Managing Challenging Personalities: A Fiduciaries’ Practice Guide

Unpredictable, irrational, and impulsive behaviors from clients lead to significant practical challenges in fiduciary practice. The consequences often include fiduciary burnout, increased liability, and hours spent on non-billable client management tasks. This presentation offers psychological explanations for understanding problematic client behaviors including unrealistic expectations, oscillating between loving and hating one’s fiduciary, difficulty comprehending complex legal issues, and an inability to follow directions at critical moments. By drawing on the psychological literature on personality, neuropsychological functioning and relationship patterns, this presentation will review well informed strategies to manage challenging client interactions and effectively screen potential clients.