§ 1104 - No duty to review actions of trustee, trust advisor, or trust protector - Vermont Statutes

§ 1104. No duty to review actions of trustee, trust advisor, or trust protector

(a) Whenever, pursuant to the terms of a trust, an agreement of the qualified beneficiaries authorized by the terms of the trust, or a court order, an excluded fiduciary is to follow the direction of a trustee, trust advisor, or trust protector with respect to investment decisions, distribution decisions, or other decisions of the non-excluded fiduciary, then, except to the extent that the terms of the trust, the agreement of the qualified beneficiaries, or the court order provide otherwise, the excluded fiduciary shall have no duty to:

(1) monitor the conduct of the trustee, trust advisor, or trust protector;

(2) provide advice to the trustee, trust advisor, or trust protector or consult with the trustee, trust advisor, or trust protector; or

(3) communicate with or warn or apprise any beneficiary or third party concerning instances in which the excluded fiduciary would or might have exercised the excluded fiduciary's own discretion in a manner different from the manner directed by the trustee, trust advisor, or trust protector.

(b) Absent clear and convincing evidence to the contrary, the actions of the excluded fiduciary pertaining to matters within the scope of the trustee's, trust advisor's, or trust protector's authority including confirming that the trustee's, trust advisor's, or trust protector's directions have been carried out, recording and reporting actions taken at the trustee's, trust advisor's, or trust protector's direction, or taking action pursuant to section 813 of this title, shall be presumed to be administrative actions taken by the excluded fiduciary solely to allow the excluded fiduciary to perform those duties assigned to the excluded fiduciary under the terms of the trust, the agreement of the qualified beneficiaries, or the court order, and such administrative actions shall not be deemed to constitute an undertaking by the excluded fiduciary to monitor the trustee, trust advisor, or trust protector or otherwise participate in actions within the scope of the trustee's, trust advisor's, or trust protector's authority. (Added 2009, No. 20, § 1.)