HB 6129 Summary

• Adds section 7703b to allow trust instruments to include a "separate trustees provision" that divides trusteeship responsibilities into discrete sets, allocating each to separate trustees who are not cotrustees in their relations to one another.

• Separate trustees may include a separate investment trustee (performing investment functions), separate distributions trustee (exercising discretion under specified provisions), and separate resultant trustee (performing all other trustee functions).

• Separate trustees act independently on their assigned functions without needing approval from other separate trustees, except they are treated as cotrustees only for purposes of holding title, determining venue, tax liability, and related administrative matters.

• A separate trustee has no duty to monitor, review, or warn about breaches by other separate trustees and is not liable for another separate trustee's actions absent clear and convincing evidence of collusion.

• Amends section 7704 to clarify that vacancies in separate trusteeships under a separate trustees provision must be filled only if all trustees in any separate trusteeship are vacant, and establishes that separate trustees are not themselves a cotrusteeship.