The Fiduciary Field Census 2026: Making an Invisible Workforce Visible
Across the United States, thousands of people make consequential decisions on behalf of others.
They serve as guardians and conservators. They administer trusts and estates. They act under powers of attorney, manage government benefits, coordinate care, protect property, maintain records, and navigate complicated family and professional relationships.
Some do this work professionally. Others serve through public agencies or nonprofit organizations. Many are family members or friends who stepped into the role because someone they care about needed help.
The work matters enormously, and right now it is largely invisible.
What do we actually know about the fiduciary field?
There is no reliable national picture of the people who perform fiduciary work or the conditions under which they perform it.
We do not know, with sufficient clarity:
How many people serve in fiduciary roles
Which roles they perform
Whether they work independently, within an organization, or for a public agency
How professionals enter the field
What their caseloads and fee structures look like
Which forms of training, certification, licensing, and support they use
What makes practitioners accept or decline a case
What family fiduciaries find most difficult
What people entering the field need in order to succeed
Without that information, conversations about policy, workforce development, education, licensing, professional standards, and caregiver support take place with an incomplete view of the field.
The Fiduciary Field Census 2026 is designed to begin changing that.
A national study of fiduciary practice
The Fiduciary Field Census 2026 is a free, anonymous national survey of the people who do fiduciary work.
The survey includes:
Professional guardians and conservators
Trustees and successor trustees
Personal representatives and executors
Agents serving under powers of attorney
Representative payees and VA fiduciaries
Daily money managers
Public and deputy public guardians
Employees working within fiduciary practices
People pursuing licensing, certification, or a career in the field
Family members and friends serving in fiduciary roles
The Census asks about who is doing the work, how they entered it, the roles they hold, the environments in which they serve, and the practical realities they encounter.
This is not an investment survey, and it is not limited to people who use “fiduciary” as a professional title. It is about people who have accepted legal or practical responsibility to act on behalf of another person or an estate.
Why participation matters
A useful national picture cannot be built from the most visible organizations or the largest professional groups alone.
The fiduciary field is diverse and decentralized. Rules vary by state. Titles and responsibilities overlap. Some roles require professional credentials, while others are assumed privately by relatives and friends. Public, private, nonprofit, and family fiduciaries may perform similar functions under very different conditions.
Each response helps document that complexity.
The results may help professional associations, policymakers, educators, licensing bodies, public agencies, researchers, and service organizations better understand:
Where the workforce is growing or contracting
Which barriers make it difficult to enter or remain in the field
Where practitioners and families need better training or support
How caseload, compensation, insurance, documentation, and other practice conditions affect the work
Which questions require additional research
The Census will not answer every question about fiduciary practice. It can, however, establish a stronger factual starting point for the conversations the field is already having.
Who should complete the Census?
You should participate if you currently serve, previously served, or are preparing to serve in a fiduciary role.
That includes people who perform this work as a profession, as part of another job, through a public office, or for a family member or friend.
You do not need to belong to a professional association. You do not need to hold a particular credential. You do not need to identify “fiduciary” as your primary occupation.
If you make or support decisions on behalf of another person, manage property or benefits under delegated authority, administer an estate or trust, or are actively preparing to enter this work, your experience belongs in the national picture.
Help make the field visible
The Fiduciary Field Census 2026 is open through November 15, 2026.
Participation is free and anonymous. After completing the survey, respondents may separately request a copy of the findings when they are released.
If you are part of an association, agency, professional network, caregiver organization, educational program, or community group, please consider sharing the Census with others who may be eligible to participate.
A clearer understanding of the field begins with the people doing the work.