Opinion ID: 2275208
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Money market certificates

Text: The children contend that the Bank improperly failed to exercise the power that it had to seek greater revenue for the estate, that it should not have retained the estate's assets in bank savings accounts or United States treasury notes as Mr. Tessier had done, but that it had the duty to invest the funds in more profitable money market certificates. The loss resulting from this alleged breach of fiduciary duty, it is asserted, should have compelled a surcharge as requested. See 18-A M.R.S.A. § 3-712. We disagree. The children early on were pressuring the Bank to make partial distributions, and the Bank's refusal to commit funds of the estate on a long term basis, which money market certificates would have involved, merely reflects its concern for flexible estate management, which in fact permitted the Bank to make the partial distributions sought by the children. The Bank's good faith cannot be questioned on this score, as the moneys were invested primarily in other banks; there were no grounds for imputing an improper profit motivation to the Bank's investment choice.