Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499kkk – Trustee’s duty to inform and report
(a) A trustee shall keep the qualified beneficiaries of the trust reasonably informed about the administration of the trust and of the material facts necessary for the beneficiaries to protect their interests. A trustee shall promptly respond to a beneficiary‘s request for information reasonably related to the administration of the trust.
Terms Used In Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499kkk
- 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: means a person that (A) has a present or future beneficial interest in a trust, vested or contingent. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Court: means a court of this state having jurisdiction over the matter pursuant to sections 45a-499o and 45a-499p or a court of another state having jurisdiction under the law of the other state. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Designated representative: means any person designated as provided in subsection (a) of section 45a-499u, unless precluded from acting by the trust instrument or applicable law. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
- Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
- Inter vivos trust: means a trust that is not a testamentary trust. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal and whether legal or equitable, or any interest therein. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Qualified beneficiary: means a beneficiary that, on the date the beneficiary's qualification is determined: (A) Is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Revocable trust: A trust agreement that can be canceled, rescinded, revoked, or repealed by the grantor (person who establishes the trust).
- Settlor: means a person, including a testator, that creates or contributes property to a trust. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Testamentary trust: means a trust created under a will and, unless otherwise expressly provided, any trust established pursuant to an order of the Probate Court. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Trust instrument: means any instrument executed by the settlor, including a will establishing or creating a testamentary trust, that contains terms of the trust, including any amendments thereto. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Trustee: includes an original, additional and successor trustee and a cotrustee. See Connecticut General Statutes 45a-499c
(b) A trustee: (1) Upon request of a beneficiary, shall promptly furnish to the beneficiary a copy of the relevant portions of the trust instrument; (2) within sixty days after accepting a trusteeship, shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee’s name, address and telephone number; and (3) within sixty days after the date on which the trustee acquires knowledge of the creation of an irrevocable trust, or the date on which the trustee acquires knowledge that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable, whether by the death of the settlor or otherwise, shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of the trust’s existence, of the identity of the settlor or settlors, of the right to request a copy of the trust instrument, and of the right to a trustee’s report as provided in subsection (c) of this section.
(c) A trustee shall send a report to the current beneficiaries, and to other qualified beneficiaries who request it, at least annually and at the termination of the trust. Upon a vacancy in a trusteeship, unless a cotrustee remains in office, the former trustee shall send a report to the current beneficiaries and to other qualified beneficiaries who request it. An executor, administrator or conservator may send the report on behalf of a deceased or incapacitated trustee. The report may be formal or informal, but shall include information relating to the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the amount of the trustee’s compensation, a listing of the trust assets and, if feasible, their respective market values.
(d) A beneficiary of a trust may petition the court for an accounting by the trustee. The court may grant the petition of: (1) A qualified beneficiary of testamentary trust, if the court finds that an account is necessary to protect the interests of a beneficiary; (2) any other beneficiary of a testamentary trust, if the court finds that the same standard applicable to an inter vivos trust as set forth in subsection (c) of section 45a-175 is satisfied; and (3) a beneficiary of an inter vivos trust, if the court finds the standard set forth in subsection (c) of section 45a-175 is satisfied.
(e) Nothing in subsection (c) of this section limits the power of the court in an accounting proceeding to determine which beneficiaries are entitled to a copy of the accounting and to receive notice of the proceedings.
(f) Nothing in subsection (c) or (g) of this section limits a trustee’s obligations under section 45a-177.
(g) A beneficiary may waive the right to trustee’s reports 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.
(h) The provisions of subsections (b) and (c) of this section do not apply to an irrevocable trust created before January 1, 2020, or to a revocable trust that becomes irrevocable before January 1, 2020.
(i) Judicial approval of a trustee’s report forecloses claims as to those given notice of the proceeding as to matters disclosed in the report.
(j) The representation provisions of sections 45a-499q to 45a-499u, inclusive, apply with respect to all rights of any beneficiary under this section. Notice or information provided to a designated representative under section 45a-499u shall satisfy the trustee’s duty to provide information or notice required under sections 45a-487j to 45a-487t, inclusive, and 45a-499a to 45a-500s, inclusive.