Wills, Trusts, and Estates

Account


A trustee also has a duty to inform and account. UTC § 813.

This duty requires that a trustee respond promptly to a beneficiary's request for information about the administration of the trust and also to make affirmative disclosures to the beneficiaries of significant developments or intended transactions.

The settlor of a trust can limit the trustee's duty to account to the beneficiaries, but he can not completely eliminate it. A beneficiary always has a right to information reasonably necessary for the protection of his interest in the trust.

UTC § 813 allows trusts to be kept secret from the beneficiaries until they are 25 years old, however many states have rejected these rules.

A trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for a breach if the facts of the breach are fairly disclosed in a formal accounting, filed with the court and served on the beneficiary, to which the beneficiary does not timely object.

A settlor can provide that an informal accounting will have the same effect as a formal accounting.