55-2-13. Notice to qualified beneficiaries of existence of trust--Written directions--Information to be provided to excluded fiduciaries--Liability limits of trustee--Variation of right of a beneficiary to be informed--Confidentiality of trust information.
Notification to any qualified beneficiary under this section may be carried out personally, by mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the entity or individual's last known post office address, or electronically pursuant to the provisions of §15-6-5(d), and on representatives of qualified beneficiaries pursuant to chapter 55-18.
For purposes of this section, the term, qualified beneficiary, means a beneficiary that is an entity then in existence or an individual who is twenty-one years of age or older and who, on the date the beneficiary's qualification is determined:
(1)Is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal;
(2)Would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal if the interests of the distributees terminated on that date; or
(3)Would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal if the trust terminated on that date. However, if the distributee is then unknown because a person holds a power to change the distributee, the trustee shall give notice only to the holder of the power.
Except as otherwise provided by the terms of a revocable trust, a trustee has no duty to notify the qualified beneficiaries of the trust's existence.
Except as otherwise provided by the terms of an irrevocable trust or otherwise directed in writing by the settlor, trust advisor, or trust protector, the trustee shall, within sixty days after the trustee has accepted trusteeship of the trust, or within sixty days after the date the trustee acquires knowledge that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable, notify the qualified beneficiaries of the trust's existence and of the right of the beneficiary to request a copy of the trust instrument pertaining to the beneficiary's interest in the trust.
For purposes of this section, the terms, trust advisor and trust protector, have the same meanings as those defined in §55-1B-1.
Except as otherwise provided by the terms of an irrevocable trust or otherwise directed in writing by the settlor, trust advisor, or trust protector, a trustee of an irrevocable trust:
(1)Upon request of a qualified beneficiary, shall promptly furnish to the qualified beneficiary a copy of the trust instrument;
(2)If notification of the trust has not been accomplished pursuant to this section within sixty days after accepting a trusteeship, shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee's name, address, and telephone number;
(3)Shall promptly respond to a qualified beneficiary's request for information related to the administration of the trust, unless the request is unreasonable under the circumstances.
The settlor, trust advisor, or trust protector, may, by the terms of the governing instrument, or by providing written directions to the trustee, expand, restrict, eliminate, or otherwise modify the rights of beneficiaries to information relating to a trust. The trustee incurs no liability for a loss or otherwise for relying upon the written directions, including an instance when the governing instrument of an irrevocable trust does not expressly authorize an expansion, restriction, or other modification of the rights of beneficiaries to information relating to a trust. The written directions remain effective until or unless the settlor, trust advisor, or trust protector who provided the written directions revokes the written directions by providing a writing to that effect to the trustee or the trustee receives notification that the settlor, trust advisor, or trust protector who provided the written directions is incapacitated. Additionally, the written directions remain in effect only while the trust advisor or trust protector providing the written directions is serving as the current trust advisor or trust protector. Unless otherwise specifically provided in the written directions, upon the death or incapacity of a settlor who provided the written directions described in this section, the directions shall be deemed revoked. However, upon the death or incapacity of the settlor, a trust advisor or trust protector, if any, may further direct the trustee in writing pursuant to this section. Unless otherwise stated in the governing instrument, the direction of the settlor shall control in the event of a conflict among written directions provided to the trustee pursuant to this section.
The terms of an irrevocable trust or written directions provided pursuant to this section may expand, restrict, eliminate, or otherwise vary the right of a beneficiary to be informed of the beneficiary's interest in a trust for a period of time, including:
(1)A period of time related to the age of a beneficiary;
(2)A period of time related to the lifetime of either a settlor or spouse of a settlor, or both;
(3)A period of time related to a term of years or specific date; and
(4)A period of time related to a specific event that is certain to occur.
The terms of the governing instrument or written directions provided pursuant to this section may authorize either the settlor, trust advisor, or trust protector to appoint a representative as provided in subdivisions 55-18-9 (11) and (12) for the period of time that the right of a beneficiary to be informed about a beneficiary's interest is restricted or eliminated pursuant to this section.
A beneficiary may waive the right to the notice or information otherwise required to be furnished under this section and, with respect to future reports and other information, may withdraw a waiver previously given.
The change in the identity of a trustee, occurring as the result of a mere name change or a merger, consolidation, combination, or reorganization of a trustee, does not require notice.
If a fiduciary is bound by a duty of confidentiality with respect to a trust or its assets, a fiduciary may require that any beneficiary who is eligible to receive information pursuant to this section be bound by the duty of confidentiality that binds the trustee before receiving such information from the trustee. If trust information is sought through service of a subpoena on a fiduciary, the fiduciary may petition the court for an order that makes disclosure of trust information contingent upon the receiving party being bound by reasonable conditions to ensure the protection of confidentiality of trust information by the receiving party.
A trust advisor, trust protector, or other fiduciary designated by the terms of the trust shall keep each excluded fiduciary designated by the terms of the trust reasonably informed about:
(1)The administration of the trust with respect to any specific duty or function being performed by the trust advisor, trust protector, or other fiduciary to the extent that the duty or function would normally be performed by the excluded fiduciary or to the extent that providing such information to the excluded fiduciary is reasonably necessary for the excluded fiduciary to perform its duties; and
(2)Any other material information that the excluded fiduciary would be required to disclose to the qualified beneficiaries under this section regardless of whether the terms of the trust relieve the excluded fiduciary from providing such information to qualified beneficiaries. Neither the performance nor the failure to perform of a trust advisor, trust protector, or other fiduciary designated by the terms of the trust as provided in this subdivision shall affect the limitation on the liability of the excluded fiduciary.
The provisions of this section are effective for trusts created, amended, or restated after June 30, 2002, except as otherwise directed by the settlor, trust protector, trust advisor, or other fiduciary designated by the terms of the trust. For trusts created before July 1, 2002, a trustee has no duty at common law or otherwise to notify a qualified beneficiary of the trust's existence unless otherwise directed by the settlor. The provisions of this paragraph do not apply if otherwise directed by the settlor, trust protector, trust advisor, or other fiduciary designated by the terms of the trust.
Source: SL 2002, ch 100, §15; SL 2007, ch 247, §8; SL 2008, ch 257, §10; SL 2009, ch 252, §16; SL 2010, ch 232, §1; SL 2011, ch 212, §8; SL 2017, ch 204, §17; SL 2017, ch 208, §30; SL 2018, ch 275, §25; SL 2020, ch 206, § 12.