Frequently Asked Questions

A professional fiduciary is a licensed, objective party that handles someone's affairs when they're no longer able to. No family member or friend should have to shoulder the responsibility, or liability, of administering someone else's personal and financial matters. A professional fiduciary steps in to ensure a trust or estate is carried out the way it was written, without the conflicts of interest or time constraints a family member might face.

A will only takes effect after death and generally must go through probate, the court-supervised process of settling an estate. A trust can manage assets both during your lifetime and after your death, and when properly funded, it typically avoids probate entirely — settling privately and often faster.

If someone dies without a will, their estate passes through probate and is distributed according to California law rather than personal instructions, with the court appointing an administrator to carry it out. Having a trust or a will in place means those decisions are already made, rather than left to a default legal formula.

Trust administration is the process of carrying out a trust's terms, and it typically happens without court involvement, which is part of why a properly funded trust is often faster and more private to settle. Probate is the court-supervised process used when someone dies without a properly funded trust in place, and it involves more formal filings, more time, and less privacy, since the estate's basic details typically become part of the public record.

An attorney drafts the legal documents — the trust, will, power of attorney, or advance health care directive — and provides legal advice. A professional fiduciary carries out what those documents direct: managing assets, paying debts, communicating with beneficiaries, and distributing property according to the terms already written. An attorney typically doesn't administer the trust or estate day to day, though the two roles work closely together throughout.

Yes. Most people who create a trust serve as their own trustee while they're alive and able, managing it themselves. A successor trustee only takes over once the current trustee dies, becomes incapacitated, or resigns.

This depends on what you've put in place. A named successor trustee steps in for trust matters, an agent under a power of attorney handles financial and legal affairs, and a health care agent under an advance health care directive makes medical decisions. Each of these roles only activates once a doctor or the relevant document's terms confirm you're unable to act for yourself.

We serve in all of these roles: trust administration, successor trustee, probate and executor services, special needs trust administration, power of attorney, and advance health care directive. Full detail on each is on our Practice Areas page.

We serve families and individuals throughout Napa, Sonoma, and Solano Counties.

We do our best to work with the professionals you already have in place. There's no need to replace an attorney, CPA, or financial advisor you're already working with — we coordinate with them as part of the administration.

Nothing. There's no fee for being named. We're only paid once we actually begin work on a trust or estate.

Yes. Your information is kept confidential.

Generally, yes, as long as you're still capable of amending your documents. Naming someone as a trustee, agent, or health care agent isn't permanent — it can be updated as circumstances change, through an amendment prepared by your attorney.

Real estate held in a trust is managed and eventually distributed according to the trust's terms, the same as any other asset. If it needs to be sold during trust administration, that's handled as part of the process — under our fee structure, at no additional cost beyond the standard 1% fee, since we don't charge a separate transaction fee for real estate.

Documents should name Thomas John (T.J.) Schrette personally as trustee, agent, or health care agent, not Napa Fiduciary Group. Under California law, these roles must be held by an individual, with limited exceptions for banks and licensed trust companies. Full suggested language for trustee, successor trustee, power of attorney, and health care agent appointments is on our How to Name Us page.

Trust administration and successor trustee work is typically billed at 1% of assets under management annually. Power of attorney, advance health care directive work, and situations where a percentage fee doesn't reflect the actual scope of work are billed hourly, from $225–$350 per hour for fiduciary services and $75–$200 per hour for administrative and support staff work. Probate compensation is set by California law under Probate Code section 10800, not by us. Full details are on our Fees page.