Corporate Fiduciaries

Administering a trust, estate, or guardianship often requires judgment when governing documents, beneficiary interests, and legal standards do not point to a single obvious answer. We help corporate fiduciaries evaluate those questions and take a course consistent with their duties in compliance with statutes, regulations, and established case law.

We advise banks, trust companies, professional guardianship agencies, and other institutional fiduciaries on administration, document interpretation, exercise of discretion, and fiduciary risk. Our attorneys help clients apply statutes and regulations, prepare accountings, address distribution matters, and evaluate questions involving fees, commissions, and the management or transfer of assets. These capabilities are reflected in the firm’s existing fiduciary practices and attorney experience.

When disagreements arise, the focus of our representation is on corporate fiduciaries in Pennsylvania’s Orphans’ Courts. Our experience spans an array of fiduciary issues and includes surcharge and removal actions, fee disputes, trust modification and termination, contested distributions, accounting proceedings, will contests, sale of charitable assets, charitable dissolution, guardianship matters, and disputes involving the interpretation or administration of trusts and estates. We also represent clients in mediation, trial courts, and appeals, with a commitment to achieving negotiated resolutions, collaborating with our fiduciary clients to find the appropriate path.

Fiduciary matters may also involve tax, real estate, charitable trusts, private foundations, or appellate issues. With McNees’ bench strength throughout the Commonwealth, we bring the appropriate attorneys into the matter so the fiduciary receives coordinated, effective advice across the legal questions affecting the administration or dispute.