Under California law, trustee compensation must be \u201creasonable\u201d if there are no criteria or other\u00a0guidelines set forth in the trust. (Probate Code Section 15681.) Often, trusts simply say that the trustee is entitled to \u201creasonable compensation\u201d without any definition or any guidelines\u00a0 to help determine the amount of trustee compensation. In those cases, California law provides for the following guidelines to consider when determining or approving trustee compensation (California Rule of Court 7.776):<\/p>\n
Applying these legal\u00a0guidelines to each case requires application of the facts and circumstances of each case, as well as case law and the practices of the local courts. Strategy is often involved in asserting or opposing trustee compensation claims.<\/p>\n
In contrast, a living trust can be drafted to specify the amount of trustee compensation and define the amount in different ways, such as by allowing compensation at a set hourly rate or, as was the case under prior law, by allowing compensation based on a percentage of the trust for each year of service (such as 1% annually or 1% of the first $1M and a smaller percentage above $1M).<\/p>\n
Copyright 2018 Phillips Law Offices, A Professional Corporation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Under California law, trustee compensation must be \u201creasonable\u201d if there are no criteria or other\u00a0guidelines set forth in the trust. (Probate Code Section 15681.) Often, trusts simply say that the trustee is entitled to \u201creasonable compensation\u201d without any definition or any guidelines\u00a0 to help determine the amount of trustee compensation. In those cases, California law … Continue reading Trustee Compensation<\/span>