I.   Introductory Provisions

A Fiduciary is a person holding the character of a valid Trustee and the scrupulous good faith and honesty required for such Office. Thus, the term Fiduciary is equivalent to Trustee.

The word Fiduciary is derived from the Latin fiducia meaning “trust, confidence, oath, vow or assurance”. By ancient custom of civilized law, no one was permitted to act for the rights, interests and powers of another unless by proper oath or vow taken upon some sacred object to some divinity.

While the term Trustee typically denotes the position and powers established in Trust, the term Fiduciary by tradition emphasizes the three essential criteria necessary in the capacity and character of a proper Fiduciary being good faith (bona fides), good character (bona virtutes) and good conscience (bona conscientia) :

(i) Good Faith, also known as bona fides is the ancient custom that a man cannot be a Fiduciary except under proper Oath or Vow to a recognized Divinity upon some object or text representing a firm belief in the efficacy of some sacred and ethical standards of law existing in the same name as the Divinity; and

(ii) Good Character, also known as bona virtutes is the ancient custom that a man cannot act as a Fiduciary except in accord with the highest virtues of honesty, impartiality, frugality and prudence, also sometimes known as “clean hands doctrine”; and

(iii) Good Conscience, also known as bona conscientia is the ancient custom that a man cannot act in the best interests of another, or fairly under the Rule of Law if seeks a contrary or negative outcome.

"Fiduciary capacity" is when one receives money or contracts a debt or when the business which he transacts, or the money or property which he handles, is not his own or for his own benefit, but for the benefit of another person, as to whom he stands in a relation implying and necessitating the presence of good faith (bona fides), good character (bona virtutes) and good conscience (bona conscientia).

A Fiduciary Relation is a relation existing between two persons in regard to any implied or actual agreement concerning certain rights, or title or property associated with or derived from an estate whereby each party must therefore act in confidence and trust with the other in accord with good faith (bona fides), good character (bona virtutes) and good conscience (bona conscientia).Examples of Fiduciary Relations are those existing between attorney and client, guardian and ward, principal and agent, executor and heir, executor and beneficiary, trustee and beneficiary and landlord and tenant.