Fiduciary Law and Legal Definition
A fiduciary is someone who owes a duty of loyalty to safeguard the interests of another person or entity, such as a trustee of a testamentary trust, a guardian of the estate of a minor, a guardian, committee or conservator of the estate of an incompetent person, an executor of a will, an administrator of the estate of a decedent or an advisor or consultant exercising control over a testamentary or express trust.
A fiduciary may be an executor, administrator, guardian, conservator, curator, receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, assignee for the benefit of creditors, partner, agent, officer of a corporation, public or private, public officer or any other person acting in a fiduciary capacity for any person, trust or estate. Fiducairies may be required to hold funds and assets in a special fiduciary account and file periodic acounts and/or inventories with the court. A fiduciary has a duty not to benefit at the expense of the one they are responsible for. A fiduciary must avoid "self-dealing" or "conflicts of interests" in which the potential benefit to the fiduciary is in conflict with what is best for the person who trusts him or her.