FRAUD I BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY – What Fiduciary Duties are Owed? A Fiduciary owes the Duty to use Reasonable Care. What happens if a fiduciary breaches their duty to use Reasonable Care?

FRAUD I BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY – What Fiduciary Duties are Owed? A Fiduciary owes the Duty to use Reasonable Care. What happens if a fiduciary breaches their duty to use Reasonable Care?

January 09, 2020

A Fiduciary owes a Duty to Use Reasonable Care

A fiduciary is an individual or corporation to whom property or power is entrusted for the benefit of another.  Fiduciaries must prudently care for any such assets, and may also have a number of additional obligations including the Duty to Use Reasonable Care.

What Is Duty of Care? 

Duty of care refers to a fiduciary’s responsibility to live up to a certain standard of care when entrusted with a third party’s property and/or when acting on behalf of a third party. The duty to use reasonable care is both an ethical and legal obligation, requiring a fiduciary to make decisions in good faith and in a reasonably prudent manner. The fiduciary is required to exercise the utmost care in making business decisions to fulfill their obligation.

What happens if Defendant breaches duty to use Reasonable Care? A Plaintiff can bring a cause of action for Failure to Use Reasonable Care

In order to prevail in an action for breach of Fiduciary Duty, more specifically a fiduciary’s failure to utilize reasonable care a plaintiff must establish the following:

If a plaintiff claims that s/he was harmed by Fiduciary’s breach of the duty to use reasonable care, in order to establish this claim, the plaintiff must prove all of the following:

  1. The existence of a Fiduciary Relationship:That the Fiduciary was Plaintiff’s [agent, stockbroker, real estate agent, real estate broker, corporate officer, partner or that another fiduciary relationship existed]
  2. Fiduciary’s Agency on a specific Transaction or series of Transactions: That the Fiduciary acted on Plaintiff’s behalf on a specific transaction or transactions;
  3. Fiduciary failed to Use Reasonable Care: That Fiduciary failed to act as a reasonably careful [agent, stockbroker, real estate agent, real estate broker, corporate officer, partner or as a fiduciary]would have acted under the same or similar circumstances;
  4. Damages: That Plaintiff was harmed; and
  5. Plaintiff’s Damages resulted from Fiduciary’s failure to utilize reasonable care: That the Fiduciary’s conduct was a substantial factor in causing Plaintiff’s harm.

Related Articles and Publications

Articles discussing Fiduciary Duties exclusively are listed below:

Causes of Action for Fraud and Breach of Fiduciary Duty in California: For other articles discussing the various causes of action for Fraud in California, links are included below:

For Fraud and Breach of Fiduciary Verdicts in California: Our articles discussing Fraud verdicts in California are included below:

Fraud Damages: Our articles discussing Fraud damages in California are included below:

Recovery from the Victims Of Corporate Fraud Compensation Fund of California: For articles discussing damages:

If you have fallen victim to fraud or have questions or fiduciary dutieswe encourage you to contact our offices at 619-432-5145 for a free consultation with one of our fraud attorneys and breach of fiduciary duty lawyers.

Diana Legal