Section 51A-6A-57 - Notice of disapproval of agreement with contracting trustee--Petition to removecontracting trustee. - South Dakota Statutes

51A-6A-57. Notice of disapproval of agreement with contracting trustee--Petition to remove contracting trustee. The director may issue a notice disapproving any application filed pursuant to § 51A-6A-55 if the director determines the agreement fails to meet a public need and does not serve the public interest. No agreement becomes effective until the parties jointly file a certificate with the director certifying that at least thirty days prior to the agreement, written notice of the substitution was sent by first class mail to each co-fiduciary, each surviving settlor of a trust, each ward of a guardianship, each person who has sole or shared power to remove the originating trustee as fiduciary, and each adult beneficiary currently receiving or entitled to receive a distribution of principal or income from a fiduciary account affected by the agreement to each person's address as shown in the originating trustee's records. An unintentional failure to give notice does not impair the validity or effect of any agreement. However, intentional failure to give notice renders the agreement null and void as to the person not receiving the notice of substitution.
Any party entitled to receive a notice may file a petition in the court having jurisdiction over the fiduciary relationship, or if none, in the circuit court in the county where the originating trustee has its principal office, seeking to remove any contracting trustee substituted or about to be substituted as a fiduciary. Unless the contracting trustee files a written consent to its removal or a written declination to act subsequent to the filing of the petition, the court, upon notice and hearing, shall determine the best interests of the petitioner and all other parties concerned and shall fashion such relief as it deems appropriate in the circumstances, including the awarding of reasonable attorney fees. The right to file a petition under this section is in addition to any other rights to remove a fiduciary provided by any other statute or rule or by the writing creating the fiduciary relationship.

Source: SL 1995, ch 268, § 55.