(a) A trustee may adjust between principal and income to the extent the trustee considers necessary if:

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Terms Used In Tennessee Code 35-6-104

  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Beneficiary: includes , in the case of a decedent's estate, an heir, legatee, and devisee and, in the case of a trust, an income beneficiary and a remainder beneficiary. See Tennessee Code 35-6-102
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Income: means money or property that a fiduciary receives as current return from a principal asset. See Tennessee Code 35-6-102
  • Income interest: means the right of an income beneficiary to receive all or part of net income, whether the terms of the trust require it to be distributed or authorize it to be distributed in the trustee's discretion. See Tennessee Code 35-6-102
  • Person: means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity. See Tennessee Code 35-6-102
  • Principal: means property held in trust for distribution to a remainder beneficiary when the trust terminates. See Tennessee Code 35-6-102
  • Property: includes both personal and real property. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
  • Terms of a trust: means the manifestation of the intent of a settlor or decedent with respect to the trust, expressed in a manner that admits of its proof in a judicial proceeding, whether by written or spoken words or by conduct. See Tennessee Code 35-6-102
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • Trustee: includes an original, additional, or successor trustee, whether or not appointed or confirmed by a court. See Tennessee Code 35-6-102
(1) The trustee invests and manages trust assets as a prudent investor;
(2) The terms of the trust describe the amount that may or must be distributed to a beneficiary by referring to the trust’s income; and
(3) The trustee determines, after applying the rules in § 35-6-103(a), that the trustee is unable to comply with § 35-6-103(b).
(b) In deciding whether and to what extent to exercise the power to make adjustments under this section, the trustee may consider, but is not limited to, any of the following:

(1) The nature, purpose, and expected duration of the trust;
(2) The intent of the settlor;
(3) The identity and circumstances of the beneficiaries;
(4) The needs for liquidity, regularity of income, and preservation and appreciation of capital;
(5) The assets held in the trust; the extent to which they consist of financial assets, interests in closely held enterprises, tangible and intangible personal property, or real property; the extent to which an asset is used by a beneficiary; and whether an asset was purchased by the trustee or received from the settlor;
(6) The net amount allocated to income under the other sections of this chapter and the increase or decrease in the value of the principal assets, which the trustee may estimate as to assets for which market values are not readily available;
(7) Whether and to what extent the terms of the trust give the trustee the power to invade principal or accumulate income or prohibit the trustee from invading principal or accumulating income, and the extent to which the trustee has exercised a power from time to time to invade principal or accumulate income;
(8) The actual and anticipated effect of economic conditions on principal and income and effects of inflation and deflation; and
(9) The anticipated tax consequences of an adjustment.
(c) A trustee may not make an adjustment:

(1) That disqualifies the trust for an estate tax or gift tax marital or charitable deduction that would be allowed, in whole or in part, if the trustee did not have the power to make the adjustment;
(2) That reduces the actuarial value of the income interest in a trust to which a person transfers property with the intent to qualify for a gift tax exclusion;
(3) That changes the amount payable to a beneficiary as a fixed annuity or a fixed fraction of the value of the trust assets;
(4) From any amount that is permanently set aside for charitable purposes under a will or the terms of a trust unless both income and principal are so set aside;
(5) If possessing or exercising the power to make an adjustment causes an individual to be treated as the owner of all or part of the trust for income tax purposes, and the individual would not be treated as the owner if the trustee did not possess the power to make an adjustment;
(6) If possessing or exercising the power to make an adjustment causes all or part of the trust assets to be included for estate tax purposes in the estate of an individual who has the power to remove a trustee or appoint a trustee, or both, and the assets would not be included in the estate of the individual if the trustee did not possess the power to make an adjustment;
(7) If the trustee is a beneficiary of the trust; or
(8) If the trustee is not a beneficiary, but the adjustment would benefit the trustee directly or indirectly.
(d) If subdivision (c)(5), (c)(6), (c)(7), or (c)(8) applies to a trustee and there is more than one (1) trustee, a cotrustee to whom the provision does not apply may make the adjustment unless the exercise of the power by the remaining trustee or trustees is not permitted by the terms of the trust.
(e) A trustee may release the entire power conferred by subsection (a) or may release only the power to adjust from income to principal or the power to adjust from principal to income if the trustee is uncertain about whether possessing or exercising the power will cause a result described in subdivision (c)(1)-(6) or (c)(8), or if the trustee determines that possessing or exercising the power will or may deprive the trust of a tax benefit or impose a tax burden not described in subsection (c). The release may be permanent or for a specified period, including a period measured by the life of an individual.
(f) Terms of a trust that limit the power of a trustee to make an adjustment between principal and income do not affect the application of this section unless it is clear from the terms of the trust that the terms are intended to deny the trustee the power of adjustment conferred by subsection (a).
(g) Nothing in this section or in this chapter is intended to create or imply a duty to make an adjustment, and a trustee is not liable for not considering whether to make an adjustment or for choosing not to make an adjustment.
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