Trustees and fiduciaries face a constant pull between what they feel and what they owe beneficiaries. Three things matter: define family goals first, then pick the solution that fits. Timing shapes outcomes more than you think. The highest price at auction might lose to a lower offer with better tax timing.
No matter what, you gotta trust your gut. I was just having this conversation with somebody who's not my client, right? But they're in this process. They're a trustee, right? They have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize value, but at the same time, they're in this interesting position where the emotions are at play. And I always come back to probably 2 or 3 very common themes every time, which is what are your goals, right? And if you can determine what your goals are, then we can reverse engineer to the solution that is best for you and your family. Along with that comes timing, right? Because timing is a big part of the outcome, right? We want to be mindful of dollars and cents and the financial side. And sometimes the right way to sell the farm is not to just go to auction and maximize value because we may need to, you know, do a closing in a different calendar year for tax purposes or whatever it happens to be.
