Title LVI, Probate Courts and Decedents' Estates

(a) A trust advisor or trust protector may delegate to any person, even if that person is associated or affiliated with the trust advisor or trust protector, any duty or power that a prudent trust advisor or trust protector of comparable skills and having the same power or duty c…

(a) Unless the governing documents provide otherwise, the protectors may: (1) Establish one or more committees; (2) Appoint one or more protectors as members of a committee; (3) Remove one or more members of a committee; and (4) Terminate any committee. (b) To the extent specifie…

(a) Subject to subsection (b), a trust advisor or trust protector may delegate to any trustee, trust advisor, or trust protector, even if that person is associated or affiliated with the trust advisor or trust protector, any duty or power that a prudent trust advisor or trust pro…

(a) Unless the governing documents provide otherwise, the protectors may delegate to any one or more persons any duty or power that prudent protectors of comparable skills and having the same power or duty could properly delegate under the circumstances. (b) The protectors may de…

(a) Unless the governing documents provide otherwise, each protector shall have one vote on each matter on which the protectors may vote. (b) Unless the governing documents provide otherwise, each matter on which the protectors may vote shall be decided by vote of a majority of t…

(a) A trust advisor or trust protector shall have the power to employ any attorney or other person, even if the person is affiliated or associated with the trust advisor or trust protector, to advise the trust advisor or trust protector in the performance of the trust advisor's o…

(a) The governing documents may set forth provisions relating to: (1) Notice of the time, place, or purpose of any meeting at which any matter is to be voted on by any protectors or class of protectors; (2) Waiver of any notice of a meeting; (3) Action by vote without a meeting; …

Unless the governing documents provide otherwise, the protectors may take any vote without a meeting and without prior notice if the vote is recorded in a writing setting forth the action so taken and is signed by all of the protectors.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b): (1) a person shall either accept an acknowledged power of attorney or request a certification, a translation, or an opinion of counsel under RSA 564-E:119(d) no later than 7 business days after presentation of the power of attor…

Unless displaced by a provision of this chapter, the principles of law and equity supplement this chapter.

This chapter does not supersede any other law applicable to financial institutions or other entities, and the other law controls if inconsistent with this chapter.

The remedies under this chapter are not exclusive and do not abrogate any right or remedy under the law of this state other than this chapter.

Any trustee appointed by the judge shall demand and receive of the original trustee all such estate as may have come to his hands by virtue of the trust, and shall manage, pay, and deliver over such property, or the income thereof, in the same manner and under the same obligation…

A protector has a duty to act in good faith, in accordance with the provisions of the governing documents, and in accordance with this chapter.

(a) Unless the governing documents provide otherwise, a protector has a duty to exercise his, her, or its powers solely in the interests of the foundation's purposes and the beneficiaries' interests. (b) Unless the governing documents provide otherwise, a transaction not concerni…

Unless the governing documents provide otherwise, if a foundation has two or more beneficiaries, then the protector has a duty to act impartially in exercising his, her, or its powers, giving due regard to the foundation's purposes and the beneficiaries' interests.

Unless the governing documents provide otherwise, a protector shall keep adequate records of the protector's acts as a protector.

(a) Unless the governing documents provide otherwise, a protector who has special skills or expertise shall use those special skills or expertise. (b) Unless the governing documents provide otherwise, a protector who is appointed as a protector in reliance upon the protector's re…

The judge, on application of a trustee or of any person interested, may, after notice to all persons interested, authorize and require the trustee to sell any property holden in trust, and to invest the proceeds of the sale in such manner as will be most for the interest of all p…

(a) Subject to subsection (b), a beneficiary's interest is a mere expectancy and is not a property interest or an enforceable right. (b) A beneficiary's interest is a property interest to the extent that: (1) The beneficiary has a currently exercisable power to appoint the founda…

(a) Subject to subsections (b) and (c), the following shall apply: (1) A conservator may represent and bind the conservatee. (2) The following person may represent and bind an incompetent individual: (A) A guardian of the incompetent individual's estate; or (B) A guardian of the …

A person who receives a distribution from a foundation is liable to return the distribution to the extent that a court subsequently determines that the person was not entitled to the distribution.

(a) For the purposes of this section, a "no-contest provision" means a provision of the governing documents that, if given effect, would reduce or eliminate a beneficiary's interest because the beneficiary directly or indirectly initiates or otherwise pursues: (1) Any judicial pr…

When the purposes for which any trust was created have been performed, the judge may, by license and decree, authorize the trustee to transfer, by suitable deed or conveyance, any property remaining in his hands to such person as shall be entitled thereto.

(a) Subject to RSA 564-F:20-2007 and subsection (c), a foundation's debts, obligations, and liabilities, whether arising in contract, tort, or otherwise, shall be solely the foundation's debts, obligations, and liabilities. (b) Subject to RSA 564-F:20-2007 and subsection (c), a f…

(a) A transfer of property by a founder to the foundation shall not be void or voidable solely by reason that the transfer defeats any forced heirship, legitime, forced share, or any similar heirship right under the laws of a foreign jurisdiction. (b) The foundation property shal…

(a) Subject to subsection (c), a court may authorize a beneficiary's creditor or assignee to reach the beneficiary's interest by attachment of present or future distributions to or for the benefit of the beneficiary. (1) Attachment of distributions is the creditor's or assignee's…

The judge, upon petition of a trustee, may authorize a mortgage or a lease of the trust property, as provided in the case of guardians by RSA 462.

(a) The court may intervene in a foundation's affairs to the extent its jurisdiction is invoked by an interested person or as provided by law. (b) A foundation shall not be subject to continuing judicial supervision unless ordered by the court. (c) A judicial proceeding involving…

(a) By accepting an appointment as a foundation official, a foundation official shall be subject to the personal jurisdiction of the courts of this state regarding any matter involving the foundation. (b) With respect to the beneficiary's interest, a beneficiary shall be subject …

The probate division of the circuit court shall have exclusive jurisdiction over: (1) The formation, termination, and management of foundations; (2) The interpretation, construction, and modification of governing documents; and (3) The appointment, removal, and surcharge of found…

Venue for a judicial proceeding involving a foundation is in: (1) The county of this state in which the foundation's principal office is located; or (2) If the foundation does not have a principal office in this state, the county of this state in which the foundation's registered…

(a) A communication between an attorney and a client that is a foundation or a foundation official is privileged and is protected from disclosure to the same extent as a communication between an attorney and a client who is an individual acting in his or her personal capacity. (b…

(a) For purposes of this section, "interested person" means each of the following persons: (1) A founder; (2) A foundation official; (3) A person who, under the governing documents, has the power to enforce the terms of the governing documents; (4) If the trust is a charitable tr…

(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions shall apply: (1) "Interested person" means any person who would be an interested person in a judicial proceeding to resolve a dispute. (2) "Dispute" means any matter in which a court has subject-matter jurisdiction under…

When a trust estate is seized of an undivided fractional part of real estate the judge, upon petition of the trustee, notice and hearing, may authorize the trustee to purchase any other undivided fractional part of such real estate when it will be conducive to the interests of th…

(a) A court may modify a foundation's certificate of formation or its bylaws if: (1) All of the foundation officials consent to the modification; (2) All of the beneficiaries consent to the modification; (3) To the extent that the foundation is a charitable trust, the director of…

(a) A court may reform a foundation's certificate of formation or its bylaws for purposes of conforming the certificate of formation or the bylaws to the founder's intent if: (1) Whether in the expression or inducement, the foundation's certificate of formation or its bylaws were…

(a) To the extent that a foundation is a charitable trust and one of its charitable purposes becomes impossible, impracticable, illegal, obsolete, ineffective, or prejudicial to the public interest to achieve, a court may apply cy pres for the following purposes: (1) Modifying th…

(a) For purposes of remedying a breach of duty that has occurred or may occur, the court may: (1) Compel a foundation official to perform the foundation official's duties; (2) Enjoin a foundation official from committing a breach of duty; (3) Compel a foundation official to redre…

(a) A foundation official who commits a breach of duty is liable to the affected beneficiaries for the greater of: (1) The amount required to restore the value of the foundation's property and distributions to what they would have been had the breach of duty not occurred; or (2) …

(a) Even absent a breach of duty, a foundation official is accountable to an affected beneficiary for any profit made by the foundation official arising from the foundation's administration. (b) Absent a breach of duty, a foundation official is not liable to a beneficiary for a l…

In a judicial proceeding involving a foundation's administration, the court may award costs and expenses as justice and equity may require, including reasonable attorney's fees, to any party, to be paid by another party or from the foundation that is the subject of the controvers…

(a) A judicial proceeding against a foundation official for breach of duty may be commenced only within the earliest of: (1) In the case of a claim by a beneficiary, one year after the beneficiary was sent a report that adequately disclosed the existence of a potential claim for …

A foundation official who acts in reasonable reliance on the foundation's governing documents is not liable to any person for a breach of duty to the extent that the breach of duty resulted from that reliance.

(a) If the happening of an event affects the foundation's administration or a distribution from the foundation, then a foundation official who has exercised reasonable care to ascertain the happening of the event is not liable for a loss resulting from the foundation official's l…