Ohio Code 5816.09 – Automatic removal of trustees; general rules on successor
Any successor or replacement trustees of a legacy trust shall be determined or selected in the following manners:
Terms Used In Ohio Code 5816.09
- Another: when used to designate the owner of property which is the subject of an offense, includes not only natural persons but also every other owner of property. See Ohio Code 1.02
- 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
- Creditor: means a person who has a claim against a transferor and any transferee or assignee of, or successor to, that claim. See Ohio Code 5816.02
- Disposition: includes the exercise of a general power so as to cause a transfer of property to a trustee or trustees but does not include any of the following:
(1) The release or relinquishment of an interest in property that, until the release or relinquishment, was the subject of a qualified disposition;
(2) The exercise of a limited power so as to cause a transfer of property to a trustee or trustees;
(3) A disclaimer of an interest in a trust, bequest, devise, or inheritance. See Ohio Code 5816.02
- Legacy: A gift of property made by will.
- Legacy trust: means a trust evidenced by a written trust instrument to which all of the following apply:
(a) The trust has, names, or appoints at least one qualified trustee for or in connection with the property that is the subject of a qualified disposition. See Ohio Code 5816.02
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Qualified trustee: means a person who is not a transferor and to whom both of the following apply:
(1)(a) The person, if a natural person, is a resident of this state. See Ohio Code 5816.02
- state: means the state of Ohio. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.
(A)(1) Division (A)(2) of this section applies if in any action involving a legacy trust or any trustee of the legacy trust a court enters or issues any order in which or by which the court declines to apply the law of this state in determining any of the following matters:
(a) The validity, construction, or administration of the trust;
(b) The effect of any term or condition of the trust, including, but not limited to, a spendthrift provision;
(c) The rights and remedies of any creditor or other suitor in connection with a qualified disposition.
(2) Immediately upon the court’s entry or issuance of an order referred to in division (A)(1) of this section, and without the need for any other order of any court, any qualified trustee who is a party to that action shall cease in all respects to be a trustee of the legacy trust, and the position of trustee shall be occupied in accordance with the terms of the trust instrument that governed the legacy trust immediately before that cessation, or, if the terms of the trust instrument do not provide for another trustee and the trust would otherwise be without a trustee, any court of this state, upon the application of any beneficiary of the legacy trust, shall appoint a successor qualified trustee upon the terms and conditions that it determines to be consistent with the purposes of the trust and this chapter. Upon a qualified trustee ceasing to be a trustee pursuant to division (A)(2) of this section, that qualified trustee shall have no power or authority other than to convey trust property to any other trustee that is appointed, installed, or serving in accordance with that division.
(3) For purposes of division (A) of this section:
(a) “Court” includes a judicial tribunal, an administrative tribunal, or other adjudicative body or panel.
(b) “Order” includes any order, writ, judgment, entry, edict, mandate, directive, instruction, or decree issued or entered by any court.
(B) In all cases other than the situation described in division (A) of this section, both of the following apply:
(1) If a legacy trust ceases to have at least one qualified trustee, the vacancy in the qualified trusteeship shall be filled pursuant to section 5807.04 of the Revised Code except to the extent that the legacy trust expressly provides otherwise.
(2) If a legacy trust ceases to have at least one trustee, the vacancy in the trusteeship shall be filled pursuant to section 5807.04 of the Revised Code, and the successor trustee shall be a qualified trustee unless the legacy trust instrument expressly provides otherwise.
Last updated May 20, 2021 at 2:23 PM