35-15-813 - Duty to inform and report. - Tennessee Statutes

35-15-813. Duty to inform and report.

(a)  (1)  A trustee shall keep the beneficiaries of the trust who are current mandatory or permissible distributees of trust income or principal, or both, reasonably informed about the administration of the trust and of the material facts necessary for them to protect their interests.

     (2)  Unless unreasonable under the circumstances, a trustee shall respond in a reasonable amount of time to a qualified beneficiary's request for information related to the administration of the trust. Additionally, a qualified beneficiary shall reimburse the trustee for any reasonable expenses incurred in responding to requests for information.

(b)  The trustee of an irrevocable or non-grantor trust within sixty (60) days after the acceptance and funding of a trust, excluding nominal funding for the trust to have corpus or the depositing of insurance policies on the life of a living person, shall notify each current income beneficiary and each vested ultimate beneficiary of a remainder interest that the trust has been established.

     (1)  The required notice shall:

          (A)  Be sent by first class mail or personal delivery; and

          (B)  Consist of either a complete copy of the document establishing the trust together with the trustee's name, address and telephone number or an abstract of the trust, whichever the trustee, in the trustee's absolute discretion, may choose.

     (2)  The abstract shall contain:

          (A)  The name, address and telephone number of each trustee; and

          (B)  If for a current income beneficiary:

                (i)  The number of other current income beneficiaries;

                (ii)  Whether distributions of income are required or discretionary;

                (iii)  Whether distributions of principal are permitted and, if so, for what purpose or purposes;

                (iv)  An estimate of the value of the trust at the date of the notice from which distributions may be made; and

                (v)  An estimate of the income that may be distributable to the beneficiary; and

          (C)  If for a remainder beneficiary:

                (i)  The number of other remainder beneficiaries;

                (ii)  An estimate of the value of the trust at the date of the notice; and

                (iii)  The conditions which must be met before the beneficiary's share is distributable.

(c)  Upon the termination of an interest of any one (1) or more of the current income beneficiaries, the trustee shall similarly notify the income beneficiaries who are takers of the terminated interest of their interest by sending or delivering them the notice required in subsection (b).

(d)  A beneficiary may waive the right to a trustee's report or other information otherwise required to be furnished under this section. A beneficiary, with respect to future reports and other information, may withdraw a waiver previously given.

(e)  Subsections (a) and (b) shall not apply to the extent that the terms of the trust provide otherwise or the settlor of the trust directs otherwise in a writing delivered to the trustee.

(f)  Subdivision (a)(1) and subsection (b) do not apply to a trust created under a trust agreement that became irrevocable before July 1, 2004. Trust law in effect prior to July 1, 2004, regarding the subject matter of subdivision (a)(1) and subsection (b) shall continue to apply to those trusts.

[Acts 2004, ch. 537, § 71; 2007, ch. 24, §§ 28-30.]