(a) As used in this section:

(1) “Contracting trustee” means any trust company, as defined in Kan. Stat. Ann. § 9-701, and amendments thereto, any bank that has been granted trust authority by the commissioner under Kan. Stat. Ann. § 9-1602, and amendments thereto, any national bank chartered to do business in Kansas that has been granted trust authority by the comptroller of the currency under 12 U.S.C. § 92a, any bank that has been granted trust authority or any trust company, regardless of where such bank or trust company is located, that is controlled, as defined in Kan. Stat. Ann. § 9-1612, and amendments thereto, by the same bank holding company as any trust company, state bank or national bank chartered to do business in Kansas, which accepts or succeeds to any fiduciary responsibility as provided in this section;

(2) “originating trustee” means any trust company, bank, national banking association, savings and loan association or savings bank which has trust powers and its principal place of business is in this state and which places or transfers any fiduciary responsibility to a contracting trustee as provided in this section; and

(3) “financial institution” means any bank, national banking association, savings and loan association or savings bank which has its principal place of business in this state but which does not have trust powers.

(b) Any contracting trustee and any originating trustee may enter into an agreement by which the contracting trustee, without any further authorization of any kind, succeeds to and is substituted for the originating trustee as to all fiduciary powers, rights, duties, privileges and liabilities with respect to all accounts for which the originating trustee serves in any fiduciary capacity, except as may be provided otherwise in the agreement. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, no contracting trustee with a home office outside the state of Kansas shall enter into an agreement except with an originating trustee which is commonly controlled as defined in Kan. Stat. Ann. § 9-1612, and amendments thereto, by the same bank holding company.

(c) Unless the agreement expressly provides otherwise, upon the effective date of the substitution:

(1) The contracting trustee shall be deemed to be named as the fiduciary in all writings, including, without limitation, trust agreements, wills and court orders, which pertain to the affected fiduciary accounts; and

(2) the originating trustee is absolved from all fiduciary duties and obligations arising under such writings and shall discontinue the exercise of any fiduciary duties with respect to such writings, except that the originating trustee is not absolved or discharged from any duty to account required by Kan. Stat. Ann. § 59-1709, and amendments thereto, or any other applicable statute, rule of law, rules and regulations or court order, nor shall the originating trustee be absolved from any breach of fiduciary duty or obligation occurring prior to the effective date of the agreement.

(d) The agreement may authorize the contracting trustee:

(1) To establish a trust service desk at any office of the originating trustee at which the contracting trustee may conduct any trust business and any business incidental thereto and which the contracting trustee may otherwise conduct at its principal place of business; and

(2) to engage the originating trustee as the agent of the contracting trustee, on a disclosed basis to customers, for the purposes of providing administrative, advertising and safekeeping services incident to the fiduciary services provided by the contracting trustee.

(e) Any contracting trustee may enter into an agreement with a financial institution providing that the contracting trustee may establish a trust service desk as authorized by subsection (d) in the offices of such financial institution and which provides such financial institution, on a disclosed basis to customers, may act as the agent of contracting trustee for purposes of providing administrative services and advertising incident to the fiduciary services to be performed by the contracting trustee.

(f) No activity authorized by subsections (b) through (e) shall be conducted by any contracting trustee, originating trustee or financial institution until an application for such authority has been submitted to and approved by the commissioner. The application shall be in the form and contain the information required by the commissioner, which shall at a minimum include certified copies of the following documents:

(1) The agreement;

(2) the written action taken by the board of directors of the originating trustee or financial institution approving the agreement;

(3) all other required regulatory approvals;

(4) proof of publication of notice that the applicant intends to file or has filed an application pursuant to this section. The notice shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the principal office of the originating trustee or financial institution is located. The notice shall be in the form prescribed by the commissioner and shall contain the name of the applicant contracting trustee and the originating trustee, and a solicitation for written comments. The notice shall be published on the same day for two consecutive weeks and provide for a comment period of not less than 10 days after the date of the second publication; and

(5) a certification by the parties to the agreement that written notice of the proposed substitution was sent by first-class mail to each co-fiduciary, each surviving settlor of a trust, each ward of a guardianship, each person that has sole or shared power to remove the originating trustee as fiduciary and each adult beneficiary currently receiving or entitled to receive a distribution of principle or income from a fiduciary account affected by the agreement, and that such notice was sent to each such person’s address as shown in the originating trustee’s records. An unintentional failure to give such notice shall not impair the validity or effect of any such agreement, except an intentional failure to give such notice shall render the agreement null and void as to the party not receiving the notice of substitution.

(g) A contracting trustee making application to the commissioner for approval of any agreement pursuant to this section shall pay to the commissioner a fee, in an amount established pursuant to Kan. Stat. Ann. § 9-1726, and amendments thereto, to defray the expenses of the commissioner in the examination and investigation of the application. The commissioner shall remit all moneys received under this section to the state treasurer in accordance with the provisions of Kan. Stat. Ann. § 75-4215, and amendments thereto. Upon receipt of each such remittance, the state treasurer shall deposit the entire amount in the state treasury to the credit of the bank investigation fund. The moneys in the bank investigation fund shall be used to pay the expenses of the commissioner, or designee, in the examination and investigation of such applications and any unused balance shall be transferred to the bank commissioner fee fund.

(h) Upon the filing of a complete application with the commissioner, the commissioner shall make or cause to be made, a careful examination and investigation of the proposed agreement. If the commissioner finds any of the following matters unfavorably, the commissioner may deny the application:

(1) The reasonable probability of usefulness and success of the contracting trustee; and

(2) the financial history and condition of the contracting trustee including the character, qualifications and experience of the officers employed by the contracting trustee.

(i) The commissioner shall render approval or disapproval of the application within 90 days of receiving a complete application.

(j) Upon service of an order denying an application, the applicant shall have the right to a hearing to be conducted in accordance with the Kansas administrative procedure act before the state banking board. Any final order of the commissioner pursuant to this section is subject to review in accordance with the Kansas judicial review act.

(k) When the commissioner determines that any contracting trustee domiciled in this state has entered into a contracting agreement in violation of the laws governing the operation of such contracting trustee, the commissioner may take such action as available under Kan. Stat. Ann. § 9-1714, 9-1805, 9-1807 or 9-1809, and amendments thereto, to remedy such violation.

(l) Any party entitled to receive a notice under subsection (f)(5) may file a petition in the court having jurisdiction over the fiduciary relationship, or if none, in the district court in the county where the originating trustee has its principal office, seeking to remove any contracting trustee substituted or about to be substituted as fiduciary pursuant to this section. Unless the contracting trustee files a written consent to its removal or a written declination to act subsequent to the filing of the petition, the court, upon notice and hearing, shall determine the best interest of the petitioner and all other parties concerned and shall fashion such relief as the court deems appropriate in the circumstances, including the awarding of reasonable attorney fees. The right to file a petition under this subsection shall be in addition to any other rights to remove the fiduciary provided by any other statute or regulation or by the writing creating the fiduciary relationship. If the removal of the fiduciary is prompted solely as a result of the contracting agreement, any reasonable cost associated with such removal and transfer shall be paid by the originating trustee or financial institution entering into the agreement.