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Prudent administration: the standard a Colorado trustee is measured by

Most questions a trustee faces come back to one standard: what a prudent person would do with this trust. This guide explains how the Colorado Uniform Trust Code and the prudent investor rule state that standard, and the duties that sit beside it.

הטקסט המלא של מדריך זה באנגלית; התקציר שלמעלה בשפתכם. תקצירי החוקים והנוסח האנגלי נשארים המקור המחייב.

Core duties · 6 דק' קריאה

The standard

C.R.S. §15-5-804 provides that a trustee administers the trust as a prudent person would, by considering its purposes, terms, distribution requirements and other circumstances, exercising reasonable care, skill and caution. The statute states the standard in terms of the care, skill and caution a trustee brings to the work.

Within a reasonable time after accepting the trusteeship or receiving trust assets, a trustee reviews the assets and makes and carries out decisions about keeping or disposing of them, to bring the portfolio into compliance with the trust's purposes, terms and distribution requirements and with the prudent investor rule (C.R.S. §15-1.1-104).

Impartiality and loyalty

Where a trust has two or more beneficiaries, the trustee acts impartially in investing, managing and distributing the property, taking into account their differing interests (C.R.S. §15-5-803) — an income beneficiary and the remainder beneficiaries, for example.

C.R.S. §15-5-802 provides that a trustee administers the trust solely in the beneficiaries' interests. A transaction for the trustee's own account, or otherwise affected by a conflict between the trustee's personal and fiduciary interests, is voidable by an affected beneficiary unless an exception the section lists applies — among them the trust's terms, a court's approval, or the beneficiary's consent.

Discretion and its limits

Whatever words of discretion a trust uses, C.R.S. §15-5-814(1)(a) provides that the trustee exercises a discretionary power in good faith, within the trust's terms and purposes and the beneficiaries' interests. Where the trust grants unlimited discretion, a court may not find an abuse merely because it would have exercised the discretion differently (§15-5-814(1)(b)).

Unless the terms expressly provide otherwise, a trustee who is also a beneficiary (other than the settlor) makes discretionary distributions to themselves only under an ascertainable standard (C.R.S. §15-5-814(2)(a)).

Delegation and records

A trustee may delegate duties and powers a prudent trustee of comparable skills could properly delegate, with reasonable care in selecting the agent, setting the scope and terms, and reviewing the agent's work (C.R.S. §15-5-807).

Prudence is shown on paper: a trustee keeps adequate records of the administration and keeps trust property separate from the trustee's own (C.R.S. §15-5-810). Many trustees write down, at the time, what they considered and why they chose as they did.

החוקים, מילה במילה

  • Duties at inception of trusteeship

    C.R.S. §15-1.1-104 ↗

    הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.

  • Duty of loyalty

    C.R.S. §15-5-802 ↗

    הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.

  • Prudent administration

    C.R.S. §15-5-804 ↗

    הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.

  • Discretionary powers - tax savings

    C.R.S. §15-5-814 ↗

    הסבר ברור ופשוט; נוסח החוק המילולי טרם אושר בספרייה שלנו. ראו את החוק הרשמי בקישור למעלה.

שאלות נפוצות

What standard of care applies to a Colorado trustee?

Prudent administration: a trustee administers the trust as a prudent person would, considering its purposes, terms, distribution requirements and other circumstances, with reasonable care, skill and caution (C.R.S. §15-5-804).

When does a Colorado trustee review the trust's investments?

Within a reasonable time after accepting the trusteeship or receiving trust assets (C.R.S. §15-1.1-104); the statute sets no fixed number of days.

Can a Colorado trustee buy trust property?

A transaction for the trustee's own account is voidable by an affected beneficiary unless an exception in C.R.S. §15-5-802 applies — among them the trust's terms, a court's approval or the beneficiary's consent.

מרכז הלמידה הוא מידע כללי על חוק קולורדו — לא ייעוץ משפטי ולא תחליף לייעוץ מעורך דין מורשה בקולורדו על העובדות שלכם. TrusteeClear היא תוכנה, לא משרד עורכי דין.