This presentation examines the evolving responsibilities and expectations of professional fiduciaries in trust and estate management. With increased scrutiny from courts, particularly in Southern California, fiduciaries are under pressure to eliminate bias, avoid conflicts, and operate with heightened efficiency. We will provide attendees with practical guidance on meeting procedural obligations, adhering to deadlines, and collaborating effectively with key service providers (CPAs, realtors, etc.). Topics will include navigating recent trends in court rulings and practical steps to comply with California Probate Code deadlines for non-taxable and taxable estates. By the end of the session, participants will be equipped with strategies to streamline their practices and maintain compliance in a more demanding judicial environment.
D4 – The Love Affair is Over: Professional Fiduciaries in a New Era of Accountability
Speakers
Jennifer Sawday
TLD Law
Jennifer Sawday is a partner at TLD Law, LLP. She serves a wide range of clients in all matters related to probate, trusts, estate planning — and related litigation. She also handles pre- and post-death administration for clients who serve as personal representatives, executors, and trustees for trusts and estates. Ms. Sawday’s favorite clients are ordinary homeowners in Long Beach and surrounding communities looking to set up an estate for their loved ones to avoid probate.
Ms. Sawday’s approach to estate planning is thorough, personalized, informative, and caring. She works with individuals and families to make sure they first understand why estate planning is essential and then helps make it easy for them to complete the many moving parts of a sound estate plan. A comprehensive estate plan starts with a revocable living trust, which should be accompanied by pour- over wills, durable powers of attorney, and advance health care directives for each client. For those with minor children, there must be provisions made to designate guardians for the kids if something should happen to you.
The next step is funding the trust and determining what assets should become vested in the trust and how to transfer those assets there. We understand that some of these are difficult decisions, but we encourage our estate planning clients to complete the entire process within a 4 to 6-week period. This way everyone is working hard on a fairly tight deadline, which helps reach the common goal of avoiding probate or dealing with severe consequences resulting from the absence of an estate plan.
Ms. Sawday has more than twenty years of legal practice experience. Her expertise and tenacity have allowed clients to see their court matters resolved as quickly as possible. Ms. Sawday also works with clients to handle trust administration and contested matters involving wills and trusts with the firm’s trial lawyers.
Jennifer Sawday completed two terms as President of Women Lawyers of Long Beach as she served from 2008 to 2009 and again from 2013 to 2014. Following that, she was the President of the Estate Planning and Trust Council of Long Beach from 2014 to 2016. Ms. Sawday has been selected as the Lawyer of the Year by the Long Beach Bar Association for 2024 for her contributions to the local bar and community at large for her work in trusts and estates.
Ms. Sawday has been selected as a prestigious SuperLawyer and Rising Star by SuperLawyers, as featured in the Los Angeles County Magazine for many years from 2019 to 2024. Ms. Sawday has been consistently rated a 10.0 “Superb” attorney by the respected attorney rating organization, AVVO. She is also AV-rated from Martindale Hubbel.
Monica Goel, Esq.
Tredway Lumsdaine & Doyle, LLP (TLD Law)
https://tldlaw.com/
Monica Goel, with over twenty-three years of legal experience, is a Certified Legal Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law by the California Board of Legal Specialization. Her practice focuses on estate planning, trust administration, probate administration, conservatorships, elder law, trust, and probate litigation. Her specialty in any legal setting is in handling sticky or complex situations. She primarily works out of the firm’s Irvine and Long Beach offices.
She has been rated “superb” by AVVO, named as one of the top estate planning attorneys in 2019 through 2024, by Super Lawyers in Trusts and Estates, and is rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale Hubbell.
Monica is a published author in the Daily Journal and OC Lawyer Magazine. She is a frequent lecturer on trust administration, probate administration, court accountings, liability for fiduciaries, and legal ethics in estate administration.
Monica was a member of the PVP panel for the LA Superior Court and routinely advises families on how to handle incapacity issues and appointment of conservatorship.
She was previously an adjunct professor at Cerritos College in the Certified Paralegal Program and at UCI in the paralegal program in Estate Planning.
Monica received her B.A. in History from UCLA in 1997, and her J.D. from the University of Southern California in 2000. She was the Trope and Trope Fellow in 1998 and was admitted to the Bar in December 2000.