El texto completo de esta guía está en inglés; el resumen anterior está en su idioma. Los resúmenes de las leyes y el inglés siguen siendo la fuente de referencia.
Revisado contra los Estatutos de Pensilvania el 2026-10-09. Información general, no asesoría legal; el texto oficial prevalece.
Chapter 77, Subchapter A: General provisions and definitions
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7703 ↗ Definitions
- Defines the terms the Uniform Trust Act uses — among them a "beneficiary"; a "current beneficiary", a person 18 or older to or for whom income or principal must currently be distributed, or 25 or older to or for whom it may be distributed in the trustee's discretion; a "qualified beneficiary", assuming no testamentary power of appointment is exercised; the "settlor"; and the "terms of a trust".
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7705 ↗ Trust controls; mandatory rules
- The terms of a trust prevail over the chapter except for the mandatory rules it lists: the requirements for creating a trust, the duty to act in good faith and by the terms and purposes (subject to the directed-trust sections), a lawful purpose, the court's powers to modify, terminate, set bond and adjust compensation, the effect of a spendthrift provision and creditors' rights, the whole §7780.3 duty to inform and report, the limits on exculpation, third parties' protections, periods of limitation and the court's jurisdiction.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7707 ↗ Governing law
- The meaning and effect of a trust's terms are governed by the law the terms designate, except that Pennsylvania's mandatory rules in §7705(b) govern where they differ; absent an effective designation, by the law of the jurisdiction where the settlor is domiciled when the trust becomes irrevocable.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7708 ↗ Situs of trust
- The terms may designate a trust's situs where a trustee, a trust director, a beneficiary or part of the administration is connected to that place; otherwise the statute assigns a county by the kind of trust. A trustee may transfer the situs without the court by giving the qualified beneficiaries at least 60 days' notice with seven stated contents and obtaining all of their written consents.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7709 ↗ Methods and waiver of notice
- A notice or document must be sent by a method reasonably suitable and likely to result in receipt — first-class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the last known residence or place of business, or a properly directed electronic message; a person whose identity or location is unknown and not reasonably ascertainable need not be notified, but the trustee keeps a written record of the efforts to find the person indefinitely; notice may be waived in writing.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7710.1 ↗ Nonjudicial settlement agreements
- All beneficiaries, trustees and other interested persons may make a binding nonjudicial settlement agreement on a trust matter — its interpretation, approval of a report or account, a direction to act or not act, a trustee's resignation or appointment and others — valid only to the extent it is consistent with a material purpose of the trust and contains terms a court could properly approve.
Chapter 77, Subchapter D: Creation, validity, modification and termination
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7732 ↗ Requirements for creation
- A trust is created only if the settlor has capacity, signs a writing that indicates an intention to create the trust and contains its provisions, the trust has a definite beneficiary (or is a charitable, animal-care or permitted purpose trust), the trustee has duties to perform, and the same person is not the sole trustee and sole beneficiary.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7737 ↗ Oral trusts unenforceable
- Oral trusts are unenforceable in Pennsylvania.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7740 ↗ Termination of trusts; proceedings for termination or modification of trusts
- A trust terminates to the extent it is revoked or expires under its terms, no purpose remains to be achieved, or its purposes have become unlawful or contrary to public policy; it may also be modified or terminated by the consent, court and other methods of §§7740.1 to 7740.4.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7740.1 ↗ Modification or termination of noncharitable irrevocable trust by consent
- A noncharitable irrevocable trust may be modified or terminated with the consent of the settlor and all beneficiaries even against a material purpose; with all beneficiaries' consent alone only if the court concludes the change is consistent with a material purpose (a spendthrift provision is presumed to be one); and with some beneficiaries' consent only if the court finds the others' interests adequately protected.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7740.2 ↗ Modification or termination of noncharitable irrevocable trust by court
- The court may modify the administrative or dispositive terms of a noncharitable irrevocable trust, or terminate it, because of circumstances the settlor did not anticipate, where doing so will further the trust's purposes, and may modify administrative terms where continuing them would be impracticable, wasteful or impair administration.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7740.7 ↗ Division of trusts
- A trustee may divide a trust into separate trusts without court approval, allocating to each a fractional share of every asset and liability or assets of an appropriate aggregate fair market value that fairly reflect the original trust's appreciation or depreciation; the separate trusts' beneficiaries may differ so long as their rights are not impaired; a division reflecting disclaimers or tax elections relates back; the court may also authorize a division for cause.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7740.8 ↗ Combination of trusts
- The court may authorize the combination of separate trusts with substantially similar provisions, on the terms and notice it directs, even where the trusts were created by different instruments and persons.
Chapter 77, Subchapter E: Creditors' claims, spendthrift and discretionary trusts
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7742 ↗ Spendthrift provision
- A spendthrift provision is valid only if it restrains both voluntary and involuntary transfer of a beneficiary's interest; a term holding the interest "subject to a spendthrift trust" or similar words suffices; a beneficiary may not transfer, and a creditor or assignee may not reach, a protected interest before its distribution, except as the subchapter provides.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7743 ↗ Exceptions to spendthrift provision
- A spendthrift provision does not hold against a beneficiary's child, or another person, with a judgment or order for support (the other person to the extent of the income interest), a judgment creditor who provided services protecting the beneficiary's interest, or a claim of the United States or the Commonwealth as their law provides; such a claimant may obtain an order attaching present or future distributions.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7744 ↗ Discretionary trusts; effect of standard
- A creditor of a beneficiary may not compel a distribution that is subject to the trustee's discretion, even where the discretion is expressed as a standard, the trustee has abused it, or the beneficiary is a trustee, subject to the exceptions the section states.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7745 ↗ Creditor's claim against settlor
- During the settlor's lifetime a revocable trust's property is subject to the settlor's creditors; a creditor or assignee of the settlor of an irrevocable trust may reach the most that can be distributed to or for the settlor; after the settlor's death, and subject to the settlor's right to direct the source from which liabilities are paid, a revocable trust's property is subject to the settlor's creditors, the costs of administering the estate, funeral expenses and the family exemption, to the extent the section states.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7746 ↗ Overdue distribution
- A creditor or assignee of a beneficiary may reach a mandatory distribution of income or principal, including one on termination, that the trustee has not made within a reasonable time after the mandated date, whatever the spendthrift provision.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7747 ↗ Personal obligations of trustee
- Trust property is not subject to the trustee's personal obligations, even if the trustee becomes insolvent or bankrupt.
Chapter 77, Subchapter F: Revocable trusts
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7752 ↗ Revocation or amendment of revocable trust
- A settlor may revoke or amend a trust unless its terms expressly make it irrevocable; where several settlors created or funded it, the statute sets who may revoke or amend which portion, including community property; the section states how revocation or amendment is made.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7753 ↗ Trustee's duties; powers of withdrawal
- To the extent a trust is revocable, the beneficiaries' rights are subject to the settlor's control and the trustee's duties are owed exclusively to the settlor, regardless of the settlor's legal capacity; the holder of a power of withdrawal has a settlor's rights over the property subject to the power while it can be exercised.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7754 ↗ Actions contesting validity of revocable trust
- A person with standing may contest a revocable trust's validity by petition no later than one year after the trustee gave the notice §7780.3(c) requires; on petition the court may shorten the period to six months after that notice; the grounds are those for contesting a will.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7755 ↗ Claims and distribution after settlor's death
- After the settlor's death a revocable trust's assets answer for the settlor's creditors as the estate does, the estate's assets applied first; claims go through the personal representative, who notifies the trustee within 20 days; the trustee may advertise at any time and must advertise, in §3162's manner, if the representative's first advertisement of letters does not occur within 90 days after the death; property the trustee distributes at its own risk is protected against claims not known within 13 months after the first complete advertisement of letters, or one year after the trustee's own where no representative was appointed, with a separate rule for real property.
Chapter 77, Subchapter G: The office of trustee
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7761 ↗ Accepting or declining trusteeship
- A designated trustee accepts by substantially complying with the terms' method of acceptance or, where that method is not exclusive, by accepting delivery of trust property, exercising powers, performing duties or otherwise indicating acceptance; one who does not accept within a reasonable time after knowing of the designation is deemed to have rejected it; limited acts to preserve the property or inspect it are not acceptance.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7763 ↗ Cotrustees
- Cotrustees who do not reach a unanimous decision may act by majority; where no majority agrees, the court may on petition direct the exercise or nonexercise of the power in the trust's best interest; after a vacancy the remaining cotrustees may act; the section's further subsections govern cotrustees' performance and responsibilities.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7764 ↗ Vacancy in trusteeship; appointment of successor
- A vacancy arises on a trustee's rejection, nonexistence, resignation, disqualification or removal, death or court-determined incapacity; it need not be filled while a cotrustee remains unless the terms require it, and must be filled when no trustee remains — for a noncharitable trust by the person the terms designate, then by unanimous written agreement of the qualified beneficiaries, then by the court (for a charitable trust, the beneficiaries' selection needs the Attorney General's concurrence); an appointment and acceptance may be filed with the clerk.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7765 ↗ Resignation of trustee; filing resignation
- A trustee may resign with the court's approval, without it where the terms authorize resignation, or under a nonjudicial settlement agreement; resignation does not by itself discharge the trustee's liability.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7766 ↗ Removal of trustee
- The settlor, a cotrustee or a beneficiary may ask the court to remove a trustee; the court may remove one where removal best serves the beneficiaries' interests, is not inconsistent with a material purpose, a suitable cotrustee or successor is available, and the trustee has committed a serious breach, cotrustees' lack of cooperation substantially impairs administration, the trustee has not administered effectively, or circumstances have substantially changed — a corporate trustee's reorganization alone is not such a change.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7767 ↗ Delivery of property by former trustee
- Unless a cotrustee remains or the court orders otherwise, a trustee who has resigned or been removed keeps the duties of a trustee and the powers needed to protect the property until it is delivered, and must proceed expeditiously to deliver the property to the successor or other person entitled to it.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7768 ↗ Compensation of trustee
- Where neither the terms nor a written agreement signed by the settlor or an authorized person specifies it, a trustee is entitled to compensation reasonable under the circumstances; neither a compensation term nor a fee agreement governs payment from principal unless it explicitly says so; where compensation is specified, the court may allow more or less in the circumstances the section states.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7769 ↗ Reimbursement of expenses
- A trustee is entitled to reimbursement from the trust property, with interest as appropriate, for expenses properly incurred in the administration and, to prevent unjust enrichment, for others; an advance of money for the protection of the trust gives the trustee a lien on the trust property.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7770 ↗ Liability of successor trustee
- A successor trustee is not personally liable for a predecessor's acts or omissions and has no duty to investigate them.
Chapter 77, Subchapter H: Duties and powers of the trustee
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7771 ↗ Duty to administer trust
- On accepting a trusteeship, the trustee administers the trust in good faith, in accordance with its terms and purposes and the interests of the beneficiaries, and in accordance with applicable law.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7772 ↗ Duty of loyalty
- A trustee administers the trust solely in the beneficiaries' interests; a transaction involving the trust's property that is affected by a conflict between the trustee's fiduciary and personal interests is voidable by an affected beneficiary unless the terms, the court, the beneficiary's consent, ratification or release, or the passage of time under §7785 protects it, with further rules for transactions with the trustee's relatives and agents.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7773 ↗ Impartiality
- Where a trust has two or more beneficiaries, the trustee acts impartially in investing, managing and distributing the property, giving due regard to their respective interests in light of the trust's purposes — treating them equitably, not necessarily equally.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7774 ↗ Prudent administration
- A trustee administers the trust as a prudent person would, considering its purposes, provisions, distribution requirements and other circumstances and exercising reasonable care, skill and caution.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7777 ↗ Delegation by trustee
- A trustee may delegate duties and powers a prudent trustee of comparable skills might delegate, using reasonable care, skill and caution in selecting the agent, setting the scope and terms of the delegation and reviewing the agent's actions; an agent owes the trust a duty of reasonable care, and a trustee who complies is not liable for the agent's decisions or actions.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7778 ↗ Powers to direct
- Where the terms of a trust let a person who is not a trustee direct the trustee to take or not take actions, or change the trust's terms, the directed-trust subchapter (Subchapter H.1) applies; the section's earlier rules were deleted when that subchapter was added in 2024.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7779 ↗ Control and protection of trust property
- A trustee takes reasonable steps to take control of and protect the trust property.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780 ↗ Recordkeeping and identification of trust property
- A trustee keeps adequate records of the administration, keeps the trust's property separate from the trustee's own, and causes the property to be designated so that the trust's interest appears, where feasible, in records a third party maintains, subject to the nominee and book-entry rules the section names.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.1 ↗ Enforcement and defense of claims
- A trustee takes reasonable steps to enforce the trust's claims and defend claims against it — subject to §7770's rule for a successor — and where one of several trustees is liable to the trust, the others take the legal action needed to protect it.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.3 ↗ Duty to inform and report
- A trustee responds promptly to reasonable requests for information from the settlor or an irrevocable trust's beneficiary; no later than 30 days after learning of the event, sends a written notice — of the trust's existence, the settlor, the trustee's contact details, the right to a copy of the instrument, current beneficiaries' right to annual reports on request and each trust director's contact details — to the persons the statute lists when a settlor dies or is adjudicated incapacitated or a new current beneficiary becomes known; and gives written notice of every change of trustee; the section also covers waivers, settlors' appointees and beneficiaries' nominees.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.4 ↗ Discretionary powers
- A trustee exercises a discretionary power in good faith and in accordance with the trust's terms and purposes and the beneficiaries' interests, however broad the discretion the terms grant.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.5 ↗ Powers of trustees
- Except as the terms or other provisions of Title 20 provide, a trustee has all the powers over the trust property that an unmarried competent owner has over individually owned property and may exercise them without court approval from the trust's creation until final distribution.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.6 ↗ Illustrative powers of trustee
- Lists powers a trustee may exercise under §7780.5 — beginning with accepting, holding, investing in and retaining investments under the prudent investor rule; paying, contesting, settling and releasing claims; resolving disputes about the trust by mediation, arbitration or other alternative procedures; and prosecuting or defending actions — and continuing through the others the section enumerates.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.7 ↗ Distribution upon termination
- On an event terminating or partially terminating a trust, the trustee distributes the property within a reasonable time to the persons entitled, subject to the right to keep a reasonable reserve for debts, expenses and taxes.
Chapter 77, Subchapter H.1: Directed trusts (the Directed Trust Act)
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.11 ↗ Short title of subchapter
- Names Subchapter H.1 the Directed Trust Act.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.13 ↗ Application
- The Directed Trust Act applies to a trust governed by Pennsylvania law, whenever and wherever it was created, but not to decisions or actions that occurred before the subchapter took effect.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.15 ↗ Powers of trust director and shared powers
- The terms of a trust may grant one or more trust directors a power of direction extending to any of the trustee's powers, subject to the limits of §7780.18; directors who share a power act by majority unless the terms provide otherwise.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.16 ↗ Trust director for investments
- A trust's terms that explicitly appoint a "trust director for investments" with a citation to this section give that director, unless the terms provide otherwise, the powers the section lists — to direct or veto investment decisions and the voting of proxies, to select and pay investment advisers, and related powers.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.17 ↗ Trust protector
- A trust director whose powers, granted expressly by the terms, include modifying the trust's terms is a trust protector; the section lists powers the terms may grant explicitly — among them to change what is distributable, to terminate the trust and direct distribution to or in further trust for beneficiaries, to change powers of appointment, to adjust between income and principal or convert to a unitrust, and others.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.20 ↗ Duty and liability of directed trustee
- A directed trustee takes reasonable action to comply with a trust director's exercise or nonexercise of a power of direction and is not liable for doing so, but must not comply to the extent that compliance would be the trustee's willful misconduct; a director's purported release of a trustee or another director from liability is ineffective to the extent it would cover a breach in bad faith or with reckless indifference, or where improper conduct induced it, as the section states.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.22 ↗ No duty to monitor, inform or advise
- Unless the terms provide otherwise, a directed trustee has no duty to monitor a trust director or to inform or advise anyone about matters on which it might have acted differently, and a trust director has the corresponding protection; taking such an action does not assume the excluded duty.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7780.27 ↗ Office of trust director
- Unless the terms provide otherwise, the trustee rules on acceptance, bond, compensation, reimbursement, resignation, removal and vacancies apply to a trust director; a designated director who does not accept in writing within 60 days after the trustee's written request is deemed to have rejected the appointment.
Chapter 77, Subchapters I and J: Liability of trustees, persons dealing with them, and accounts
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7781 ↗ Remedies for breach of trust
- To remedy an actual or threatened breach of trust the court may order any appropriate relief, including compelling performance, enjoining a breach, ordering the trustee to pay money or restore property, ordering an account, appointing a temporary fiduciary, removing the trustee, reducing or denying compensation, voiding an act or imposing a lien or constructive trust, and tracing property.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7785 ↗ Limitation of action against trustee
- A beneficiary is barred from challenging a transaction where the trustee sent written financial reports at least annually, the transaction was disclosed (or enough was disclosed to put the beneficiary on inquiry), every report carried a conspicuous written statement of this effect, and the beneficiary did not within 30 months after the report notify the trustee in writing of the challenge and its basis; any claim is otherwise barred five years after the first of the trustee's departure notice, the end of the beneficiary's interest or the trust's termination, unless an account was filed or its filing petitioned; a beneficiary may nominate a recipient of the reports.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7785.1 ↗ Nonjudicial account settlement
- A trustee may settle its account without the court, on a trust's termination, its own departure or intended departure, or for an interim period, by sending the persons the section lists a notice with the reason, the distribution plan and estimated expenses and account statements showing every transaction, fair market values and realized and unrealized gains and losses for 30 months or the trust's shorter term; a recipient may object in writing within 60 days after the notice was sent; the effect of an approved settlement depends on compliance with the section.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7788 ↗ Exculpation of trustee
- A term relieving a trustee of liability is unenforceable to the extent it covers a breach committed in bad faith or with reckless indifference to the trust's purposes or the beneficiaries' interests, or was inserted through the trustee's abuse of a fiduciary or confidential relationship; an exculpatory term the trustee drafted is invalid unless shown fair and adequately communicated to the settlor.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7790.3 ↗ Certification of trust
- Instead of the trust instrument, a trustee may give a person other than a beneficiary a certification of trust stating the trust's existence and the instrument's date, the settlor, the acting trustee's identity and address, the trustee's powers, the trust's revocability and who may revoke it, cotrustees' signing authority, the trust's taxpayer identification number and the manner of taking title; the section governs its authentication, reliance on it and requests for excerpts of the instrument.
- 20 Pa.C.S. §7797 ↗ Filing accounts
- A trustee files an account of the administration whenever the court directs and may file one at any other time; trustees' accounts are filed with the clerk.
Chapter 81: Principal and income
- 20 Pa.C.S. §8105 ↗ Power to convert to unitrust
- Unless the instrument expressly prohibits it, a trustee may convert a trust to a unitrust by giving written notice of the conversion and how the unitrust will operate to the eligible sui juris beneficiaries the section describes, where at least one current and one remainder beneficiary are sui juris and none objects in writing within 60 days; the unitrust distribution is 4% of the trust's net fair market value, valued as the section provides, and the court may set another percentage or order other relief.
Información general sobre la ley de Pensilvania, no asesoramiento legal.