Le code des fiducies de Virginie, section par section

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Vérifié par rapport aux Virginia Statutes le 2026-10-25. Information générale, pas un avis juridique ; le texte officiel fait foi.

Article 1: General Provisions and Definitions

Va. Code § 64.2-700 ↗ Scope: Virginia's Uniform Trust Code applies to express inter vivos trusts, charitable or noncharitable, and to trusts created under a statute, judgment or decree that requires administration in the manner of an express trust; it applies to testamentary trusts too, except where the Commissioner of Accounts provisions (Part A of Subtitle IV, § 64.2-1200 et seq.) or another part of the Code makes specific provision for them or it is clearly inapplicable — and § 64.2-775, the duty to inform and report, applies to testamentary trusts by name. It does not apply to business, investment and commercial trusts (business trusts, land trusts, deeds of trust, voting trusts, common trust funds, security arrangements, liquidation trusts, deposit arrangements, trusts for paying debts, dividends, interest or profits), to employment trusts, to nominee or escrow arrangements, or to special-purpose trusts governed by particular statutes, including those under Title 57; a court supervising a trust may still apply the Code's policies to particular issues.
Va. Code § 64.2-701 ↗ Definitions: Defines the terms of Virginia's Uniform Trust Code — among them "beneficiary" (a person with a present or future, vested or contingent, beneficial interest in a trust, a holder of a power of appointment over trust property, or an identified charitable organization that will or may receive distributions); "current beneficiary" (a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal on the date of determination, including the holder of a presently exercisable general power of appointment); "qualified beneficiary" (a beneficiary who, on the date of determination, is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal, would be one if the interests of those distributees terminated on that date without the trust terminating, or would be one if the trust terminated on that date); "revocable" (revocable by the settlor without the consent of the trustee or of a person holding an adverse interest); "settlor" (a person, including a testator, who creates or contributes property to a trust — each settlor of the portion attributable to that person's contribution, except to the extent another holds a power to revoke or withdraw it); "terms of a trust" (the settlor's intent as expressed in the trust instrument or established by other admissible evidence, or the provisions as established or amended by a trustee or trust director under applicable law, a court order or a nonjudicial settlement agreement); "trust director" and "power of direction"; "trust instrument" (a record signed by the settlor, or by any person to create a second trust, containing terms of the trust, including amendments); and "trustee" (an original, additional and successor trustee and a cotrustee). It also defines the decanting terms — "authorized fiduciary," "first trust," "second trust," "expanded distributive discretion" — and "ascertainable standard," "charitable interest," "charitable purpose," "conservator," "guardian," "power of withdrawal," "record," "sign," "spendthrift provision" and "state."
Va. Code § 64.2-702 ↗ Knowledge: A person has knowledge of a fact if the person has actual knowledge of it, has received a notice or notification of it, or, from all the facts and circumstances known to the person at the time, has reason to know it. An organization that conducts activities through employees has notice or knowledge of a fact involving a trust only from the time the information was received by an employee responsible for acting for the trust, or would have been brought to that employee's attention had the organization exercised reasonable diligence — reasonable routines for communicating significant information, reasonably complied with.
Va. Code § 64.2-703 ↗ Default and mandatory rules: Except as the terms of the trust provide otherwise, Virginia's Uniform Trust Code governs the duties and powers of a trustee, relations among trustees and the rights and interests of a beneficiary, and the terms of a trust prevail over the chapter except as to eleven rules: the requirements for creating a trust; the trustee's duty to act in good faith and in accordance with the terms and purposes of the trust and the interests of the beneficiaries (subject to the directed-trust and cotrustee provisions); the requirement that a trust and its terms be for the benefit of its beneficiaries and its purpose lawful, not contrary to public policy and possible to achieve; the court's power to modify or terminate a trust under §§ 64.2-728 to 64.2-734; the effect of a spendthrift provision and the rights of certain creditors and assignees under Article 5; the court's power over a bond under § 64.2-755; the court's power under § 64.2-761(B) to adjust compensation the terms specify that is unreasonably low or high; the effect of an exculpatory term under § 64.2-799; the rights under §§ 64.2-801 to 64.2-804 of a person other than a trustee or beneficiary; periods of limitation for commencing a judicial proceeding; and the court's power to act as justice requires. The duties to inform and report (§ 64.2-775) are not among them.
Va. Code § 64.2-704 ↗ Common law of trusts; principles of equity: The common law of trusts and principles of equity supplement Virginia's Uniform Trust Code, except to the extent modified by the chapter or by another statute of the Commonwealth.
Va. Code § 64.2-705 ↗ Governing law: The meaning and effect of the terms of a trust are determined by the law of the jurisdiction the terms designate, unless that designation is contrary to a strong public policy of the jurisdiction having the most significant relationship to the matter at issue; absent a controlling designation, by the law of the jurisdiction having the most significant relationship to the matter.
Va. Code § 64.2-706 ↗ Principal place of administration: Terms of an inter vivos trust designating the principal place of administration are valid and controlling if a trustee's or a trust director's principal place of business is in, or a trustee or trust director resides in, the designated jurisdiction, or all or part of the administration occurs there. The trustee of an inter vivos trust may transfer the principal place of administration to another state or abroad where appropriate to the trust's purposes, its administration and the beneficiaries' interests; for a transfer out of the Commonwealth the trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries not less than 60 days before initiating it, stating the new jurisdiction, the address and telephone number at the new location, the reasons, the anticipated date and the date — not less than 60 days after the notice — by which a qualified beneficiary must object; a timely objection terminates the trustee's authority to transfer. A corporate trustee keeping trust officers available in the Commonwealth is not deemed to have transferred the place of administration by performing administration elsewhere. In connection with a transfer the trustee may transfer property to a successor trustee designated in the terms or appointed under § 64.2-757.
Va. Code § 64.2-707 ↗ Methods and waiver of notice: Notice to a person, or the sending of a document, under Virginia's Uniform Trust Code is accomplished in a manner reasonably suitable under the circumstances and likely to result in receipt; permissible methods include first-class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the person's last known place of residence or place of business, or a properly directed electronic message. Notice need not be provided to a person whose identity or location is unknown to and not reasonably ascertainable by the trustee; the person to be notified may waive the notice or the sending of the document; notice of a judicial proceeding is given as § 64.2-713 provides.
Va. Code § 64.2-708 ↗ Others treated as qualified beneficiaries: Whenever Virginia's Uniform Trust Code requires notice to qualified beneficiaries, the trustee also gives notice to any other beneficiary who has sent the trustee a request for notice. A charitable organization expressly designated to receive distributions under the terms of a charitable trust has a qualified beneficiary's rights if, on the date of determination, it is or would be a distributee or permissible distributee on the uniform act's three limbs; a person appointed to enforce a trust for an animal or another noncharitable purpose has a qualified beneficiary's rights; and the Attorney General has a qualified beneficiary's rights for a charitable trust with its principal place of administration in the Commonwealth, but need not be given the notices or information required under §§ 64.2-758 and 64.2-775 unless the Attorney General requests them.
Va. Code § 64.2-709 ↗ Nonjudicial settlement agreements: Interested persons — those whose consent would be required for a binding settlement were the court to approve it — may enter into a binding nonjudicial settlement agreement on any matter involving a trust, valid only to the extent it does not violate a material purpose of the trust and contains terms and conditions the court could properly approve. The matters include the interpretation or construction of the terms; the approval of a trustee's report or accounting; direction to a trustee to refrain from an act or the grant of a necessary or desirable power; the resignation or appointment of a trustee and the trustee's compensation; a transfer of the principal place of administration; and a trustee's liability for an action relating to the trust. Any interested person may petition the court to approve the agreement, to determine whether the representation was adequate and whether the terms are ones the court could have approved.

Article 2: Judicial Proceedings

Va. Code § 64.2-710 ↗ Role of court in administration of trust: The court may intervene in the administration of a trust to the extent its jurisdiction is invoked by an interested person or as provided by law. Except as the Commissioner of Accounts provisions (Part A of Subtitle IV, § 64.2-1200 et seq.) provide, a trust is not subject to continuing judicial supervision unless the court orders it. A judicial proceeding involving a trust may relate to any matter of its administration, including a request for instructions and an action to declare rights.
Va. Code § 64.2-711 ↗ Jurisdiction over trustee and beneficiary: By accepting the trusteeship of a trust with its principal place of administration in the Commonwealth, or by moving the principal place of administration to the Commonwealth, the trustee submits personally to the jurisdiction of the courts of the Commonwealth regarding any matter involving the trust; the beneficiaries of such a trust are subject to that jurisdiction with respect to their interests, and a person who accepts a distribution from it submits personally to it. Other methods of obtaining jurisdiction remain.
Va. Code § 64.2-712 ↗ Proceedings to appoint or remove trustees: Proceedings to appoint or remove trustees may be brought by motion under §§ 64.2-1405 and 64.2-1406, or by petition or complaint; in a petition or complaint, beneficiaries who are not qualified beneficiaries are not necessary parties, and a trustee who declined, resigned or was adjudicated incapacitated, or the personal representative of a trustee, need not be joined.
Va. Code § 64.2-713 ↗ Pleadings; parties; orders; notice: In judicial proceedings involving trusts, including proceedings to modify or terminate a trust, the interests to be affected are described in pleadings that give reasonable information to the owners by name or class, by reference to the instrument or otherwise. An order binds as the section provides: an order binding the holders of a power of revocation or a presently exercisable general power of appointment binds those whose interests are subject to the power; to the extent there is no conflict, an order binding a conservator, a guardian, a trustee (in the listed proceedings) or a personal representative binds the persons they represent; and a minor, incapacitated, unborn or unascertained person is bound if adequately represented by a party with a substantially identical interest. Notice is given under Chapter 8 of Title 8.01 and the Rules of the Supreme Court to every interested party or a person who can bind one, and, where the proceeding seeks to modify or terminate a charitable trust or sell its real estate, to the public by publication once a week for three consecutive weeks before any hearing; unborn or unascertained persons are notified through known persons with substantially identical interests. The court may appoint a guardian ad litem where representation would otherwise be inadequate; a person under a disability may be represented by a Virginia-licensed attorney who has appeared for that person. The section applies notwithstanding the Rules of the Supreme Court or Title 8.01.

Article 3: Representation

Va. Code § 64.2-714 ↗ Representation; basic effect: Notice to a person who may represent and bind another under Virginia's Uniform Trust Code has the same effect as notice given directly to the other person, and the representative's consent binds the person represented unless that person objects by notifying the trustee or the representative before the consent would otherwise have become effective. Except as §§ 64.2-729 and 64.2-751 provide, a person who may represent a settlor who lacks capacity may receive notice and give a binding consent on the settlor's behalf; a settlor may not represent and bind a beneficiary in a termination or modification under § 64.2-729.
Va. Code § 64.2-715 ↗ Representation by holder of general testamentary power of appointment: To the extent there is no conflict of interest between the holder of a general testamentary power of appointment and the persons represented on the particular question or dispute, the holder may represent and bind the persons whose interests — as permissible appointees, takers in default or otherwise — are subject to the power.
Va. Code § 64.2-716 ↗ Representation by fiduciaries and parents or other ancestors: To the extent there is no conflict of interest between the representative and the person represented, or among those represented, on the particular question or dispute: a conservator or guardian of the estate may represent and bind the estate that fiduciary controls; a guardian may represent and bind the ward if no conservator or guardian of the ward's estate has been appointed; an agent with authority over the particular question may represent and bind the principal; a trustee may represent and bind the beneficiaries of the trust; a personal representative may represent and bind persons interested in the estate; a parent may represent and bind the parent's minor or unborn child if no guardian of the estate or guardian has been appointed; and, failing other representation, a grandparent or more remote ancestor may represent and bind a minor or unborn person.
Va. Code § 64.2-717 ↗ Representation by person having substantially identical interest: Unless otherwise represented, a minor, incapacitated or unborn individual, or a person whose identity or location is unknown and not reasonably ascertainable, may be represented and bound by another having a substantially identical interest on the particular question or dispute, but only to the extent there is no conflict of interest between the representative and the person represented.
Va. Code § 64.2-718 ↗ Appointment of representative: If the court determines that an interest is not represented under the chapter, or that the available representation might be inadequate, it may appoint a representative — one may serve for several persons or interests — to receive notice, give consent and otherwise represent, bind and act for a minor, incapacitated or unborn individual or a person whose identity or location is unknown; the representative may act whether or not a judicial proceeding is pending and may consider the general benefit to the living members of the individual's family.

Article 4: Creation, Validity, Modification, and Termination of Trust

Va. Code § 64.2-719 ↗ Methods of creating trust: A trust may be created by the settlor's transfer of property to another person as trustee during the settlor's lifetime — by the settlor, or by the settlor's agent acting under § 64.2-1612 under a power of attorney that expressly authorizes creating a trust — or by will or other disposition taking effect on the settlor's death; by the owner's declaration that the owner holds identifiable property as trustee; by the exercise of a power of appointment in favor of a trustee; or by a conservator acting under § 64.2-2023. A circuit court may also create a trust on an interested party's petition, its order deciding whether the trustee qualifies in the clerk's office, posts bond with or without surety, or files an inventory and annual accounts with the Commissioner of Accounts as a testamentary trustee would.
Va. Code § 64.2-720 ↗ Requirements for creation: A trust is created only if the settlor has capacity to create it (or the settlor's agent acts under a power of attorney expressly authorizing it); the settlor or agent indicates an intention to create it; the trust has a definite beneficiary or is a charitable trust, an animal-care trust under § 64.2-726 or a noncharitable-purpose trust under § 64.2-727; the trustee has duties to perform; and the same person is not the sole trustee and sole beneficiary. A beneficiary is definite if ascertainable now or in the future, subject to any applicable rule against perpetuities; a trustee's power to select a beneficiary from an indefinite class is valid, and if not exercised within a reasonable time it fails and the property passes to those who would have taken had it not been conferred.
Va. Code § 64.2-721 ↗ Trusts created in other jurisdictions: A trust not created by will is validly created if its creation complies with the law of the jurisdiction in which the trust instrument was executed, or of the jurisdiction in which, at the time of creation, the settlor was domiciled, had a place of abode or was a national, a trustee was domiciled or had a place of business, or any trust property was located.
Va. Code § 64.2-722 ↗ Trust purposes: A trust may be created only to the extent its purposes are lawful, not contrary to public policy and possible to achieve, and a trust and its terms must be for the benefit of its beneficiaries.
Va. Code § 64.2-723 ↗ Charitable purposes; enforcement: A charitable trust may be created for the relief of poverty, the advancement of education or religion, the promotion of health, governmental or municipal purposes, or other purposes whose achievement is beneficial to the community. Where the terms do not indicate a particular charitable purpose or beneficiary, the court may select one or more consistent with the settlor's intention so far as it can be ascertained; the settlor of a charitable trust, among others, may maintain a proceeding to enforce it.
Va. Code § 64.2-724 ↗ Creation of trust induced by fraud, duress, or undue influence: A trust is void to the extent its creation was induced by fraud, duress or undue influence.
Va. Code § 64.2-724.1 ↗ Validity of trust or trust instrument; presumption of undue influence: In addition to any other relevant law, where a presumption of undue influence arises in an action contesting the validity of a trust or trust instrument created under the chapter, the finder of fact presumes that the undue influence was exerted over the decedent unless, on all the evidence introduced at trial, it finds that the decedent did intend the real or personal property to be conveyed or transferred as the contested document or instrument indicates. Enacted in 2026 (c. 506).
Va. Code § 64.2-725 ↗ Evidence of oral trust: Except as a statute other than the chapter requires, a trust need not be evidenced by a trust instrument, but the creation of an oral trust and its terms may be established only by clear and convincing evidence.
Va. Code § 64.2-726 ↗ Trust for care of animal: A trust may be created to provide for the care of an animal alive during the settlor's lifetime; it terminates on the death of the animal, or of the last surviving animal it provides for, and its funds may pay outstanding expenses and burial or other post-death expenditures the instrument provides for. The instrument is liberally construed to bring the transfer within the section and to carry out the transferor's general intent. A person appointed in the terms, or failing one by the court, enforces the trust with a beneficiary's rights to accountings, notices and information, and a person interested in the animal's welfare may ask the court to appoint or remove that person. No filing, report, registration, periodic accounting, separate maintenance of funds, appointment or surety bond is required by reason of the trustee's fiduciary relationship unless a court orders it or the instrument requires it. Property may be applied only to its intended use, and property not required for it passes to the living settlor, else under the residuary provisions of the will or trust in which the animal trust was created, else to the settlor's successors in interest.
Va. Code § 64.2-727 ↗ Noncharitable trust without ascertainable beneficiary: Except as § 64.2-726 or another statute provides, a trust may be created for a noncharitable purpose without a definite or definitely ascertainable beneficiary, or for a noncharitable but otherwise valid purpose to be selected by the trustee; it may not be enforced for more than 21 years; a person appointed in the terms, or failing one by the court, enforces it; and its property may be applied only to its intended use except where the court finds the property exceeds what that use requires, any surplus passing to the living settlor, else to the settlor's successors in interest.
Va. Code § 64.2-728 ↗ Modification or termination of trust; proceedings for approval or disapproval: Besides the methods of §§ 64.2-729 to 64.2-732, a trust terminates to the extent it is revoked or expires under its terms, no purpose of it remains to be achieved, or its purposes have become unlawful, contrary to public policy or impossible to achieve. A trustee or beneficiary may commence a proceeding to approve or disapprove a proposed modification or termination under §§ 64.2-729 to 64.2-734, or a combination or division under § 64.2-735; the settlor of a charitable trust may maintain a proceeding to modify it under § 64.2-731.
Va. Code § 64.2-729 ↗ Modification or termination of noncharitable irrevocable trust by consent: On petition, the court approves the modification or termination of a noncharitable irrevocable trust to which the settlor and all beneficiaries consent, even if inconsistent with a material purpose; a settlor's power to consent may be exercised by an agent only as the power of attorney or the terms expressly authorize, else by a conservator or guardian with the supervising court's approval. A noncharitable irrevocable trust may be terminated on the consent of all beneficiaries if the court concludes its continuance is not necessary to achieve any material purpose, and modified on their consent if the court concludes the modification is not inconsistent with a material purpose; on termination the trustee distributes as the beneficiaries agree. Where not all beneficiaries consent, the court may approve the modification or termination if it could have been made with every beneficiary's consent and the interests of a nonconsenting beneficiary will be adequately protected.
Va. Code § 64.2-730 ↗ Modification or termination because of unanticipated circumstances or inability to administer trust effectively: The court may modify the administrative or dispositive terms of a trust, or terminate it, if because of circumstances the settlor did not anticipate the modification or termination will further the trust's purposes, in accordance with the settlor's probable intention so far as practicable; it may modify the administrative terms if continuing on the existing terms would be impracticable or wasteful or impair the administration. On termination the trustee distributes consistently with the trust's purposes.
Va. Code § 64.2-731 ↗ Cy pres: If a particular charitable purpose becomes unlawful, impracticable, impossible to achieve or wasteful, the trust does not fail, the property does not revert to the settlor or the settlor's successors, and the court may apply cy pres to modify or terminate the trust by directing that the property be applied or distributed consistently with the settlor's charitable purposes. A term distributing the property to a noncharitable beneficiary prevails over that power only if, when it takes effect, the property is to revert to a living settlor or fewer than 21 years have passed since the trust was created.
Va. Code § 64.2-732 ↗ Modification or termination of uneconomic trust: After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, sent in accordance with § 64.2-707, the trustee of a trust whose property has a total value less than $250,000 may terminate it without court approval on concluding that the value of the property is insufficient to justify the cost of administration. The court may modify or terminate a trust, or remove the trustee and appoint another, if it determines the value of the property is insufficient to justify the cost of administration. On termination the trustee distributes in a manner consistent with the trust's purposes and may use § 64.2-779; the section does not apply to a conservation or preservation easement; the expenses of the termination are paid from the trust estate.
Va. Code § 64.2-733 ↗ Reformation to correct mistakes: The court may reform the terms of a trust, even if unambiguous, to conform them to the settlor's intention if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence that both the settlor's intent and the terms were affected by a mistake of fact or law, in expression or inducement.
Va. Code § 64.2-734 ↗ Modification to achieve settlor's tax objectives: To achieve the settlor's tax objectives, the court may modify the terms of a trust in a manner not contrary to the settlor's probable intention, and may give the modification retroactive effect.
Va. Code § 64.2-735 ↗ Combination and division of trusts: After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, a trustee may combine two or more trusts into a single trust or divide a trust into two or more separate trusts, if the result does not materially impair the rights of any beneficiary or adversely affect achievement of the trust's purposes.
Va. Code § 64.2-736 ↗ Amendment of trust where gift, grant, or will establishes private foundation or constitutes a charitable trust or a split-interest trust: Where a gift, grant, devise or bequest establishes a private foundation (Internal Revenue Code § 509) or constitutes a charitable trust (§ 4947(a)(1)) or a split-interest trust (§ 4947(a)(2)), its trustees — with the concurrence of the living creator able to consent, and of the Attorney General — may, without going to court and unless inconsistent with an express provision of the governing instrument, amend its terms to bring or keep it in conformity with the requirements for federal tax exemption; where the gift, grant or will is recorded, the amendment is recorded too.
Va. Code § 64.2-737 ↗ Distribution of income of trust that is a private foundation or a charitable trust; prohibitions as to such private foundation: Unless its governing instrument expressly provides otherwise, a trust that is a private foundation (Internal Revenue Code § 509) or a charitable trust (§ 4947(a)(1)) distributes its income, and principal where necessary, each taxable year at such time and in such manner as not to subject it to tax under § 4942, and does not engage in self-dealing (§ 4941(d)), retain excess business holdings (§ 4943(c)), make investments giving rise to tax under § 4944 or make taxable expenditures (§ 4945(d)).
Va. Code § 64.2-738 ↗ Prohibitions as to trust that is deemed a split-interest trust: Unless its governing instrument expressly provides otherwise, a split-interest trust (Internal Revenue Code § 4947(a)(2)) does not engage in self-dealing (§ 4941(d)), retain excess business holdings giving rise to tax under § 4943(a), make investments giving rise to tax under § 4944 or make taxable expenditures (§ 4945(d)); the rule does not reach amounts payable to income beneficiaries unless a charitable deduction was allowed for them, or amounts in trust other than those for which a charitable deduction was allowed, as the section lists.
Va. Code § 64.2-739 ↗ Application of §§ 64.2-737 and 64.2-738: Sections 64.2-737 and 64.2-738 apply to the private foundations, charitable trusts and split-interest trusts they describe established after December 31, 1969, and to those established before January 1, 1970 only for taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 1972, unless an exception of Internal Revenue Code § 508(e)(2)(A) or (B) applies or the trustees elected out by filing written notice with the Attorney General and the clerk of the recording court on or before December 31, 1971.
Va. Code § 64.2-740 ↗ Interpretation of references to Internal Revenue Code in §§ 64.2-736 through 64.2-739: Each reference to a section of the Internal Revenue Code in §§ 64.2-736 to 64.2-739 includes future amendments to that section and corresponding provisions of future internal revenue laws.
Va. Code § 64.2-741 ↗ Powers of courts not impaired by §§ 64.2-736 through 64.2-740: Nothing in §§ 64.2-736 to 64.2-740 impairs the power of a court of competent jurisdiction over such a foundation or trust.

Article 5: Creditor's Claims; Spendthrift and Discretionary Trusts

Va. Code § 64.2-742 ↗ Rights of beneficiary's creditor or assignee: To the extent a beneficiary's interest is not subject to a spendthrift provision, the court may authorize a creditor or assignee of the beneficiary to reach the interest by attachment of present or future distributions to or for the beneficiary, or by other means, limiting the award to such relief as is appropriate under the circumstances.
Va. Code § 64.2-743 ↗ 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 words of similar import, suffices. A beneficiary may not transfer an interest in violation of a valid spendthrift provision and, except as Article 5 provides, a creditor or assignee of the beneficiary may not reach the interest or a distribution before the beneficiary receives it.
Va. Code § 64.2-744 ↗ Exceptions to spendthrift provision: Even if a trust contains a spendthrift provision, a beneficiary's child (a person for whom a child-support order or judgment has been entered in any state) who has a judgment or order for support or maintenance, or a judgment creditor who provided services for the protection of the beneficiary's interest, may obtain a court order attaching present or future distributions to or for the beneficiary. Subject to § 64.2-745, no spendthrift provision operates to the prejudice of the United States, the Commonwealth or any county, city or town; a claimant against whom a spendthrift provision cannot be enforced may obtain such an order, the court limiting the relief as appropriate.
Va. Code § 64.2-745 ↗ Certain claims for reimbursement for public assistance: Notwithstanding the trust instrument, where a statute or regulation of the United States or the Commonwealth requires a beneficiary to reimburse the Commonwealth or its agency for public assistance, including medical assistance, the Attorney General or the agency's attorney may petition the circuit court having jurisdiction over the trustee for reimbursement, before a judgment, the beneficiary or the beneficiary's fiduciary being made a party; the court may order the trustee to satisfy the liability from amounts the beneficiary can compel, or from future discretionary payments the trustee chooses to make. A duty to make disbursements so as to avoid rendering the beneficiary ineligible for public assistance is not a right of the beneficiary to compel payment, and no order issues where the beneficiary has a medically determined physical or mental disability that substantially impairs the ability to provide for the beneficiary's care or custody and constitutes a substantial disability.
Va. Code § 64.2-745.1 ↗ Self-settled spendthrift trusts: Section 64.2-747 does not apply to a settlor's qualified interest in a qualified self-settled spendthrift trust (defined in § 64.2-745.2), though it continues to apply to any other interest the settlor holds in it. A settlor's transfer to such a trust is not deemed made with intent to delay, hinder or defraud creditors under § 55.1-400 merely because the settlor retains a qualified interest or because it is made without consideration, though it may be set aside under § 55.1-400 or 55.1-401 on other bases, such as rendering the settlor insolvent. A settlor's creditor may bring an action under § 55.1-402 to avoid the transfer, or otherwise enforce a claim that existed on the transfer's date, within five years after the transfer; a creditor has only the rights the section provides, and no claim against a trustee, trust adviser, trust director or any person involved in counseling, drafting or funding the trust. The section sets rules for successive transfers. Amended 2026 (c. 476).
Va. Code § 64.2-745.2 ↗ Definitions; right to withdraw: Defines, for qualified self-settled spendthrift trusts, an "independent qualified trustee" (a qualified trustee not subject to direction by the settlor, a nonresident natural person, an entity not authorized under Title 6.2 to do trust business in the Commonwealth, the settlor's spouse, parent, issue, sibling or employee, a business entity in which the settlor holds at least 30 percent of the voting power, or a subordinate employee of the settlor or of a business in which the settlor is an executive); a "qualified interest" (the settlor's interest to receive income, principal or both in the sole discretion of an independent qualified trustee, § 64.2-747 applying to any other interest of the settlor); a "qualified self-settled spendthrift trust" (an irrevocable trust created during the settlor's lifetime that has, whenever distributions could be made to the settlor, at least one beneficiary other than the settlor and at least one qualified trustee, and whose instrument expressly incorporates Virginia law to govern its validity, construction and administration and includes a spendthrift provision restraining transfer of the settlor's qualified interest); and a "qualified trustee" (a natural person residing in the Commonwealth, or an entity authorized to do trust business there, who keeps custody of some of the property, keeps records, prepares the fiduciary returns or otherwise materially participates in the administration within the Commonwealth). It lists the retained rights that do not make the instrument revocable — among them a testamentary power of appointment, the qualified interest, distributions under an ascertainable standard, an annual payment of up to five percent, and the power to remove and appoint a trustee — and treats a beneficiary whose right to withdraw the whole interest has lapsed, been released or expired as its settlor to that extent. Amended 2026 (c. 476).
Va. Code § 64.2-746 ↗ Discretionary trusts; effect of standard: Except as subsection C and § 64.2-745 provide, whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision, a creditor of a beneficiary may not compel a distribution subject to the trustee's discretion, even if the discretion is expressed as a standard of distribution or the trustee has abused it. To the extent a trustee has not complied with a standard or has abused a discretion, the court may order a distribution to satisfy a judgment or order for the support or maintenance of the beneficiary's child, the amount equitable under the circumstances but not more than the trustee would have been required to distribute. A beneficiary may still sue the trustee for abuse of discretion; a creditor may not reach the interest of a beneficiary who is also a trustee, or compel a distribution, where the trustee's discretion for the trustee's own benefit is limited by an ascertainable standard.
Va. Code § 64.2-747 ↗ Creditor's claim against settlor: Whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision: during the settlor's lifetime, the property of a revocable trust is subject to the settlor's creditors; for an irrevocable trust, except as §§ 64.2-745.1 and 64.2-745.2 provide, a creditor or assignee of the settlor may reach the maximum amount that can be distributed to or for the settlor (a trustee's discretion to pay or reimburse the settlor's tax on trust income or principal not counting). After the settlor's death, and subject to the settlor's right to direct the source from which liabilities are paid, the property of a trust revocable at the death is subject to the settlor's creditors, the costs of administration of the settlor's estate, the funeral and disposal of remains, and the statutory allowances to a surviving spouse and children — the family allowance, exempt property and the homestead allowance — to the extent the probate estate is inadequate; life insurance proceeds under § 38.2-3122 are not reached; no proceeding may be commenced unless the personal representative has received a written demand from a surviving spouse, a creditor or one acting for a minor or dependent child, and none later than two years after the death; distributions the terms require or permit before the trustee is served in a proceeding brought by the personal representative are not affected. The holder of a power of withdrawal is treated as a settlor of a revocable trust to the extent of the property subject to the power, and after its lapse, release or waiver only beyond the Internal Revenue Code amounts the section names.
Va. Code § 64.2-748 ↗ Overdue distribution: Whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision, a creditor or assignee of a beneficiary may reach a mandatory distribution of income or principal — one the terms require, including a distribution on termination, not one subject to the trustee's discretion even if expressed as a standard or in mixed language — if the trustee has not made it within a reasonable time after the designated distribution date.
Va. Code § 64.2-749 ↗ Personal obligations of trustee: Trust property is not subject to the personal obligations of the trustee, even if the trustee becomes insolvent or bankrupt.

Article 6: Revocable Trusts

Va. Code § 64.2-750 ↗ Capacity of settlor of revocable trust: The capacity required to create, amend, revoke or add property to a revocable trust, or to direct the actions of its trustee, is the same as that required to make a will.
Va. Code § 64.2-751 ↗ Revocation or amendment of revocable trust: Unless the terms of a trust expressly provide that it is irrevocable, the settlor may revoke or amend it — a rule that does not apply to a trust created under an instrument executed before July 1, 2006. Where several settlors create or fund a revocable trust, community property may be revoked by either spouse alone but amended only by both, and other property may be revoked or amended by each settlor as to the portion attributable to that settlor's contribution, the trustee promptly notifying the other settlors of a revocation or amendment by fewer than all. The settlor revokes or amends by substantial compliance with a method the terms provide or, where they provide none, by any method manifesting clear and convincing evidence of the settlor's intent; on revocation the trustee delivers the property as the settlor directs. An agent under a power of attorney that expressly authorizes it may exercise the settlor's powers of revocation, amendment or distribution unless the terms expressly prohibit it; a conservator or guardian only as the terms expressly authorize or the supervising court authorizes for good cause. A trustee who does not know of a revocation or amendment is not liable for distributions or actions taken on the assumption that none occurred.
Va. Code § 64.2-752 ↗ Settlor's powers; powers of withdrawal: While a trust is revocable, the rights of the beneficiaries are subject to the control of, and the duties of the trustee are owed exclusively to, the settlor; the trustee may follow a direction of the settlor that is contrary to the terms of the trust. During the period a power of withdrawal may be exercised, its holder has the rights of a settlor of a revocable trust to the extent of the property subject to it.
Va. Code § 64.2-753 ↗ Limitation on action contesting validity of revocable trust; distribution of trust property: A person may commence a judicial proceeding to contest the validity of a trust that was revocable at the settlor's death within the earlier of two years after the settlor's death, or six months after the trustee sent the person a copy of the trust instrument and a notice informing the person of the trust's existence, of the trustee's name and address and of the time allowed for commencing a proceeding. On the settlor's death the trustee may proceed to distribute the trust property in accordance with the terms without liability unless the trustee knows of a pending contest, or a potential contestant has notified the trustee of a possible contest and a proceeding is commenced within 60 days after the notification was sent. A beneficiary of a trust later determined invalid is liable to return any distribution received.

Article 7: Office of Trustee

Va. Code § 64.2-754 ↗ Accepting or declining trusteeship: A person designated as trustee accepts the trusteeship by substantially complying with a method of acceptance provided in the terms of the trust or, where the terms provide none or the method is not expressly made exclusive, by accepting delivery of the trust property, exercising powers or performing duties as trustee, or otherwise indicating acceptance. A designee who has not yet accepted may reject the trusteeship, and one who does not accept within a reasonable time after knowing of the designation is deemed to have rejected it. Without accepting, a designee may act to preserve the trust property if, within a reasonable time after acting, the person sends a rejection to the settlor or, if the settlor is dead or lacks capacity, to a qualified beneficiary, and may inspect or investigate the property to determine potential liability under environmental or other law or for any other purpose.
Va. Code § 64.2-755 ↗ Trustee's bond: Except as the Commissioner of Accounts provisions (Part A of Subtitle IV) provide, a trustee gives bond, with or without surety or other security, only if the court finds a bond is needed to protect the interests of the beneficiaries, or the terms of the trust require one and the court has not dispensed with it; the court may specify its amount, liabilities and sureties and may modify or terminate it at any time. A regulated financial service institution qualified to do trust business in the Commonwealth need not give bond even if the terms require it.
Va. Code § 64.2-756 ↗ Cotrustees: Cotrustees who are unable to reach a unanimous decision may act by majority decision; on a vacancy the remaining cotrustees may act for the trust. A cotrustee participates in the performance of a trustee's function unless unavailable because of absence, illness, disqualification or other temporary incapacity, or having properly delegated the function to another trustee; where a cotrustee is unavailable and prompt action is necessary, the remaining cotrustee or a majority of them may act. A trustee may delegate to a cotrustee any function the terms do not expressly require the trustees to perform jointly, and may revoke a revocable delegation. A trustee who does not join in another trustee's action is not liable for it, but each trustee exercises reasonable care to prevent a cotrustee from committing a serious breach of trust and to compel a cotrustee to redress one; a dissenting trustee who joins in an action at the majority's direction and notified any cotrustee of the dissent at or before the action is not liable for it unless the action is a serious breach of trust. The terms may relieve a cotrustee of duty and liability for another cotrustee's power to the extent a directed trustee is relieved under §§ 64.2-779.32 to 64.2-779.34.
Va. Code § 64.2-757 ↗ Vacancy in trusteeship; appointment of successor: A vacancy occurs if a designated trustee rejects the trusteeship, cannot be identified or does not exist, or a trustee resigns, is disqualified or removed, dies or, as an individual, is adjudicated an incapacitated person. A vacancy need not be filled while a cotrustee remains, and must be filled when no trustee remains: for a noncharitable trust, by the person the terms designate as successor, then by a person the qualified beneficiaries appoint by unanimous agreement, then by a person the court appoints under §§ 64.2-1405 and 64.2-1406 or § 64.2-712; for a charitable trust, by the designated successor, then by a person the designated charitable organizations select (with the Attorney General's concurrence where requested), then by the court. The court may appoint an additional trustee or a special fiduciary whenever it considers it necessary. A successor or surviving trustee succeeds to all the original trustee's rights, powers and privileges and is subject to all its duties and liabilities, unless the instrument or the appointing order provides otherwise.
Va. Code § 64.2-758 ↗ Resignation of trustee: A trustee may resign upon at least 30 days' notice to the settlor, if living, to all cotrustees and to the qualified beneficiaries — except those of a revocable trust that the settlor has the capacity to revoke — or with the court's approval, the court imposing such orders and conditions as are reasonably necessary to protect the trust property. Any liability of a resigning trustee or of the sureties on the trustee's bond for the trustee's acts or omissions is not discharged or affected by the resignation.
Va. Code § 64.2-759 ↗ Removal of trustee: The settlor, a cotrustee or a beneficiary, or for a charitable trust the Attorney General, may petition the court to remove a trustee, and the court may remove one on its own initiative. The court may remove a trustee who has committed a serious breach of trust; where lack of cooperation among cotrustees substantially impairs the administration; where, because of the trustee's unfitness, unwillingness or persistent failure to administer the trust effectively, removal best serves the interests of the beneficiaries; or where there has been a substantial change of circumstances or all the qualified beneficiaries request removal, the court finds removal best serves the interests of all the beneficiaries and is not inconsistent with a material purpose, and a suitable cotrustee or successor is available. Pending a decision, or in place of or in addition to removal, the court may order the relief of § 64.2-792(B) needed to protect the trust property or the beneficiaries.
Va. Code § 64.2-760 ↗ Delivery of property by former trustee: Unless a cotrustee remains in office or the court orders otherwise, a trustee who has resigned or been removed has the duties of a trustee and the powers necessary to protect the trust property until it is delivered to a successor trustee or other person entitled to it, and proceeds expeditiously to deliver the trust property in the trustee's possession to the cotrustee, the successor or the person entitled. Title to all trust property vests in a successor trustee on acceptance of the trusteeship, without any conveyance, transfer or assignment by the prior trustee.
Va. Code § 64.2-761 ↗ Compensation of trustee: If the terms of a trust do not specify the trustee's compensation, the trustee is entitled to compensation that is reasonable under the circumstances. If they do, the trustee is entitled to be compensated as specified, but the court may allow more or less if the trustee's duties are substantially different from those contemplated when the trust was created, or the specified compensation would be unreasonably low or high.
Va. Code § 64.2-762 ↗ Reimbursement of expenses: A trustee is entitled to be reimbursed out of the trust property, with interest as appropriate, for expenses properly incurred in the administration of the trust and, to the extent necessary to prevent unjust enrichment of the trust, for expenses not properly incurred; an advance of money by the trustee for the protection of the trust gives rise to a lien against trust property securing reimbursement with reasonable interest.

Article 8: Duties and Powers of Trustee

Va. Code § 64.2-763 ↗ Duty to administer trust and invest: Upon acceptance of a trusteeship, the trustee administers the trust and invests its assets in good faith, in accordance with its terms and purposes and the interests of the beneficiaries and in accordance with the chapter, and in administering, managing and investing the assets complies with the Uniform Prudent Investor Act (§ 64.2-780 et seq.) and the Uniform Principal and Income Act (§ 64.2-1000 et seq.).
Va. Code § 64.2-764 ↗ Duty of loyalty: A trustee administers the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries. Subject to the protection of persons dealing with the trustee (§ 64.2-803), a sale, encumbrance or other transaction involving trust property entered into for the trustee's own account, or otherwise affected by a conflict between the trustee's fiduciary and personal interests, is voidable by an affected beneficiary unless the terms authorized it, the court approved it, the beneficiary did not sue within the time § 64.2-796 allows, the beneficiary consented, ratified or released the trustee in compliance with § 64.2-800, or it involves a contract or claim the trustee had before becoming or contemplating becoming trustee. A transaction with the trustee's spouse, descendants, siblings or parents or their spouses, an agent or attorney of the trustee, or an enterprise in which the trustee has an interest that might affect the trustee's judgment is presumed to be affected by a conflict. A transaction between trustee and beneficiary outside the trust property, while the trust exists or the trustee retains significant influence, that gives the trustee more than a normal commercial advantage is voidable unless the trustee shows it was fair; a trust opportunity taken individually is a conflict. An investment in a fund the trustee or an affiliate sponsors or serves is not presumed conflicted if otherwise prudent and compliant with § 64.2-1506, and the trustee may receive compensation from it if the trustee notifies the persons entitled to the annual report of the rate and method and of any change. The trustee votes shares in the beneficiaries' best interests. Fair agreements on the trustee's appointment or compensation, payment of reasonable compensation, transactions with another trust or estate the trustee serves, deposits in a regulated institution the trustee operates and advances to protect the trust are not precluded; the court may appoint a special fiduciary to decide a proposed transaction that might violate the section.
Va. Code § 64.2-765 ↗ Impartiality: If a trust has two or more beneficiaries, the trustee acts impartially in investing, managing and distributing the trust property, giving due regard to the beneficiaries' respective interests.
Va. Code § 64.2-766 ↗ Prudent administration: A trustee administers the trust as a prudent person would, by considering the purposes, terms, distributional requirements and other circumstances of the trust, exercising reasonable care, skill and caution.
Va. Code § 64.2-767 ↗ Costs of administration: In administering a trust, the trustee may incur only costs that are reasonable in relation to the trust property, the purposes of the trust and the skills of the trustee.
Va. Code § 64.2-768 ↗ Trustee's skills: A trustee who has special skills or expertise, or is named trustee in reliance on the trustee's representation of special skills or expertise, uses those special skills or expertise.
Va. Code § 64.2-769 ↗ Delegation by trustee: A trustee may delegate duties and powers that a prudent trustee of comparable skills could properly delegate under the circumstances, exercising reasonable care, skill and caution in selecting the agent, in establishing the scope and terms of the delegation consistent with the purposes and terms of the trust, and in periodically reviewing the agent's actions to monitor performance and compliance. The agent owes the trust a duty of reasonable care to comply with the terms of the delegation; a trustee who complies with the section is not liable to the beneficiaries or the trust for the agent's action; and an agent who accepts a delegation from a trustee of a trust subject to Virginia law submits to the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth's courts.
Va. Code § 64.2-771 ↗ Control and protection of trust property: A trustee takes reasonable steps to take control of and protect the trust property.
Va. Code § 64.2-772 ↗ Recordkeeping and identification of trust property: A trustee keeps adequate records of the administration of the trust; keeps the trust property separate from the trustee's own property; and causes the trust property to be designated so that the trust's interest, to the extent feasible, appears in records kept by a party other than a trustee or beneficiary — though, keeping records that clearly show the respective interests, a trustee may invest as a whole the property of two or more separate trusts. A deed or other instrument conveying property to a trust instead of to its trustees conveys it to the trustees as fully as if made to them directly.
Va. Code § 64.2-773 ↗ Enforcement and defense of claims: A trustee takes reasonable steps to enforce claims of the trust and to defend claims against the trust.
Va. Code § 64.2-774 ↗ Collecting trust property: A trustee takes reasonable steps to compel a former trustee or other person to deliver trust property to the trustee, and to redress a breach of trust or duty known to the trustee to have been committed by a former trustee or other fiduciary.
Va. Code § 64.2-775 ↗ Duty to inform and report: A trustee keeps the qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed about the administration of the trust and of the material facts necessary for them to protect their interests and, unless unreasonable under the circumstances, promptly responds to a beneficiary's request for information related to the administration; a trustee who declines in a good-faith belief that answering would be unreasonable or contrary to the settlor's purposes is not subject to removal or other sanctions for it. A trustee, upon a beneficiary's request, promptly furnishes a copy of the trust instrument; within 60 days after accepting a trusteeship, notifies the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee's name, address and telephone number; within 60 days after the date the trustee acquires knowledge of the creation of an irrevocable trust, or that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable by the settlor's death or otherwise, notifies the qualified beneficiaries of the trust's existence, the identity of the settlor or settlors, the right to request a copy of the instrument and the right to a trustee's report; and notifies the qualified beneficiaries in advance of any change in the method or rate of the trustee's compensation. At least annually and at the trust's termination, the trustee sends the distributees and permissible distributees of income or principal, and other qualified or nonqualified beneficiaries who request it, a report of the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation, a listing of the assets and, if feasible, their market values; on a vacancy with no cotrustee remaining, the former trustee sends the qualified beneficiaries a report, which a personal representative, conservator or guardian may send for a deceased or incapacitated trustee. A beneficiary may waive a report or other information and withdraw the waiver for the future. The two 60-day notices and the report apply only to an irrevocable trust created, or a revocable trust that becomes irrevocable, on or after the chapter's effective date (July 1, 2006).
Va. Code § 64.2-776 ↗ Discretionary powers; tax savings: However broad the words granting discretion — "absolute," "sole," "uncontrolled" — a trustee exercises a discretionary power in good faith and in accordance with the terms and purposes of the trust and the interests of the beneficiaries. Unless the terms expressly say otherwise, a person other than a settlor who is both beneficiary and trustee may make discretionary distributions for the trustee's own benefit only under an ascertainable standard, and a trustee may not use a discretionary distribution to satisfy the trustee's personal legal obligation of support ("trustee" including a person deemed to hold a trustee's power through a right to remove or replace one or a reciprocal-trust doctrine); a power so limited may be exercised by a majority of the trustees not limited, or by a special fiduciary the court appoints. The limits do not apply to a power held by the settlor's spouse as trustee of a marital deduction trust, to any trust while revocable by its settlor, or to a trust whose contributions qualify for the annual exclusion under Internal Revenue Code § 2503(c).
Va. Code § 64.2-777 ↗ General powers of trustee: A trustee, without court authorization, may exercise the powers conferred by the terms of the trust and, except as the terms limit them, all powers over the trust property that an unmarried competent owner has over individually owned property, any other powers appropriate to achieve the proper investment, management and distribution of the trust property, and any other powers the chapter confers; every power is subject to the trustee's fiduciary duties. A reference in the trust instrument incorporating the powers of § 64.2-105 does not limit these powers unless the settlor expressly says so.
Va. Code § 64.2-778 ↗ Specific powers of trustee: Without limiting § 64.2-777, a trustee may, among the powers the section lists: collect trust property and accept or reject additions; acquire or sell property for cash or on credit at public or private sale; exchange, partition or change the character of trust property; deposit trust money in a regulated financial service institution; borrow and mortgage or pledge trust property; continue a business and act as an owner of it; exercise a securities owner's rights, including voting and holding in a nominee's name; build, repair, subdivide, develop, dedicate and grant easements on real property; lease as lessor or lessee beyond the trust's term; grant or acquire options; insure the property, the trustee and the beneficiaries; abandon property of insufficient value; inspect for and remedy environmental liability; pay, contest, settle or release claims; pay taxes, compensation and administration expenses; make tax elections; select payment modes under benefit plans, annuities and life insurance; make loans, including to a beneficiary with a lien on future distributions; pledge property or guarantee loans to a beneficiary or a business the trust or a beneficiary owns; appoint an ancillary trustee in another jurisdiction; pay a distribution for a beneficiary under a disability directly, to a conservator, guardian, custodian or caregiver, or as a separate fund; distribute in kind or in cash, in divided or undivided interests, valuing and adjusting as needed; resolve disputes by mediation or arbitration; prosecute or defend actions; sign instruments; exercise all powers on termination to wind up and distribute; and form an entity and transfer trust property to it. A reference incorporating § 64.2-105 does not limit these powers unless the settlor expressly so states.
Va. Code § 64.2-779 ↗ Distribution upon termination: Upon termination or partial termination of a trust, the trustee may send the beneficiaries a proposal for distribution, and a beneficiary's right to object ends if the beneficiary does not notify the trustee of an objection within 30 days after the proposal was sent — but only if the proposal informed the beneficiary of the right to object and of the time allowed. Upon an event terminating or partially terminating a trust, the trustee proceeds expeditiously to distribute the property to the persons entitled to it, subject to the right to retain a reasonable reserve for debts, expenses and taxes. A beneficiary's release of the trustee from liability for breach of trust is invalid to the extent it was induced by the trustee's improper conduct, or the beneficiary did not know, when releasing, of the beneficiary's rights or the material facts of the breach.

Article 8.1: Uniform Trust Decanting Act

Va. Code § 64.2-779.1 ↗ Scope: The Uniform Trust Decanting Act (Article 8.1, 2017) applies to an express trust that is irrevocable, or revocable by the settlor only with the consent of the trustee or of a person holding an adverse interest; not to a trust held solely for charitable purposes; and, subject to § 64.2-779.12, the trust instrument may restrict or prohibit the decanting power. It does not limit any other power to distribute or appoint property in further trust, or to modify a trust, under the instrument, other law, the common law, a court order or a nonjudicial settlement agreement.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.2 ↗ Fiduciary duty: In exercising the decanting power, an authorized fiduciary acts in accordance with its fiduciary duties, including the duty to act in accordance with the purposes of the first trust; the Act creates no duty to exercise the power or to inform beneficiaries about it; and, unless the first-trust instrument provides otherwise, the terms of the first trust are deemed to include the decanting power for purposes of the Act and of §§ 64.2-763 and 64.2-764(A).
Va. Code § 64.2-779.3 ↗ Application; governing law: The Uniform Trust Decanting Act applies to a trust created before, on or after July 1, 2017, that has its principal place of administration in the Commonwealth (including one moved there), or whose instrument provides that it is governed by Virginia law for administration, construction or the meaning or effect of its terms.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.4 ↗ Reasonable reliance: A trustee or other person that reasonably relies on the validity of a distribution of trust property to another trust, or a modification of a trust, under the Act, other Virginia law or the law of another jurisdiction, is not liable to any person for any action or failure to act resulting from the reliance.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.5 ↗ Notice; exercise of decanting power: An authorized fiduciary may exercise the decanting power without the consent of any person and without court approval, but gives notice in a record of the intended exercise not later than 60 days before it (the notice period ending 59 days after the notice) to each living settlor of the first trust, each qualified beneficiary, each holder of a presently exercisable power of appointment, each person who may remove or replace the fiduciary, each other fiduciary of the first trust, each fiduciary of the second trust, each advisor or protector of the first trust, each adverse-interest holder who may consent to revocation, and the Attorney General where a charitable interest is affected. A person not known, or known but not locatable with reasonable diligence, need not be notified. The notice specifies the manner of the intended exercise and its proposed effective date and includes a copy of the first-trust instrument and of every second-trust instrument. The power may be exercised earlier only if all persons entitled to notice waive the period in a signed record; notice, waiver or the period's running does not bar an application to the court.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.6 ↗ Court involvement: On application of an authorized fiduciary, a person entitled to notice, a beneficiary, or for a charitable interest the Attorney General or another person with standing, the court may instruct the fiduciary whether a proposed exercise is permitted and consistent with its duties; appoint a special fiduciary to decide whether to exercise the power and to exercise it; approve an exercise; determine that a proposed or attempted exercise is ineffective because it does not comply with the Act or would be an abuse of discretion or breach of duty; determine and instruct on the savings provision of § 64.2-779.19 as applied to a prior exercise; or order other relief. On an authorized fiduciary's application, the court may approve an increase in compensation under § 64.2-779.13 or a modification of a removal power under § 64.2-779.15.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.7 ↗ Formalities: An exercise of the decanting power is made in a record signed by an authorized fiduciary that, directly or by reference to the notice, identifies the first trust and each second trust and states the property distributed to or held under each second trust and any property remaining in the first trust.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.8 ↗ Decanting power under expanded distributive discretion: An authorized fiduciary with expanded distributive discretion over a first trust's income or principal for one or more current beneficiaries may exercise the decanting power over that income or principal (over the part, where the discretion reaches only part). Subject to the special-needs and charitable rules, a second trust may not add a current beneficiary, add a presumptive remainder or successor beneficiary who was not a beneficiary of the first trust, or reduce or eliminate a vested interest; but it may be governed by any jurisdiction's law and may retain or omit a power of appointment (not a presently exercisable general power), and may create or modify a power of appointment for a current beneficiary where the fiduciary may distribute principal to that beneficiary, or for a remainder or successor beneficiary exercisable only once the holder becomes a current beneficiary — general or nongeneral, with a class of appointees broader than or different from the first trust's beneficiaries. The section defines "vested interest," "noncontingent right," "presumptive remainder beneficiary" and "successor beneficiary."
Va. Code § 64.2-779.9 ↗ Decanting power under limited distributive discretion: An authorized fiduciary whose discretionary power of distribution is limited to an ascertainable or reasonably definite standard may exercise the decanting power over a first trust's income or principal for one or more current beneficiaries, but the second trusts, in the aggregate, must grant each beneficiary of the first trust beneficial interests substantially similar to the first trust's; a second trust that defers a contingent outright distribution is substantially similar if, during the beneficiary's life, nothing attributable to it may go to anyone else and the beneficiary has a testamentary general power of appointment over it; a power under the second trust to distribute for a beneficiary's benefit is substantially similar to a power to distribute to the beneficiary directly; where the limited discretion reaches only part of the income or principal, the power reaches that part.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.10 ↗ Trust for beneficiary with disability: A special-needs fiduciary — the trustee or other fiduciary (not a settlor) with discretion to distribute principal, else income, else required to distribute, to a current beneficiary — may exercise the decanting power under § 64.2-779.8 for a beneficiary who the fiduciary believes may qualify for governmental benefits based on disability, as if it had expanded discretion, if a second trust is a special-needs trust (one the trustee believes would not be a resource for benefit eligibility) benefiting that beneficiary and the fiduciary determines the exercise will further the first trust's purposes. The beneficiary's interest may be a pooled trust or carry Medicaid payback provisions (42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)(C), (A)); the vested-interest limit does not apply to that beneficiary; every other beneficiary's interests must remain substantially similar.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.11 ↗ Protection of charitable interest: Where a first trust contains a determinable charitable interest — a mandatory, unconditional or solely charitable distribution right — the Attorney General has a qualified beneficiary's rights and may represent and bind it. Where a first trust contains a charitable interest, a second trust may not diminish it or the interest of an identified charitable organization holding it, alter a stated charitable purpose, or alter a condition or restriction related to it; with two or more second trusts they are treated as one in deciding whether the interest is diminished; and a second trust carrying a determinable charitable interest must be administered under Virginia law unless the Attorney General, after the notice, fails to object within the notice period or consents in a signed record, or the court approves.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.12 ↗ Trust limitation on decanting: An authorized fiduciary may not exercise the decanting power to the extent the first-trust instrument expressly prohibits the decanting power or a statutory power to distribute to another trust or to modify the trust, and an exercise is subject to any express restriction of that kind. A general prohibition of amendment or revocation, a spendthrift clause or a clause restraining transfer of a beneficiary's interest does not preclude decanting, nor does a power in the instrument to modify or distribute in further trust; an express prohibition or restriction must be carried into the second trust.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.13 ↗ Change in compensation: An authorized fiduciary may not exercise the decanting power to increase its compensation above the compensation the first-trust instrument specifies — or, where it specifies none, above what the chapter permits — unless all qualified beneficiaries of the second trust consent in a signed record or the court approves; a change incidental to other changes made by the exercise is not an increase.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.14 ↗ Relief from liability and indemnification: A second-trust instrument may not relieve an authorized fiduciary from liability for breach of trust to a greater extent than the first-trust instrument, and may not reduce fiduciary liability in the aggregate; it may provide indemnification for a liability or claim that would have been payable from the first trust, and may divide and reallocate fiduciary powers among trustees, advisors and protectors and relieve a fiduciary of liability for another's act as other Virginia law permits.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.15 ↗ Removal or replacement of authorized fiduciary: An authorized fiduciary may not exercise the decanting power to modify a provision granting another person power to remove or replace the fiduciary unless the holder consents in a signed record and the modification applies only to the holder; the holder and the second trust's qualified beneficiaries consent and the modification grants a substantially similar power to another person; or the court approves and the modification grants a substantially similar power to another.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.16 ↗ Tax-related provisions: An exercise of the decanting power is subject to limits that preserve a tax benefit of the first trust: a second trust must not include or omit a term that would have prevented, or reduced, a marital or charitable deduction the first trust's property qualified for; the section likewise preserves a § 2503(c) annual-exclusion qualification, an S-corporation shareholder's permitted status, a zero inclusion ratio for the generation-skipping transfer tax, the minimum distributions required for qualified benefits property under Internal Revenue Code § 401(a)(9), a § 672(f)(2)(A) grantor-trust status and any other tax benefit the first-trust instrument was clearly designed to obtain; a second trust may otherwise be a grantor or nongrantor trust, subject to a settlor's objection within the notice period in the cases the section lists; and a fiduciary with limited discretion may decant to grant or eliminate a general power of appointment where it reasonably determines the overall tax consequences may be reduced, within the appointee limits the section sets. It defines "grantor trust," "nongrantor trust" and "qualified benefits property."
Va. Code § 64.2-779.17 ↗ Duration of second trust: A second trust may have a duration the same as or different from the first trust's, but property of a second trust attributable to the first trust remains subject to the rules governing maximum perpetuity, accumulation or suspension of the power of alienation that applied to the first trust's property.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.18 ↗ Need to distribute not required: An authorized fiduciary may exercise the decanting power whether or not, under the first trust's discretionary distribution standard, it would have made or could have been compelled to make a discretionary distribution at the time of the exercise.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.19 ↗ Savings provision: If an exercise of the decanting power would be effective except that the second-trust instrument in part does not comply with the Act, the exercise is effective: a provision the Act does not permit is void to the extent necessary, and a provision it requires is deemed included to the extent necessary; a fiduciary of the second trust who determines that this applies to a prior exercise takes corrective action consistent with its duties.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.20 ↗ Trust for care of animal: The decanting power may be exercised over a trust for the care of an animal that has a protector (a person appointed to enforce it), to the extent it could be decanted if each animal were an individual, if the protector consents in a signed record; the protector has a qualified beneficiary's rights under the Act, and the second trust must apply the property only to its intended purpose for the period the first trust benefited the animal.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.21 ↗ Terms of second trust: A reference in the chapter to a trust instrument or terms of the trust includes a second-trust instrument and the terms of the second trust.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.22 ↗ Settlor: For purposes of Virginia law other than the Act, a settlor of a first trust is deemed the settlor of the second trust as to the portion of the first trust's income or principal subject to the exercise; in determining settlor intent for a second trust, the intent of a settlor of the first trust, a settlor of the second trust and the authorized fiduciary may be considered.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.23 ↗ Later-discovered property: Unless the exercise or the second trust provides otherwise, later-discovered property belonging to the first trust, and property paid to or acquired by it after the exercise, is part of the second trust where the exercise was intended to distribute all of the first trust, and remains in the first trust where it was intended to distribute less than all.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.24 ↗ Obligations: A debt, liability or other obligation enforceable against property of a first trust is enforceable to the same extent against the property when held by the second trust after the decanting power is exercised.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.25 ↗ Accountings: If accounts for the first trust are filed with the Commissioner of Accounts, the accounts for the second trust are filed with the Commissioner of Accounts unless the court orders otherwise.

Article 8.2: Uniform Directed Trust Act

Va. Code § 64.2-779.26 ↗ Definitions: For the Uniform Directed Trust Act (Article 8.2, 2020), "breach of trust" includes a trust director's or trustee's violation of a duty imposed by the terms of the trust, the Act or other Virginia trust law, and a "directed trust" is a trust whose terms grant a power of direction (the chapter's § 64.2-701 defines "power of direction," "trust director" and "directed trustee").
Va. Code § 64.2-779.27 ↗ Application: The Uniform Directed Trust Act applies to a trust with its principal place of administration in the Commonwealth that is created on or after July 1, 2020; is amended by its settlor, or amended or modified by nonjudicial settlement agreement, decanting or the court, on or after that date (then only to decisions or actions after the first such amendment); or was made subject to former § 64.2-770(E) by specific reference. For a trust, decision or action the Act does not reach, the older rules apply: a trustee acts on the exercise of a power to direct unless it is manifestly contrary to the terms or the trustee knows it would be a serious breach of the holder's fiduciary duty; the terms may confer a power to direct modification or termination; and a holder of a power to direct, other than a beneficiary, is presumptively a fiduciary liable for loss from a breach of fiduciary duty.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.28 ↗ Exclusions: The Uniform Directed Trust Act does not apply to a power of appointment; a power to appoint or remove a trustee or trust director; a settlor's power over a trust while the settlor may revoke it; a beneficiary's power to the extent it affects that beneficiary's interest or the interest of another the beneficiary represents; a power the terms say is held in a nonfiduciary capacity where that is needed for the settlor's tax objectives; or a power over a trust whose terms provide that the Act does not apply. Unless the terms provide otherwise, a power to designate a recipient of an ownership interest or a power of appointment, exercisable while the holder is not a trustee, is a power of appointment, not a power of direction.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.29 ↗ Powers of trust director: Subject to § 64.2-779.30, the terms of a trust may grant a power of direction to a trust director; unless the terms provide otherwise, a trust director may exercise any further power appropriate to the exercise or nonexercise of the power of direction, and trust directors with joint powers act by majority decision.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.30 ↗ Limitations on trust director: A trust director is subject to the same rules as a trustee in a like position in exercising or not exercising a power of direction regarding a Medicaid payback provision (42 U.S.C. § 1396p(d)(4)(A)) and a charitable interest in the trust, including notice of it to the Attorney General.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.31 ↗ Duty and liability of trust director: With respect to a power of direction or further power, a trust director has the same fiduciary duty and liability as a sole trustee in a like position (or, for a joint power, as a cotrustee), and the terms may vary that duty or liability to the same extent they could vary a trustee's. Unless the terms provide otherwise, a trust director licensed or authorized to provide health care has no duty or liability under the Act to the extent acting in that capacity; the terms may impose additional duties.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.32 ↗ 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 or further power and is not liable for the action, but must not comply to the extent that by complying the trustee would engage in willful misconduct. A director's exercise of a power to release a trustee or another director from liability is not effective if the breach involved willful misconduct, the release was induced by improper conduct, or the director did not know the material facts. A directed trustee with reasonable doubt about its duty may petition the court for instructions; the terms may impose additional duties or liabilities.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.33 ↗ Duty to provide information to trust director or trustee: Subject to § 64.2-779.34, a trustee provides information to a trust director, and a trust director to a trustee or another trust director, to the extent the information is reasonably related both to the provider's powers or duties and to the recipient's; a trustee or director acting in reliance on information so provided is not liable for a breach resulting from the reliance unless by so acting it engages in willful misconduct.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.34 ↗ No duty to monitor, inform, or advise: Unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise, a trustee has no duty to monitor a trust director or to inform or advise a settlor, beneficiary, trustee or trust director about an instance in which the trustee might have acted differently than the director, and a trust director has no corresponding duty toward a trustee or another director; taking such an action does not assume the excluded duty.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.35 ↗ Limitation of action against trust director: An action against a trust director for breach of trust must be commenced within the same limitation period as under § 64.2-796 for an action against a trustee in a like position, and a report or accounting has the same effect on that period for a trust director as for a trustee.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.36 ↗ Defenses in action against trust director: In an action against a trust director for breach of trust, the director may assert the same defenses a trustee in a like position could assert.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.37 ↗ Jurisdiction over trust director: By accepting appointment as a trust director of a trust subject to the Act, the director submits to the personal jurisdiction of the Commonwealth's courts regarding any matter related to a power or duty of the director; other methods of obtaining jurisdiction remain.
Va. Code § 64.2-779.38 ↗ Office of trust director: Unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise, the rules that apply to a trustee also apply to a trust director regarding acceptance (§ 64.2-754), bond (§ 64.2-755), reasonable compensation (§ 64.2-761), resignation (§ 64.2-758), removal (§ 64.2-759) and vacancy and appointment of a successor (§ 64.2-757).

Article 9: Uniform Prudent Investor Act

Va. Code § 64.2-780 ↗ Definition of terms: For the Uniform Prudent Investor Act (Article 9), a "controlling document" is the will, agreement, power of attorney, court order or other instrument creating the fiduciary powers; "trust" includes the assets under the trustee's control or management; and "trustee" includes any fiduciary as defined in § 8.01-2, an attorney-in-fact or agent under a written power of attorney, a custodian under § 64.2-1911 and a custodial trustee under § 64.2-906.
Va. Code § 64.2-781 ↗ Prudent investor rule: Except as subsection B, § 2.2-4519 or § 64.2-1502 provides, a trustee who invests and manages trust assets owes the beneficiaries a duty to comply with the prudent investor rule of Article 9. The rule is a default rule that the provisions of a trust may expand, restrict, eliminate or otherwise alter, but a general authorization to invest as the trustee in its sole discretion deems best, or other language purporting to expand investment powers, does not waive it unless the controlling document expressly manifests that intention — by reference to the "prudent man" or "prudent investor" rule, to a power to make "speculative" investments, by an express authorization to acquire or retain a specific asset or type of asset such as a closely held business, or by synonymous language; a trustee is not liable for good-faith reliance on a waiver.
Va. Code § 64.2-782 ↗ Standard of care; portfolio strategy; risk and return objectives: A trustee invests and manages trust assets as a prudent investor would, considering the purposes, terms, distribution requirements and other circumstances of the trust and exercising reasonable care, skill and caution; each decision is evaluated not in isolation but in the context of the portfolio as a whole and as part of an overall strategy with risk and return objectives reasonably suited to the trust. Among the circumstances the trustee considers, as relevant: general economic conditions; inflation or deflation; the expected tax consequences; each investment's role in the portfolio; the expected total return from income and appreciation; the beneficiaries' other resources; needs for liquidity, regular income and preservation or appreciation of capital; and an asset's special relationship or value to the trust's purposes or a beneficiary. The trustee makes a reasonable effort to verify relevant facts, may invest in any kind of property consistent with the Act's standards, and uses special skills or expertise it has or represented it has. A trustee may hold life insurance policies acquired by gift or under express permission in the instrument (including § 64.2-105(B)(19)) without a duty to decide whether they remain proper investments, to dispose of them to diversify or to exercise options not essential to continuing the insurance.
Va. Code § 64.2-783 ↗ Diversification by trustee: A trustee diversifies the investments of the trust unless the trustee reasonably determines that, because of special circumstances, the purposes of the trust are better served without diversifying.
Va. Code § 64.2-784 ↗ Duties at inception of trusteeship: Within a reasonable time after accepting a trusteeship or receiving trust assets, a trustee reviews the trust assets and makes and implements decisions concerning their retention and disposition, to bring the portfolio into compliance with the purposes, terms, distribution requirements and other circumstances of the trust and with the requirements of the Uniform Prudent Investor Act.
Va. Code § 64.2-785 ↗ Loyalty and impartiality: A trustee invests and manages the trust assets solely in the interest of the beneficiaries and, where there are two or more beneficiaries, acts impartially in investing and managing them, taking into account any differing interests of the beneficiaries.
Va. Code § 64.2-786 ↗ Investment costs: In investing and managing trust assets, a trustee may incur only costs that are appropriate and reasonable in relation to the assets, the purposes of the trust and the skills of the trustee.
Va. Code § 64.2-787 ↗ Reviewing compliance: Compliance with the prudent investor rule is determined in light of the facts and circumstances existing at the time of a trustee's decision or action and not by hindsight.
Va. Code § 64.2-788 ↗ Delegation of investment and management functions: A trustee may delegate investment and management functions that a prudent trustee of comparable skills could properly delegate under the circumstances, exercising reasonable care, skill and caution in selecting an agent, establishing the scope and terms of the delegation consistent with the purposes and terms of the trust, and periodically reviewing the agent's actions to monitor performance and compliance. In performing a delegated function an agent owes the trust a duty of reasonable care to comply with the terms of the delegation; a trustee who complies with the section is not liable to the beneficiaries or the trust for the agent's decisions or actions; and an agent who accepts the delegation from a trustee of a trust subject to Virginia law submits to the jurisdiction of the Commonwealth's courts.
Va. Code § 64.2-789 ↗ Language invoking standard of article: Unless limited or modified by language stating the investment standard the trustee is held to, terms in a trust such as "investments permissible by law for investment of trust funds," "legal investments," "authorized investments," the classic statement of the care persons of prudence, discretion and intelligence use with their own affairs, "prudent man rule," "prudent trustee rule," "prudent person rule" and "prudent investor rule" authorize any investment or strategy the Act permits.
Va. Code § 64.2-790 ↗ Application to existing trusts: The Uniform Prudent Investor Act applies to trusts existing on and created after January 1, 2000; as applied to trusts existing on that date, it governs only decisions or actions occurring after it.
Va. Code § 64.2-791 ↗ Uniformity of application and construction: The Uniform Prudent Investor Act is applied and construed to effectuate its general purpose of making uniform the law on its subject among the states enacting it.

Article 10: Liability of Trustees and Rights of Persons Dealing with Trustee

Va. Code § 64.2-792 ↗ Remedies for breach of trust: A violation by a trustee of a duty the trustee owes a beneficiary is a breach of trust. To remedy a breach that has occurred or may occur, the court may compel the trustee to perform its duties; enjoin the trustee from committing a breach; compel the trustee to redress a breach by paying money, restoring property or other means; order the trustee to account; appoint a special fiduciary to take possession of the property and administer the trust; suspend the trustee; remove the trustee under § 64.2-759; reduce or deny the trustee's compensation; subject to § 64.2-803, void an act of the trustee, impose a lien or constructive trust on trust property, or trace property wrongfully disposed of and recover it or its proceeds; or order any other appropriate relief.
Va. Code § 64.2-793 ↗ Damages for breach of trust: A trustee who commits a breach of trust is liable to the affected beneficiaries for the greater of the amount required to restore the value of the trust property and trust distributions to what they would have been had the breach not occurred, or the profit the trustee made by reason of the breach. Where more than one trustee is liable, a trustee is entitled to contribution from the others, except a trustee substantially more at fault than another, one who committed the breach in bad faith or with reckless indifference to the trust's purposes or the beneficiaries' interests, and, to the extent of the benefit, one who received a benefit from the breach.
Va. Code § 64.2-794 ↗ Damages in absence of breach: A trustee is accountable to an affected beneficiary for any profit the trustee made from the administration of the trust, even absent a breach; absent a breach, a trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for a loss or depreciation in the value of trust property or for not having made a profit.
Va. Code § 64.2-795 ↗ Attorney fees and costs: In a judicial proceeding involving the administration of a trust, the court, as justice and equity may require, may award costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney fees, to any party, to be paid by another party or from the trust that is the subject of the controversy.
Va. Code § 64.2-796 ↗ Limitation of action against trustee: A beneficiary may not commence a proceeding against a trustee for breach of trust more than one year after the date the beneficiary or a representative was sent a report that adequately disclosed the existence of a potential claim for breach of trust and informed the beneficiary of the time allowed for commencing a proceeding; a report adequately discloses a potential claim if it gives information sufficient for the beneficiary or representative to know of the claim or to have inquired into its existence. Otherwise, a judicial proceeding for breach of trust is commenced within five years after the first to occur of the trustee's removal, resignation or death, the termination of the beneficiary's interest, or the termination of the trust. Where fraud has been perpetrated in connection with any proceeding or statement under the chapter, or used to avoid its provisions, an injured person may obtain relief against the perpetrator or restitution from anyone benefiting, except a bona fide purchaser, in a proceeding commenced within two years after the fraud is discovered and, against one not a perpetrator, no later than five years after the fraud; the fraud rule does not reach fraud practiced on a decedent during life that affects the succession of the estate. The section does not reduce the limitation periods of § 8.01-245.
Va. Code § 64.2-797 ↗ Reliance on trust instrument: A trustee who acts in reasonable reliance on the terms of the trust as expressed in the trust instrument is not liable to a beneficiary for a breach of trust to the extent the breach resulted from the reliance.
Va. Code § 64.2-798 ↗ Event affecting administration or distribution: If the happening of an event — such as marriage, divorce, the performance of educational requirements or death — affects the administration or distribution of a trust, a trustee who exercised reasonable care to ascertain its happening is not liable for a loss resulting from the trustee's lack of knowledge of it.
Va. Code § 64.2-799 ↗ Exculpation of trustee: A term of a trust relieving a trustee of liability for breach of trust is unenforceable to the extent it relieves the trustee of liability for a breach committed in bad faith or with reckless indifference to the purposes of the trust or the interests of the beneficiaries, or was inserted as the result of an abuse by the trustee of a fiduciary or confidential relationship to the settlor; an exculpatory term drafted or caused to be drafted by the trustee is invalid as such an abuse unless the trustee proves its existence and contents were adequately communicated to the settlor.
Va. Code § 64.2-800 ↗ Beneficiary's consent, release, or ratification: A trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for a breach of trust if the beneficiary consented to the conduct, released the trustee or ratified the transaction, unless the consent, release or ratification was induced by the trustee's improper conduct or the beneficiary did not then know of the beneficiary's rights or the material facts. When the trust terminates or the trustee ceases to serve, a beneficiary is deemed to have released the trustee and ratified all the trustee's actions if the trustee sends the beneficiary the report of § 64.2-775(C) for the immediately preceding two years; the amount of any taxes, expenses or fees, including trustee fees and reserves, remaining to be paid; a notice that the trust is terminating or the trustee ceasing to serve, that a beneficiary who does not object in writing within 60 days after the notice and information were sent is deemed to have released the trustee and ratified all its actions, and that the trustee is unaware of any undisclosed information that could give rise to a claim; and, for a terminating trust, a description of property reasonably anticipated but not yet received and a proposal for distribution — and the beneficiary does not object in writing within those 60 days. The procedure does not apply to a decanting under Article 8.1, and a trustee not released by it may obtain a release another way. A trustee who complies, has no objection or has resolved any, and distributes the assets of a terminating trust to a beneficiary or successor trustee, has the same legal and preclusive effect as a court's final order approving the final or interim accounts, and a beneficiary who received the package and consented or did not object may not bring a claim against the trustee.
Va. Code § 64.2-801 ↗ Limitation on personal liability of trustee: Except as the contract provides, a trustee is not personally liable on a contract properly entered into in the trustee's fiduciary capacity in the course of administering the trust if the contract disclosed the fiduciary capacity; a trustee is personally liable for torts committed in the course of administration, or for obligations arising from ownership or control of trust property, including violation of environmental law, only if personally at fault. A claim on such a contract, obligation or tort may be asserted against the trustee in its fiduciary capacity whether or not the trustee is personally liable for it.
Va. Code § 64.2-802 ↗ Interest as general partner: Except as subsection C provides or the contract imposes personal liability, a trustee holding an interest as a general partner is not personally liable on a partnership contract entered into after the trust acquired the interest if the fiduciary capacity was disclosed in the contract or in a statement filed under the Uniform Partnership Act, nor for the partnership's torts or obligations arising from ownership or control of the interest unless personally at fault. The immunity does not apply if the trustee holds an interest in the partnership in another capacity, or the trustee's spouse, descendants, siblings or parents, or the spouse of any of them, hold one; where the trustee of a revocable trust holds a general partner's interest, the settlor is personally liable for the partnership's contracts and obligations as if a general partner.
Va. Code § 64.2-803 ↗ Protection of person dealing with trustee: A person other than a beneficiary who in good faith assists a trustee, or in good faith and for value deals with a trustee, without knowledge that the trustee is exceeding or improperly exercising its powers, is protected from liability as if the trustee properly exercised the power; such a person need not inquire into the extent of the trustee's powers or the propriety of their exercise; a person who in good faith delivers assets to a trustee need not ensure their proper application; the same protection extends to dealings with a former trustee without knowledge that the trusteeship has terminated; and comparable protective provisions of other laws on commercial transactions or fiduciaries' transfers of securities prevail over the section.
Va. Code § 64.2-804 ↗ Certification of trust: Instead of furnishing a copy of the trust instrument to a person other than a beneficiary, the trustee may furnish a certification of trust containing: that the trust exists and the date the trust instrument was executed; the identity of the settlor; the identity and address of the currently acting trustee; the powers of the trustee; the revocability or irrevocability of the trust and the identity of any person holding a power to revoke it; the authority of cotrustees to sign or otherwise authenticate and whether all or less than all are required to exercise powers of the trustee; the trust's taxpayer identification number; and the manner of taking title to trust property. Any trustee may sign or otherwise authenticate it; it states that the trust has not been revoked, modified or amended in any manner that would make its representations incorrect; it need not contain the dispositive terms. The recipient may require copies of the excerpts from the original instrument and later amendments that designate the trustee and confer the power to act in the pending transaction. A person who acts in reliance on it without knowledge that its representations are incorrect is not liable for so acting, may assume the facts without inquiry, and in good faith may enforce the transaction against the trust property as if the representations were correct; knowledge of the terms may not be inferred merely from holding a copy of part or all of the instrument. A person who demands the instrument in addition to a certification or excerpts is liable for damages if the court determines the demand was not made in good faith; the section does not limit obtaining the instrument in a judicial proceeding.

Article 11: Miscellaneous Provisions

Va. Code § 64.2-805 ↗ Uniformity of application and construction: In applying and construing the uniform act, consideration is given to the need to promote uniformity of the law on its subject among the states that enact it.
Va. Code § 64.2-806 ↗ Electronic records and signatures: The chapter's provisions on the legal effect, validity or enforceability of electronic records or electronic signatures, and of contracts formed or performed with them, conform to § 102 of the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (15 U.S.C. § 7002) and supersede, modify and limit that Act's requirements.
Va. Code § 64.2-808 ↗ Application to existing relationships: Except as the chapter provides otherwise, it applies to all trusts created before, on or after July 1, 2006; to all judicial proceedings concerning trusts commenced on or after that date; and to proceedings commenced before it unless the court finds a particular provision would substantially interfere with the effective conduct of the proceeding or prejudice the parties' rights, in which case the superseded law applies. Its rules of construction and presumptions apply to instruments executed before July 1, 2006 unless the terms clearly indicate a contrary intent; an act done before that date is not affected; and where a right is acquired, extinguished or barred on the expiration of a period that began to run under another statute before July 1, 2006, that statute continues to apply.

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