Fiduciary Duty

Definition

• A requirement that a person in a position of trust, such as a banker, real-estate agent, or title agent, must act in good faith and honesty on behalf of a client.

Synonyms
agent, fiduciary role, custodian, fiduciary service, depositary, fiduciary charge, executor, fiduciary commitment, fiduciary obligation, curator

Related Terms and Acronyms

• Bankruptcy (BK) — Acronym, Important,
  • A court action under the Federal Bankruptcy Code by which a debtor's debts may be discharged, usually by transferring assets to a trustee, or rescheduled.
• Bankruptcy Trustee — Definition,
  • A private individual or corporation appointed to undertake bankruptcy proceedings for a individual or corporation.
• Business Bankruptcy — Definition,
  • A bankruptcy case in which the debtor is a business or an individual involved in business and the debts are for business purposes.
• Estate Planning — Definition,
  • The process of determining how assets will be dispersed after an individual's death, ideally in the most tax-efficient way possible.
• Executor — Definition,
  • The person who manages the estate of a deceased individual.
• Fiduciary — Definition,
  • An individual, company, or association that manages assets for another party. Fiduciaries include executors of wills and estates, trustees, receivers in bankruptcy, and those responsible for managing the finances of a minor.
• Mis-selling — Definition,
  • The act of misleading a client into buying a product or service by deliberately misrepresenting the aforementioned product or service.
• Probate Sale — Definition,
  • Sale of property after the death of the owner, supervised by a court, with proceeds divided among creditors and heirs.
• Sprinkling Provision — Definition,
  • A provision that gives a trustee the authority to distribute life insurance death benefits as he or she sees fit, and to those who need the money the most.
• Trust — Definition,
  • A fund established like a will, specifying how money or property will be disbursed, lists the recipients or beneficiaries and names one or more trustees to manage the assets. An irrevocable trust can't be changed after the terms are finalized; a revocable trust has more legroom in how much can be transferred, but is usually costlier to maintain.
• Trust Company — Definition,
  • A company that acts as a trustee (an entity that controls financial assets on the behalf of another).
• Will — Definition,
  • A document that states what must be done with a person's estate after his or her death.