedules. We document each transaction separately, confirm and clarify transaction descriptions, and report each transaction on the appropriate accounting schedule.
- Principal & Income Allocation. Following the guidelines set forth by the Uniform Principal & Income Act (UPAIA), our office will ensure that transactions be allocated between Income & Principal. Our extensive experience with the UPAIA requirements allow us to complete these allocations quickly and accurately.
- Document. We make certain that you can provide a complete and accurate account of your period of responsibility; whether you are reporting to beneficiaries or the probate court or preparing for legal proceedings. Our experience matters and our results speak for themselves
- Distribution Proposals. In the event a trust is being terminated, a probate is closing, or a legal settlement has been reached, our office will prepare a proposed distribution schedule to clearly present the division of assets between beneficiaries.
Why does principal and income allocation matter?
Because different people are usually entitled to each. A life beneficiary may be entitled to income while the remainder beneficiaries take principal, and mis-allocating a receipt shifts value from one to the other. Following the guidelines set forth by the Uniform Principal & Income Act keeps that allocation defensible.
| What a fiduciary accounting shows | Why it is asked for | |
|---|---|---|
| Income | Interest, dividends, rental income | Establishes what the income beneficiaries are owed |
| Assets | Purchases, sales, capital gains and losses | Confirms what the estate or trust actually holds |
| Property | Improvements made during the period | Explains changes in value |
| Liabilities | Bills and debts paid, professionals hired | Shows the estate’s obligations were met |
| Distributions | What went to which beneficiary | Supports approval of your actions as fiduciary |
Where a beneficiary objects to the accounting or challenges the fiduciary’s conduct, our litigation team handles the dispute.
Speak with a trust administration and estate planning attorney
Tresp Law, APC is an excellent Trust Administration and Estate Planning law firm in San Diego County, with offices in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Mission Brewery Plaza in San Diego, and Kemmerer, Wyoming. Not all lawyers are equal. If you need a proactive, knowledgeable, and effective Trust lawyer, call us today at (858) 248-2779 or contact us online to schedule a consultation.
Related services
Common questions
Frequently asked
What is a fiduciary accounting?
A detailed report of all the financial transactions that occurred under the fiduciary’s watch during a period of responsibility. It includes income earned, assets purchased and sold, improvements to property, bills and debts paid, professionals hired and distributions to beneficiaries. Its purpose is to allow the court or the beneficiaries to review and approve the fiduciary’s actions.
Who has to prepare one?
Anyone acting as a fiduciary — a Trustee, Executor, Administrator, Conservator or Guardian. Fiduciaries act on behalf of someone else, typically heirs of a decedent, beneficiaries of a Trust, a minor child or an incapacitated adult, and owe a legal and ethical duty to put those interests ahead of their own.
What is the Uniform Principal and Income Act?
The framework that governs how receipts and disbursements are split between income and principal. Following the guidelines set forth by the Uniform Principal & Income Act, our office allocates each transaction between the two. That allocation matters because income beneficiaries and remainder beneficiaries are usually different people.
What is a proposed distribution schedule?
A schedule prepared when a trust is being terminated, a probate is closing, or a legal settlement has been reached. It clearly presents the division of assets between beneficiaries, so everyone can see what each is receiving before the distribution is made.
What happens if the accounting is wrong?
A fiduciary who cannot account accurately for the period of responsibility is exposed to objections, surcharge claims and removal. That is why we document each transaction separately, confirm and clarify transaction descriptions, and report each transaction on the appropriate accounting schedule.
This page is general legal information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. California trust and probate law is fact-specific and deadlines are unforgiving — please speak with a qualified attorney about your own circumstances.
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