Article on New DOL Fiduciary Rule & Estate Planners

Jamie P. Hopkins recently published an Article entitled, Be Wary When Giving Investment Advice to Clients: Estate Planners May Run Afoul of the Department of Labor’s New Rule, Tr. & Est. (Feb. 2017). Provided below is an abstract of the Article:

In April 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its long-awaited conflict of interest rule and related prohibited transaction exemptions, expanding the definition of fiduciary “investment advice” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and the Internal Revenue Code. While the new rules were primarily developed in an attempt to further regulate the advice provided by professionals in the financial services industry with respect to individual retirement accounts, the newly expanded definition of “investment advice” will inevitably cover advice commonly by estate planners. As a result, estate-planning attorneys, who already owe their clients a high standard of care and duty of loyalty under most state laws, could be subject to more stringent fiduciary requirements under federal law, creating new liability concerns.