Title 59, Trusts

While a trust is revocable, the trustee may follow a direction of the settlor which is contrary to the terms of the trust.

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3, a person designated as trustee accepts the trusteeship by substantially complying with a method of acceptance provided in the terms of the trust or, if the terms of the trust do not provide a method or the method provided in the te…

1. A trustee shall give bond to secure performance of the trustee's duties only if the court finds that a bond is needed to protect the interests of the beneficiaries or is required by the terms of the trust and the court has not dispensed with the requirement. 2. The court may s…

1. Cotrustees who are unable to reach a unanimous decision may act by majority decision. 2. If a vacancy occurs in a cotrusteeship, the remaining cotrustees may act for the trust. 3. A cotrustee must participate in the performance of a trustee's function unless the cotrustee is u…

1. A vacancy in a trusteeship occurs if a person designated as trustee declines the trusteeship, a person designated as trustee cannot be identified, cannot be located, or does not exist, a trustee resigns, a trustee is disqualified or removed, a trustee dies, or a guardian or co…

1. A trustee may resign: a. Upon at least thirty days' notice to the settlor, if living, to all cotrustees, and the qualified beneficiaries, except those qualified beneficiaries under a revocable trust that the settlor has the capacity to revoke; or b. With the approval of the co…

1. The settlor, a cotrustee, or a beneficiary may request the court to remove a trustee, or a trustee may be removed by the court on its own initiative. 2. The court may remove a trustee if the trustee has committed a serious breach of trust; if lack of cooperation among cotruste…

1. Unless a cotrustee remains in office or the court otherwise orders, and until the trust property is delivered to a successor trustee or other person entitled to it, a trustee who has resigned or been removed has the duties of a trustee and the powers necessary to protect the t…

1. If the terms of a trust do not specify the trustee's compensation, a trustee is entitled to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances. 2. If the terms of a trust specify the trustee's compensation, the trustee is entitled to be compensated as specified, but the c…

1. A trustee is entitled to be reimbursed out of the trust property, with interest as appropriate, for expenses that were properly incurred in the administration of the trust and, to the extent necessary to prevent unjust enrichment of the trust, expenses that were not properly i…

Upon acceptance of a trusteeship, the trustee shall administer the trust in good faith, in accordance with its purposes and in accordance with chapters 59-09, 59-10, 59-11, 59-12, 59-13, 59-14, 59-15, 59-16, 59-17, 59-18, and 59-19.

1. A trustee shall administer the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries. 2. Subject to the rights of persons dealing with or assisting the trustee as provided in section 59-18-12, a sale, encumbrance, or other transaction involving the investment or management of tru…

If a trust has two or more beneficiaries, the trustee shall act impartially in investing, managing, and distributing the trust property, giving due regard to the beneficiaries' respective interests.

A trustee shall administer the trust as a prudent person would by considering the purposes, terms, distributional requirements, and other circumstances of the trust. In satisfying this standard, the trustee shall exercise reasonable care, skill, and caution.

In administering a trust, the trustee may incur only costs that are reasonable in relation to the trust property, the purposes of the trust, and the skills of the trustee.

A trustee who has special skills or expertise, or is named trustee in reliance upon the trustee's representation that the trustee has special skills or expertise, shall use those special skills or expertise.

1. A trustee may delegate duties and powers that a prudent trustee of comparable skills could properly delegate under the circumstances. The trustee shall exercise reasonable care, skill, and caution in selecting an agent; establishing the scope and terms of the delegation, consi…

A trustee shall take reasonable steps to take control of and protect the trust property.

1. A trustee shall keep adequate records of the administration of the trust. 2. A trustee shall keep trust property separate from the trustee's own property. 3. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 4, a trustee, other than a trustee granted trust or fiduciary powers from a …

A trustee shall take reasonable steps to enforce claims of the trust and to defend claims against the trust.

A trustee shall take reasonable steps to compel a former trustee or other person to deliver trust property to the trustee and to redress a breach of trust known to the trustee to have been committed by a former trustee or other fiduciary.

1. Subject to section 59-14-03, while a trust is revocable or to the extent that trust property in an irrevocable trust is subject to a power of withdrawal, or to the extent that the qualified beneficiary of an irrevocable trust is then unknown because a person holds a power to c…

1. Notwithstanding the breadth of discretion granted to a trustee in the terms of the trust, including the use of such terms as absolute, sole, or uncontrolled, the trustee shall exercise a discretionary power in good faith and in accordance with the purposes of the trust. 2. Sub…

A trustee, without authorization by the court, may exercise powers conferred by the terms of the trust and, except as limited by the terms of the trust, all powers over the trust property which an unmarried owner, who is not an incapacitated person, has over individually owned pr…

Without limiting the authority conferred by section 59-16-15, a trustee may: 1. Collect trust property and accept or reject additions to the trust property from a settlor or any other person. 2. Acquire or sell property, for cash or on credit, at public or private sale. 3. Exchan…

1. Upon termination or partial termination of a trust, the trustee may send to the beneficiaries, and the attorney general in the case of a charitable trust, a proposal for distribution. The right of any beneficiary, or the attorney general in the case of a charitable trust, to o…

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, a trustee who invests and manages trust assets owes a duty to the beneficiaries of the trust to comply with the prudent investor rule set forth in sections 59-16-02, 59-16-03, 59-16-05, 59-16-06, and 59-16-07 and in this chapter. 2…

1. A trustee shall invest and manage trust assets as a prudent investor would, by considering the purposes, terms, distribution requirements, and other circumstances of the trust. In satisfying this standard, the trustee shall exercise reasonable care, skill, and caution. 2. A tr…

A trustee shall diversify the investments of the trust unless the trustee reasonably determines that, because of special circumstances, the purposes of the trust are better served without diversifying.

Within a reasonable time after accepting a trusteeship or receiving trust assets, a trustee shall review the trust assets and make and implement decisions concerning the retention and disposition of assets, in order to bring the trust portfolio into compliance with the purposes, …

Compliance with the prudent investor rule is determined in light of the facts and circumstances existing at the time of a trustee's decision or action and not by hindsight.

The following terms or comparable language in the provisions of a trust, unless otherwise limited or modified, authorizes any investment or strategy permitted under this chapter: investments permissible by law for investment of trust funds, legal investments, authorized investmen…

1. A violation by a trustee of a duty the trustee owes to a beneficiary is a breach of trust. 2. To remedy a breach of trust that has occurred or may occur, the court may compel the trustee to perform the trustee's duties; enjoin the trustee from committing a breach of trust; com…

A transaction between a trustee and the trust's beneficiary during the existence of the trust or while the influence acquired by the trustee remains by which the trustee obtains any advantage from the trust's beneficiary is presumed to be entered by the trust's beneficiary withou…

1. A trustee who commits a breach of trust is liable to the beneficiaries affected for the greater of the amount required to restore the value of the trust property and trust distributions to what they would have been had the breach not occurred or the profit the trustee made by …

Absent a breach of trust, a trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for a loss or depreciation in the value of trust property or for not having made a profit.

1. A beneficiary may not commence a proceeding against a trustee for breach of trust more than one year after the date the beneficiary or a representative of the beneficiary was sent a report that adequately disclosed the existence of a potential claim for breach of trust and inf…

A trustee who acts in reasonable reliance on the terms of the trust as expressed in the trust instrument is not liable to a beneficiary for a breach of trust to the extent the breach resulted from the reliance.

If the happening of an event, including marriage, divorce, performance of educational requirements, or death, affects the administration or distribution of a trust, a trustee who has exercised reasonable care to ascertain the happening of the event is not liable for a loss result…

1. A term of a trust relieving a trustee of liability for breach of trust is unenforceable to the extent that the term relieves the trustee of liability for breach of trust committed in bad faith or with reckless indifference to the purposes of the trust or was inserted as the re…

A trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for breach of trust if the beneficiary consented to the conduct constituting the breach, released the trustee from liability for the breach, or ratified the transaction constituting the breach, unless the consent, release, or ratification …

1. Except as otherwise provided in the contract, a trustee is not personally liable on a contract properly entered into in the trustee's fiduciary capacity in the course of administering the trust if the trustee in the contract disclosed the fiduciary capacity. The addition of th…

1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 3 or unless personal liability is imposed in the contract, a trustee who holds an interest as a general partner in a general or limited partnership is not personally liable on a contract entered into by the partnership after the trust…

1. A person other than a beneficiary who in good faith assists a trustee, or who in good faith and for value deals with a trustee, without knowledge that the trustee is exceeding or improperly exercising the trustee's powers, is protected from liability as if the trustee properly…

1. Unless otherwise required by chapter 59-09, 59-10, 59-11, 59-12, 59-13, 59-14, 59-15, 59-16, 59-17, 59-18, or 59-19, the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of trust containing information that includes that the trust exists and the effective date of the trust in…

The provisions of chapters 59-09, 59-10, 59-11, 59-12, 59-13, 59-14, 59-15, 59-16, 59-17, 59-18, and 59-19 governing the legal effect, validity, or enforceability of electronic records or electronic signatures, and of contracts formed or performed with the use of such records or …