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Records and receipts: the Colorado trustee's paper trail

A trustee's record is the trustee's best protection. This guide explains what Colorado asks a trustee to keep and how the record turns into the report the statute requires.

Le texte intégral de ce guide est en anglais ; le résumé ci-dessus est dans votre langue. Les résumés des lois et l'anglais restent la source de référence.

Records · 5 min de lecture

Adequate records, kept separate

C.R.S. §15-5-810 provides that a trustee keeps adequate records of the administration of the trust, keeps trust property separate from the trustee's own, and causes the trust property to be designated so that the trust's interest appears, to the extent feasible, in records kept by someone other than a trustee or beneficiary. A trustee may still hold property in a nominee's name without disclosing the trust, if the trustee keeps adequate records of all property so held (§§15-5-810(3)(b), 15-5-816(1)(g)(II)).

What the record holds

A useful record holds every receipt and payment as it happens, statements for every account, valuations at the date of death and at each report, the trustee's time and compensation, notices sent and requests answered, and the reasons for decisions. Where beneficiaries have different interests — income and remainder — the record notes which receipts and expenses belong to each, because the trustee acts impartially between them (C.R.S. §15-5-803).

From record to report

At least annually and at termination, a trustee sends a report of the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation, with a listing of the assets and their market values where feasible (C.R.S. §15-5-813(3)(a)). The record is what the report is built from.

A report that adequately discloses a potential claim and informs the beneficiary of the time allowed starts a one-year period for a proceeding for breach of trust (C.R.S. §15-5-1005(1)); a report discloses adequately if it gives enough information that the beneficiary knows of the potential claim or should have inquired into it (§15-5-1005(2)).

How long to keep it

No Colorado statute sets a retention period for a trustee's records. The periods that bear on it are the ones in which a question can still be raised — among them the one- and three-year periods of C.R.S. §15-5-1005 — which is why many trustees keep the full record well past the trust's termination.

Les textes de loi, mot pour mot

  • Limitation of actions against trustee

    C.R.S. §15-5-1005 ↗

    Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.

  • Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.

  • Record keeping and identification of trust property

    C.R.S. §15-5-810 ↗

    Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.

  • Duty to inform and report

    C.R.S. §15-5-813 ↗

    Explication claire et simple ; le texte intégral de la loi n'est pas encore attesté dans notre bibliothèque. Consultez la loi officielle via le lien ci-dessus.

Questions fréquentes

What records does a Colorado trustee have to keep?

Adequate records of the administration, with trust property kept separate from the trustee's own and designated as the trust's where feasible (C.R.S. §15-5-810).

Can a Colorado trustee use a personal account for trust money?

A trustee keeps trust property separate from the trustee's own property (C.R.S. §15-5-810(2)).

How long can a beneficiary question a Colorado trustee's records?

One year after being sent a report that adequately disclosed the potential claim and the time allowed; otherwise three years after the first of the trustee's removal or resignation, the end of the beneficiary's interest, or the trust's termination (C.R.S. §15-5-1005).

Le Centre d'apprentissage est de l'information générale sur la loi du Colorado — pas un avis juridique, ni un substitut aux conseils d'un avocat du Colorado agréé sur vos faits précis. TrusteeClear est un logiciel, pas un cabinet.