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Terms Used In New Jersey Statutes 3B:31-5

  • 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
  • Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor.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.
  • person: includes corporations, companies, associations, societies, firms, partnerships and joint stock companies as well as individuals, unless restricted by the context to an individual as distinguished from a corporate entity or specifically restricted to one or some of the above enumerated synonyms and, when used to designate the owner of property which may be the subject of an offense, includes this State, the United States, any other State of the United States as defined infra and any foreign country or government lawfully owning or possessing property within this State. See New Jersey Statutes 1:1-2
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
3B:31-5. Default and Mandatory Rules.
a. Except as otherwise provided in the terms of the trust, this act governs the duties and powers of a trustee, relations among trustees, and the rights and interests of a beneficiary.

b. The terms of a trust prevail over any provision of this act except:

(1) the requirements for creating a trust;

(2) the duty of a trustee to act in good faith and in accordance with the purposes of the trust;

(3) the requirement that a trust and its terms be for the benefit of its beneficiaries, and that the trust have a purpose that is lawful, not contrary to public policy, and possible to achieve;

(4) the power of the court to modify or terminate a trust under N.J.S. 3B:31-26 through N.J.S.3B:31-33;

(5) the effect of a spendthrift provision and the rights of certain creditors and assignees to reach a trust as provided in article 4 of this act;

(6) the power of the court under N.J.S. 3B:31-47 to require, dispense with, or modify or terminate a bond;

(7) the duty under subsections a. and b. of N.J.S. 3B:31-67 to respond to the request of a qualified beneficiary of an irrevocable trust who has attained the age of 35 years for a copy of the trust instrument or for other information reasonably related to the administration of the trust;

(8) the effect of an exculpatory term under N.J.S.3B:31-77;

(9) the rights under N.J.S. 3B:31-79 through N.J.S. 3B:31-81 of a person other than a trustee or beneficiary;

(10) periods of limitation for commencing a judicial proceeding; and

(11) the power of the court to take such action and exercise such jurisdiction as may be necessary in the interests of justice.

L.2015, c.276, s.1.