Trust Practice from Planning Tips to Ethical Administration

Why Attend?

• Examine the ethical responsibilities associated with fiduciary duties owed to the trust.
• Review the origin and scope of the Prudent Investor Law.

In this two-hour program, Debra L. Purrington will provide an introduction to the Virginia Uniform Trust Code and some of the basic issues for trust planning and administration. This discussion will include the process controlling ethical trust practice, an overview of a trustee’s duty, practical advice for avoiding conflicts, and useful tips for trustees and the attorneys who counsel them. In the second hour, Ms. Purrington will discuss the Prudent Investor Law: the general scope of the law, the standards it applies, who is covered, and where the law came from.

Trust Fiduciary Duty

• Ethical duties associated with trustee’s fiduciary responsibilities under the Virginia Uniform Trust Code
• Trusts vs. other fiduciary arrangements
• Identifying the client under Virginia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.7(a)
• Ethical and practical issues in deciding when to create a trust and what the client needs to understand under Virginia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.4(b)
• Ethical trust planning and administration to avoid conflicts of interest under Virginia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.7(a)(1) and (2)
• Safekeeping of property by a fiduciary under Virginia Rule of Professional Conduct 1.15(c)(3)
• Determining whether the trust is revocable or irrevocable
• Finding out who is in charge
• Individual and corporate trustees
• Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act

Prudent Investor Law

• The standards of the law
• The scope of the law and to whom it applies
• Where the Prudent Investor Law originated
• Delegation of investment responsibility
• Prudency standard under attack

Registration Deadlines:

Cancellation Policy: Cancellation/transfer requests will be honored until 5:00 p.m. the day preceding the seminar. You will, however, be charged $40 if you cancel or transfer your registration to a different seminar after the link to the materials has been e-mailed by Virginia CLE^®.

Full refunds or transfers are available up to two days after a webcast in the unlikely event that you experience technical difficulties.

Dietary Restrictions: If you have dietary restrictions and are attending the seminar in person, please email deanna.mcglothlin@vacle.org.

Inclement Weather Policy and Updates

MCLE Credit Caveat: The MCLE Board measures credits by the time you spend in attendance. If you enter a seminar late or leave it early, or both, you must reflect those adjustments accurately in the credits you report on your credit reporting form. A code will be given at the end of the seminar, which must be written on your MCLE form.

Private recording of this program is prohibited.

Can’t Attend?

E-mail distance_ed@vacle.org to be notified when/if this program is made available as an online or USB seminar.
E-mail publications@vacle.org to be notified when/if this program’s seminar materials are made available for sale.

Course Schedule

• Q&A will be handled via chat room for Webcast attendees.
• Q&A will be handled via e-mail for telephone seminar attendees.

About the Speaker

Debra L. Purrington, Bank Legal Counsel / Winchester
Debra Purrington has decades of experience in the law of trusts and estates and fiduciary administration. Trained as a tax attorney, she has made the law of trusts her life’s work. She served as subject matter expert on a fiduciary litigation team for many years, counseled trustees, and participated in the estate planning process.

As Chief Fiduciary at the Bank of Clarke in Virginia, Ms. Purrington continues a longstanding tradition of accomplished fiduciary services. She is responsible for regulatory compliance, oversees all trust and estate administration, and mentors a successful team of experienced trust and investment professionals. She also serves as internal legal counsel to the Bank of Clarke, helping bank officers to evaluate and manage legal issues in several business lines.

Ms. Purrington formerly led a segment of U.S. Trust, Bank of America, earning national recognition for fiduciary excellence. She has drafted and established trust policy and litigated numerous fiduciary and investment issues. She has counseled many trustees on the Prudent Investor Law and the trustee’s fiduciary duty. She has frequently worked as a consultant in matters involving fiduciary liability, bank trust services, and Prudent Investor issues.

Ms. Purrington serves as an expert witness in federal courts concerning matters involving fiduciary investments, bank trust services, policy, and practice.