When Corporate Trustees Raise Red Flags: A Historical Lens on Fiduciary Risk

The fiduciary duty itself is the anchor, but it is frequently breached through procedural failures. A trustee who fails to disseminate required accounting or lacks understanding of, or appreciation for, trustee fiduciary duties is setting the stage for disaster. The risk is compounded when the trustee blurs the line between traditional CPA services and "quasi-trustee" services, creating conflicts of interest and confusing the scope of their responsibilities. The bottom line is that mismanagement often starts with a lack of transparency and escalates through the misuse of trust assets, with CPAs facing outsized liability when they enter these high-conflict, emotionally charged environments without proper safeguards.