Fiduciary Services at Oaks of Hebron

Oaks of Hebron now offers fiduciary services to individuals in Sonoma County and the surrounding areas. In response to a growing need and a desire to serve a broader community, we’ve expanded our programs to include professional fiduciary support. Whether you’re seeking assistance with financial management, representative payee services, or trust administration, our team is here to serve with integrity, compassion, and personalized care.

What Is a Fiduciary?

A fiduciary is a trained, knowledgeable professional entrusted with the responsibility of acting in another person’s best interest. As fiduciaries, we serve as advocates for our clients, helping them protect themselves, their assets, and their wishes for future beneficiaries.

Fiduciaries often work as intermediaries, coordinating with families, healthcare providers, financial planners, and attorneys to ensure our clients’ needs are met. Our role is not to replace these professionals, but to provide leadership and a structured foundation that allows each expert to collaborate effectively on behalf of the client.

Why Choose a Professional Fiduciary?

Professional fiduciaries are licensed, insured, and held to high legal and ethical standards. Our work is closely regulated by the courts to ensure that your finances and personal interests are protected.

We are equipped to work in partnership with accountants, attorneys, and other professionals to coordinate your care and affairs. Unlike large financial institutions, we offer a personalized approach, ensuring your individual needs are understood and respected.

Choosing a professional fiduciary can also help minimize potential conflicts among family members and ease the burden of complex financial and care-related decisions.

When Should I Consider a Fiduciary?

Many seniors choose to appoint a professional fiduciary to avoid placing the burden of care or financial oversight on family members. Individuals with disabilities or special needs may also benefit from having a professional manage their personal and financial affairs.

While most people are capable of managing their lives independently, some may face challenges—due to age, illness, or other circumstances—that make outside support necessary. In such cases, a professional fiduciary can provide trusted guidance and assistance.

Situations Where a Fiduciary May Be Helpful:

  • When adult children live far away and want someone local to ensure their parents are safe, supported, and financially stable.
  • When an estate is large or complex and requires expertise beyond what a family member may be able to provide.
  • When you want to avoid the emotional stress and potential conflict of assigning estate management duties to a loved one.
  • When an independent trustee is needed for vehicles such as an Irrevocable Trust, Private Foundation, or Charitable Trust.
  • When a person with a disability is the beneficiary of a Special Needs Trust and requires professional oversight to maintain eligibility for public benefits.

Why Not Just Use a Corporate Trustee?

While corporate trustees may seem like a reliable choice, they often come with limitations and high fees. Most corporate trustees require a minimum of $1 million in investable assets just to take you on as a client. In addition to investment management fees, they typically charge a separate trust management fee, ranging from 1% to 1.25% annually.

Many also steer clients toward proprietary investment products, earning commissions that may not always align with your best interests.

A corporate trustee answers to their corporate headquarters.  We answer to you.

Services Include:

  • Trustee
  • Special Needs Trustee
  • Money Management
  • Case Management
  • Elder abuse protection
  • Durable Power of Attorney for Finance
  • Durable Power of Attorney for Health
  • Conservator of Person
  • Conservator of Estate
  • Executor
  • Benefits Counseling
  • Organizational payee for Social Security Benefits

Fee schedule

  • Fiduciary Services:  $150/hour
  • Digital/computer support: $115/hour
  • Associate Fiduciary Services: $105/hour
  • Bookkeeper/Clerical: $80 to $125/hour
  • One time Enrollment Fee: $250

Representative Payee Services

The Social Security Representative Payee Program helps manage benefit payments for individuals who are unable to do so themselves. We can be appointed as a qualified representative payee (or “payee”) to manage Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments on a beneficiary’s behalf.

While Social Security usually looks first to family or friends to serve as payees, we are a trusted alternative when those individuals are unavailable. As a qualified organization, we ensure that benefits are used appropriately for the recipient’s well-being.

We also help complete the paperwork needed to designate up to three individuals in advance who could serve as your payee in the future, should the need arise.

Each year, representative payees are required to submit a Representative Payee Report to account for how benefits were used.

If you or someone you know is no longer able to manage their Social Security benefits, we’re here to help.