Trustee duties include trust administration, loyalty, impartiality, use of special skills, protection of trust property, and reporting. The trustee is responsible for managing the assets held in a trust and must act in good faith, manage the trust in accordance with the law, and treat all beneficiaries fairly. The trustee must also keep beneficiaries informed and provide annual reports.
The different types of trustee duties include trust administration, loyalty, impartiality, use of special skills, protection of trust property, and reporting. Each jurisdiction will establish and define the different types of trustee duties in their statutes, usually under a section called the Uniform Trust Code. A trustee is responsible for managing the property or assets held in a trust. The purpose of the trust is to provide benefits to a person or persons, or have a charitable purpose. The persons or entities that benefit from the trust are beneficiaries.
The duties of the trustee require that the administration of the trust occur in accordance with the trust instrument. The trust instrument is a document that tells the administrator what he must do to manage the trust. In executing this obligation, the administrator must act in good faith. This means that the trustee must be honest in performing his or her duties and not do anything to take advantage of or defraud the beneficiaries of the trust. An administrator must also manage the trust instrument in accordance with the law.
Trust administration requires a trustee to assemble the trust’s property and assets, referred to by law as “res.” The protection and investment of the res are duties of the administrator. A trustee must also pay applicable taxes on the trust assets. The law requires a manager to perform all of the manager’s duties in a prudent manner. In performing the duties of a manager, a person serving as a manager may need to obtain professional investment advice. If a trustee has special knowledge or skills, the law imposes a duty to exercise those skills for the benefit of the trust.
A duty of impartiality is one of the many duties of the administrator. If a trust has multiple beneficiaries, this duty requires the trustee to treat all beneficiaries fairly. This means that a trustee cannot do anything to favor one beneficiary over the interests of other beneficiaries, although a trust instrument may require different treatment of beneficiaries in terms of distributions from the trust. A trustee must still invest and manage the property and assets of the trust fairly.
The duties of the administrator include the obligation to keep the beneficiaries informed. Beneficiaries have the right to obtain a copy of the trust instrument and information about the administration of the trust. An administrator will ordinarily provide an annual report to the beneficiaries. An administrator must also provide information to beneficiaries upon request. Additionally, an administrator should always ensure that recipients have their contact information to allow recipients to get in touch without difficulty.
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