Trusts and Estates
Ca. Trs. & Estates Quarterly Volume 7, Issue 2, Summer 2001
CALIFORNIA TRUSTEE COMPENSATION IN PRACTICE
By Robert S. Tippett, Esq.*
In 2000, the author conducted an informal survey of approximately a dozen California institutional and private professional trustees regarding the fees they typically charge for various services and types of assets. While the survey was by no means exhaustive, it did reveal a variety of approaches for calculating trustee fees in different situations. This article summarizes the results of the survey in order to provide a general picture of how California trustees determine their fees.1 The author hopes that this article will give both trustees and their clients, as well as their respective counsel, some helpful guidelines when setting and negotiating fees.
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Corporate Trustees