(a) During the lifetime of the settlor of a revocable trust, regardless of whether the settlor has capacity to revoke the trust, the trustee‘s duties under this section are owed exclusively to the settlor. If the settlor lacks capacity to revoke the trust, a trustee may satisfy the trustee’s duties under this section by providing information and reports to any one or more of the following in the order of preference listed:
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Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-813
- 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 who:(1) Has a present or future beneficial interest in a trust, vested or contingent; or
- Conservator: means a person appointed by the court to administer the estate of a minor or adult individual. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-103
- Court: means the circuit court in this State having jurisdiction over all subject matter relating to trusts. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-103
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Guardian: means a person appointed by the court, a parent, or a spouse to make decisions regarding the support, care, education, health, and welfare of a minor or adult individual. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-103
- Incapacitated: means an individual who, for reasons other than age, is unable to manage property and business affairs effectively because of an impairment in the ability to receive and evaluate information or to make or communicate decisions, even with the use of appropriate and reasonably available technological assistance or because of another physical, mental, or health impairment, or because the individual is missing, detained, or unable to return to the United States. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-103
- Interests of the beneficiaries: means the beneficial interests provided in the terms of the trust. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-103
- Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor.
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- 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 Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-103
- Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
- Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, legal or equitable, or any interest therein. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-103
- Qualified beneficiary: means a beneficiary who, on the date the beneficiary's qualification is determined:(1) Is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal;(2) Would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal if the interests of the distributees described in paragraph (1) terminated on that date without causing the trust to terminate; or
- 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, who creates, or contributes property to, a trust. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-103
- Spouse: includes individuals who are married to each other and individuals who are reciprocal beneficiaries. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-103
- Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
- Trust instrument: means an instrument executed by the settlor that contains terms of the trust, including any amendments thereto. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-103
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Trustee: includes an original, additional, and successor trustee, and a cotrustee. See Hawaii Revised Statutes 554D-103
If the settlor lacks capacity to revoke the trust and there are no persons listed in this subsection to whom the trustee may provide information and reports, the trustee shall satisfy its duties under this section by providing information and reports to the qualified beneficiaries.
(b) After the settlor’s death, 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 them to protect their interests. Unless unreasonable under the circumstances, a trustee shall promptly respond to a qualified beneficiary‘s request for information related to the administration of the trust.
(c) After the settlor’s death, a trustee:
(1) Upon request of a qualified beneficiary, shall promptly furnish to the qualified beneficiary a copy 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;
(3) Within sixty days after the date the trustee acquires knowledge of the creation of an irrevocable trust or the date 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 (d); and
(4) Shall notify the qualified beneficiaries in advance of any change in the method or rate of the trustee’s compensation.
(d) A trustee shall send to the distributees or permissible distributees of trust income or principal and other qualified beneficiaries who request it, at least annually and at the termination of the trust, a report of the trust property, liabilities, receipts, and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee’s compensation, and a listing of the trust assets and, if feasible, their respective market values. Upon a vacancy in a trusteeship, unless a cotrustee remains in office, a report shall be sent to the qualified beneficiaries by the former trustee. A personal representative, conservator, or guardian may send the qualified beneficiaries a report on behalf of a deceased or incapacitated trustee.
(e) A qualified beneficiary may waive the right to a trustee’s report or other information otherwise required to be furnished under this section. A qualified beneficiary, with respect to future reports and other information, may withdraw a waiver previously given.
(f) A trustee may charge a reasonable fee to a qualified beneficiary for providing information under this section.
(g) Every trustee acting under appointment of any court or under any appointment requiring the approval of any court shall, except where the prior trustee, if any, was not required by statute or the instrument creating the trust or appointing the trustee to file an account, file annually with the court having jurisdiction thereof an account showing in detail all receipts and disbursements, together with a full and detailed inventory of all property in the trustee’s possession or under the trustee’s control; provided that the court, when it deems it advisable in the interests of the beneficiaries, may permit the accounts to be filed biennially or triennially instead of annually or, if they are filed annually, may permit them to accumulate to be passed upon biennially or triennially; provided further that the court on its own examination or that of its clerk shall, without reference to a master, pass upon the accounts when the annual income does not exceed $1,000, except in the case of a final account when the court may refer the same to a master, irrespective of the amount of the annual income, if for any reason it is deemed proper or necessary. If any trustee fails to file an account as required in this section, the clerk of the court in which the trustee is required to file the account shall notify the trustee promptly of the failure, and if the trustee fails to file the account within thirty days after the notification, the trustee shall be cited to appear before the court and be required to show cause why the trustee should not be punished for contempt of court as provided by § 710-1077, and the trustee shall be subject to all of the penalties provided in that section. The court may also, in its discretion, remove the trustee.
(h) Unless otherwise required by the instrument creating the trust, nothing in this section shall be construed to require the filing of an annual account either by a trustee or trustees appointed by the court as additional trustee or trustees to serve with or in the place and stead of a trustee or trustees appointed in the instrument creating a trust or by a trustee whose appointment is made in accordance with or pursuant to the instrument creating the trust where the appointment has been confirmed by any court in proceedings brought to secure the confirmation or approval thereof.
(i) Subsection (c)(2) and (3) shall not apply to:
(1) A trustee who accepts a trusteeship before the effective date of this chapter;
(2) An irrevocable trust created before the effective date of this chapter; or
(3) A revocable trust that becomes irrevocable before the effective date of this chapter.
