Comprehensive solutions for life's most important financial transitions

Every engagement is handled with discretion, accountability, and a genuine commitment to honoring each client's wishes. Below is an overview of the fiduciary services offered — each tailored to the specific needs of the estate and the individuals involved. Explore our services.

Fiduciary Services Offered

We manage a wide range of fiduciary services.

Trust Administration

Protecting assets and honoring your intentions after death or incapacity.

Trust administration involves managing and distributing trust assets according to the terms of the trust—ensuring compliance, transparency, and proper stewardship throughout the process. This role is designed to avoid court involvement, reduce administrative burden, and ensure an orderly, cost-effective outcome after death or during incapacity.

As successor trustee, we safeguard and manage trust assets, communicate with beneficiaries, prepare required tax filings, maintain accurate accountings, and make distributions in strict accordance with trust instructions. As a neutral fiduciary, we also help minimize conflict among beneficiaries and provide independent oversight that no family member can offer.

Responsibilities may include:

  • Asset management and safeguarding
  • Beneficiary communications
  • Tax filing preparation
  • Accurate trust accountings
  • Real property oversight
  • Insurance and vacancy management
  • Distributions per trust instructions
  • Conflict minimization
Power of Attorney

Ensuring continuity when
you cannot act for yourself.

A durable power of attorney allows you to appoint a trusted professional to act on your behalf in financial matters — an essential component of any comprehensive estate plan. When family members are unavailable, unsuitable, or geographically distant, a professional fiduciary provides seamless coordination with your existing advisors while ensuring continuity in financial and care-related decision-making.

As attorney-in-fact, we manage essential tasks with diligence and discretion, maintaining clear financial records and ensuring a client's wishes are carried out precisely — even when they are unable to direct those decisions themselves.

Responsibilities may include

  • Bill payment and expense management
  • Housing and care cost coordination
  • Investment monitoring
  • Financial record organization
  • Tax preparation coordination
  • Liaison with advisors and institutions

For clients requiring care management or healthcare coordination, we maintain trusted partnerships with experienced professionals in those fields — providing referrals and ongoing oversight to ensure every aspect of a client's wellbeing is addressed.

Special Needs Trusts

Supporting well-being without
jeopardizing vital public benefits.

Administering a special needs trust (SNT) requires a precise understanding of how distributions interact with government benefit programs such as SSI and Medicaid. A misstep can disqualify a beneficiary from essential support they depend on — making professional oversight critical.

We administer SNT assets in a manner that enhances the beneficiary's quality of life while carefully preserving eligibility for public benefits. This includes exercising discretion in expenditures for supplemental needs — therapies, education, travel, and recreational activities — that government programs do not cover, while avoiding direct cash payments that could trigger benefit reductions.

Responsibilities may include

  • Investment oversight and safeguarding
  • Accurate financial recordkeeping
  • Required tax return filing
  • Benefits-compliant distributions
  • Supplemental needs expenditures
  • Ongoing benefits eligibility monitoring
Probate & Estate Settlement

Guiding estates through probate
with precision and accountability.

When someone passes away without a trust, their estate will typically pass through the California probate process. If a valid will exists, the estate is distributed according to its instructions; without one, assets pass to legal heirs under the Probate Code. In either case, the process is conducted under court supervision — requiring careful documentation, legal compliance, and consistent follow-through.

We can be designated in your will to serve as Executor, or appointed by the court as Administrator or Personal Representative when the named individual is unable or unwilling to act. In contested or litigation-involved estates, Legacy Guided can also serve as a neutral third-party Administrator to help safeguard assets and facilitate orderly settlement.

Responsibilities may include

  • Initiating the probate process
  • Asset identification and inventory
  • Creditor notification and debt resolution
  • Court filing and compliance
  • Tax filing and estate accounting
  • Final distribution to beneficiaries
  • Property safeguarding during process
  • Neutral third-party administration

Accepting referrals from estate attorneys, financial advisors, and geriatric care managers throughout the Bay Area.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do You Serve Clients in Southern California?

It depends. While most of the clients we serve are located in the Bay Area, we are able to provide fiduciary services throughout California. In some cases, when a California resident has complex real estate holdings or other tangible assets located outside the Bay Area, working with a local California Licensed Professional Fiduciary (CLPF) may be beneficial. If that is the case, we are happy to provide trusted referrals.

What Credentials Must a Fiduciary Have in California?

Professional fiduciaries in California are licensed and regulated by the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau, a division of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. To obtain licensure, individuals must hold a bachelor's degree, complete approved pre-licensing education, pass a comprehensive examination, and successfully complete background and credit checks. Licensed fiduciaries must also satisfy annual continuing education requirements to maintain an active license.

What Type of Oversight Is There for Licensed Fiduciaries in California?

Licensed professional fiduciaries are governed by the California Probate Code and the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau's regulations and Code of Ethics. Fiduciaries are required to complete continuing education annually, report assets under management, and provide detailed accountings to beneficiaries, clients, or the court when required. These safeguards help ensure transparency, accountability, and adherence to professional standards.

Do You Offer Co-Trustee Services?

No. Carolyn does not serve as a co-trustee or joint agent under a Power of Attorney. Professional fiduciaries carry Errors & Omissions insurance, which generally does not provide coverage for joint decision-making arrangements. As a result, fiduciary appointments are accepted only when Carolyn can act independently within the scope of her designated authority.

Not sure which service applies?

Begin with a complimentary 30-minute consultation — no obligation, fully confidential.