ORANGE COUNTY ESTATE PLANNING COUNCIL

Acting as a fiduciary isn’t always easy.  A fiduciary owes many duties to the beneficiaries and a breach of a duty can result in liability.  One of these duties is the duty to account.  In our litigious society, having an accounting is one of the best ways a fiduciary can protect itself from liability.  From the beneficiary’s perspective, an accounting protects the beneficiary because it forces the fiduciary to either: (1) Admit that he or she can’t account due to a failure of recordkeeping; (2) Truthfully account, providing the beneficiaries with evidence of any potential wrongdoings; or (3) Falsify the accounts, which the beneficiaries can then disprove.

This session will review:

• The fiduciary duty to account
• Top ten reasons for producing a fiduciary accounting
• Tips to look out for when reviewing an accounting
• Differences between tax and accounting
• Accountings and litigation

Note:  This program also qualifies for 1-hour of continuing education credit for Attorney, CPA, Professional Fiduciary and Trust Officers, and qualifies for 1-hour of continuing education credit with the California Department of Insurance (Life Insurance licensed); Course Number: 371313.  It is also approved for 1-hour CE with the Certified Financial Planners Board of Standards; Program Number: 252039.

Francine Lee is a Senior Manager in EY’s Fiduciary/Trust Tax Services group and Business Leader in EY’s Fiduciary/Trust & Estate Accounting Services (“FTEAS”) team focusing on the development of go to market strategies and managing relationships with institutional wealth management clients, family offices and law firms.  FTEAS is a national practice with a deep bench of professionals with extensive experience preparing complicated fiduciary/court accountings spanning decades of transactions, using multiple state formats to satisfy local jurisdiction filing requirements across the country.

Francine brings 30 years of experience creating income tax and estate planning solutions for High Net Worth clients and building platforms and products at industry leading organizations including BMO’s multi-family office CTC/myCFO, HSBC Private Bank, Goldman Sachs Family Office, Prudential Securities and Lehman Brothers.  Francine began her career as a tax attorney in private practice focusing on income and estate tax planning, closely-held businesses, executive compensation and international taxation.

Francine is a published author.  Her work includes: “Wealth Planning for Entrepreneurs”, Practical Tax Strategies, May 2013 © 2013 Thomson/RIA and “Entrepreneurs within the family: encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation” published by the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners in the book Business Families and Family Businesses: The STEP Handbook for Advisers. © 2009 Globe Business Publishing Ltd.

Francine holds a Master of Laws in Taxation from New York University School of Law and Juris Doctor from Western New England School of Law. She is admitted to the New York State Bar.

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