L'avis aux bénéficiaires de la fiducie au Tennessee

The duty in one sentence

The trustee of an irrevocable or nongrantor trust, within 60 days after the acceptance and the funding of the trust, notifies each current income beneficiary, each vested ultimate beneficiary of a remainder interest and anyone who holds a power of appointment other than as a fiduciary that the trust has been established (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-813(b)(1)). Funding means more than a nominal corpus: the statute excludes nominal funding for the trust to have corpus and the depositing of insurance policies on the life of a living person ((b)(1)).

It is a default rule. It yields to the terms of the trust, and to a written direction delivered to the trustee by a settlor, trust advisor or trust protector who holds the power to give it ((e)); and it does not apply to a trust created under an agreement that became irrevocable before July 1, 2004, which keeps the law in effect before that date ((f)).

Who receives it

The statute names three classes: each current income beneficiary, each vested ultimate beneficiary of a remainder interest, and anyone who, in a capacity other than that of a fiduciary, holds a power of appointment (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-813(b)(1)). A beneficiary outside those classes — a contingent remainder beneficiary, for example — is not among the notice's recipients, though a qualified beneficiary may still ask the trustee for information related to the administration ((a)(2)).

A charitable organization expressly designated to receive distributions has a qualified beneficiary's rights and may receive notice and information under the section (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-110(a)). Notice to a person who may represent and bind a beneficiary has the same effect as notice to the beneficiary (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-301), and while a beneficiary is represented by another, the trustee sends its reports and information to the representative (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-813(d)).

• Current income beneficiaries — the people who receive, or may receive, the trust's income now.
• Vested ultimate remainder beneficiaries — the people whose remainder interest is vested.
• Nonfiduciary power holders — anyone holding a power of appointment other than as a fiduciary.

The 60 days: the acceptance and the funding

The window opens on two facts, not one: the acceptance of the trusteeship and the funding of the trust (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-813(b)(1)). A designated trustee accepts by the method the terms provide, or, where they provide none or the method is not exclusive, by accepting delivery of the trust property, exercising powers or performing duties as trustee, or otherwise indicating acceptance (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-701(a)). Because the 60 days run from the later of the two, writing down the date of each is what tells you when the window closes.

A revocable trust is not yet in this duty's reach: it applies to an irrevocable or nongrantor trust ((b)(1)), and while a trust is revocable the trustee's duties are owed to the settlor (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-603(a)). A trust revocable until the settlor's death becomes irrevocable at the death, and the successor trustee's acceptance and the funding of the trust after the death are the facts that start the 60 days.

Délais du trustee au Tennessee : ce que prévoient les lois

Vérifié par rapport aux Tennessee Statutes le 2026-10-28. Information générale, pas un avis juridique ; le texte officiel fait foi.

What the notice contains: the copy or the abstract

The notice consists of either a complete copy of the document establishing the trust together with the trustee's name, address and telephone number, or an abstract of the trust — whichever the trustee, in the trustee's absolute discretion, chooses (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-813(b)(2)(B)).

The abstract contains the name, address and telephone number of each trustee ((b)(3)(A)), and then what each class of recipient needs:

• For a current income beneficiary: the number of other current income beneficiaries; whether income distributions are required or discretionary; whether principal distributions are permitted and, if so, for what purposes; an estimate of the value of the trust at the date of the notice from which distributions may be made; and an estimate of the income that may be distributable to the beneficiary ((b)(3)(B)).
• For a remainder beneficiary: the number of other remainder beneficiaries; an estimate of the trust's value at the date of the notice; and the conditions to be met before the beneficiary's share is distributable ((b)(3)(C)).
• For a nonfiduciary power holder: the information in the other two lists that is necessary or beneficial for the holder to decide whether to exercise the power ((b)(3)(D)).

How it is delivered — and proven

The initial notice goes by first-class mail or personal delivery (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-813(b)(2)(A)). The chapter's general methods — delivery to a residence or place of business, a properly directed electronic message, or electronic provision to a person who consented in a record (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-109(a)(2)) — serve the chapter's other notices and documents; for this one the subsection names its two.

A record of how and when each notice went out — the mailing receipt or the signed acknowledgment of personal delivery, with a copy of what was sent — is the evidence that the duty was met, and it belongs in the trust's records (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-810(a)).

When a current income interest ends

On the termination of the interest of one or more current income beneficiaries, the trustee similarly notifies the income beneficiaries who take the terminated interest, by sending or delivering them the subsection (b) notice; and if the original 60-day period has already lapsed, the trustee also notifies each nonfiduciary power holder (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-813(c)). A death or a contingency that ends an income interest can therefore start a new round of notices.

Changing the duty: the terms and a written direction

The initial notice, and the information duties of subsection (a), do not apply to the extent the terms of the trust provide otherwise, or a settlor, trust protector or trust advisor holding the power to so direct directs otherwise in a writing delivered to the trustee (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-813(e)). A written direction stays in effect until it is revoked or its author is incapacitated, and an advisor's or protector's direction only while that person serves; unless it says otherwise, a settlor's direction is revoked by the settlor's death or incapacity, after which an advisor or protector may give a further direction ((e)(2)).

Where a settlor has designated a representative for a beneficiary, the trustee sends the information to the representative; where a direction tells the trustee not to send information to a beneficiary and names no representative, the trustee sends it to the person who gave the direction, with the same effect ((e)(2)).

Information on request, waivers and confidentiality

Beyond the initial notice, the trustee keeps the current distributees reasonably informed about the administration and the material facts they need to protect their interests, and, unless unreasonable under the circumstances, answers a qualified beneficiary's request for information related to the administration in a reasonable time, the beneficiary reimbursing the reasonable expenses of responding (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-813(a)). A beneficiary may waive the right to a report or other information and withdraw the waiver as to the future ((d)). Where the trustee is bound by a written confidentiality restriction about a trust asset, the trustee may require a beneficiary to agree in writing to the same restriction before receiving information about that asset ((g)).

The contest notice is a different notice

The initial notice does not start the window to contest a trust that was revocable at the settlor's death. That window runs within two years after the death, or within 120 days after the trustee sends the person a copy of the trust instrument and a notice of the trust's existence, the trustee's name and address and the time allowed for a contest, whichever is earlier (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-604(a)). The contest notice has its own contents; whether and when to send it is a judgment for the trustee with a licensed Tennessee attorney.

What happens when the notice is not sent

A trustee's failure to perform a duty owed to a beneficiary is a breach of trust, and the court's remedies range from compelling the trustee to perform, or to account, to suspending or removing the trustee and reducing or denying compensation (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1001). Without information that adequately disclosed a potential claim — which would start a one-year period — a beneficiary's breach claim runs within three years after the first of the trustee's removal, resignation or death, the end of the beneficiary's interest, or the end of the trust (Tenn. Code Ann. § 35-15-1005(a), (c)). How any of this applies to a particular trust is not something this guide decides.

When a licensed Tennessee attorney is the right next call

Some questions turn on reading the instrument and the facts together: who the current income beneficiaries and the vested remainder beneficiaries are on a date; whether the trust has been funded beyond a nominal corpus; whether the terms or a written direction change the duty; whether a trust became irrevocable before July 1, 2004; how to reach a beneficiary who is a minor or under a disability; or whether to send the contest notice. Those belong with a licensed Tennessee attorney of your choosing.