New E & O Insurance for Executors
Ian Hull writes about what could be a valuable new product for the non-professional executor in the June 10, 2011 issue of The Lawyers Weekly - the new errors and omissions insurance.
Mr. Hull notes the following areas of conflict that generally occur in the administration of an estate:
· preferential treatment of certain beneficiaries over others;
· timing issues relating to the sale of real property or various types of financial instruments;
· allegations of conflict of interest on the part of the estate trustee; and
· failure to value the estate assets properly, or at all.
In addition, Mr. Hull addresses factors leading to increased risk for executors, including:
· more complex relationships between beneficiaries given the rise of second marriages and blended families;
· real estate and financial instruments are more volatile in nature and thus more sensitive to timing than previously;
· society is more litigious than in the past; and
· people have more information at their fingertips, and therefore may have greater expectations for the estate trustee to manage.
This new insurance product, ERAssure (exclusively available with the counsel of a lawyer) insures executor clients for the costs of defense and indeminty for damages awarded against them that arise out of errors and ommissions made during the estate administration. It is available for estates with $500,000 to $5,000,000 in assets. I think this is an important product for estate trustees to consider obtaining if they want to maximize their risk protection.
Thanks for reading,
Natalia R. Angelini - Click here for more information on Natalia Angelini.
