Core duties · 4 min read
Adequate records and separate property
G.L. c. 203E, § 810 provides that a trustee keeps adequate records of the administration of the trust and keeps trust property separate from the trustee's own property; a trustee may invest as a whole the property of two or more separate trusts if the trustee maintains records clearly indicating the respective interests. Beside those duties, the trustee takes reasonable steps to take control of and protect the trust property (§ 809).
What the account and the court account draw on
The trustee's account includes information relating to the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the amount of the trustee's compensation, a listing of the trust assets and, if feasible, their respective market values (G.L. c. 203E, § 813(c)). No trust is subject to continuing judicial supervision unless the court orders it, and a proceeding to review and settle a trustee's accounts may be initiated by petition in the Probate and Family Court (§ 201(b), (d)). An account rendered to the probate court by a trustee covers a period distinctly stated and has three schedules — the opening property with the income, other property and gains received; the payments, charges, losses and distributions; and the investment of the balance — and states principal and income separately (G.L. c. 206, § 2). Records kept as the administration goes are what both draw on, and a beneficiary's receipt of a final account that fully discloses a matter and shows the termination of the trust relationship starts the six-month period of G.L. c. 203E, § 1005(a).
Contracts, title and the recorded certificate
Except as the contract provides otherwise, a trustee is not personally liable on a contract properly entered into in the fiduciary capacity in the course of administering the trust if the trustee, in the contract, disclosed the fiduciary capacity (G.L. c. 203E, § 1010(a)). A trustee may establish or continue title-holding entities, including so-called nominee trusts, to hold legal title to trust property without the need to record or make public the terms of the trust (§ 816(26)), and a certification of trust states the manner of taking title to trust property (§ 1013(a)(8)). For real estate owned by a nontestamentary trust, a certificate sworn to or executed under the penalties of perjury by a person who appears of record to be a trustee, certifying the identity of the trustees or beneficiaries, the trustees' authority as to the real estate, or a fact that is a condition precedent to their acts, binds the trustees and the trust estate in favor of a purchaser or other person relying on it in good faith (G.L. c. 184, § 35).
The statutes, verbatim
Limitation on personal liability of trustee
G.L. c. 203E, § 1010 ↗Clear, simple explanation; the verbatim statute text is not yet attested in our library. See the official statute via the link above.
Recordkeeping and identification of trust property
G.L. c. 203E, § 810 ↗Clear, simple explanation; the verbatim statute text is not yet attested in our library. See the official statute via the link above.
Duty to inform and report
G.L. c. 203E, § 813 ↗Clear, simple explanation; the verbatim statute text is not yet attested in our library. See the official statute via the link above.
Forms of accounts
G.L. c. 206, § 2 ↗Clear, simple explanation; the verbatim statute text is not yet attested in our library. See the official statute via the link above.
Common questions
Must a Massachusetts trustee keep trust money in a separate account?
A trustee keeps adequate records of the administration and keeps trust property separate from the trustee's own property (G.L. c. 203E, § 810(a), (b)); among the specific powers, a trustee may deposit trust money in an account in a regulated financial service institution (§ 816(4)).
How long should a Massachusetts trustee keep records?
The statute sets no retention period. The account is at least annual and at termination (G.L. c. 203E, § 813(c)), and the limitation periods run six months after receipt of a fully disclosing final account, three years from when a beneficiary knew or reasonably should have known of a potential claim, and otherwise five years after the first of the trustee's departure, the end of the beneficiary's interest or the trust's termination (§ 1005). How long to keep the record is a question for a licensed Massachusetts attorney of your choosing.
How does a Massachusetts trustee sign a contract?
The statute asks that the trustee disclose the fiduciary capacity in the contract: a trustee who does so is not personally liable on a contract properly entered into in that capacity in the course of administering the trust, unless the contract provides otherwise (G.L. c. 203E, § 1010(a)). The statute prescribes no particular words.
Related reading
The Learning Center is general information about Massachusetts law — not legal advice, and not a substitute for advice from a licensed Massachusetts attorney about your specific facts. TrusteeClear is software, not a law firm.
Frequently asked questions
- Must a Massachusetts trustee keep trust money in a separate account?
- A trustee keeps adequate records of the administration and keeps trust property separate from the trustee's own property (G.L. c. 203E, § 810(a), (b)); among the specific powers, a trustee may deposit trust money in an account in a regulated financial service institution (§ 816(4)).
- How long should a Massachusetts trustee keep records?
- The statute sets no retention period. The account is at least annual and at termination (G.L. c. 203E, § 813(c)), and the limitation periods run six months after receipt of a fully disclosing final account, three years from when a beneficiary knew or reasonably should have known of a potential claim, and otherwise five years after the first of the trustee's departure, the end of the beneficiary's interest or the trust's termination (§ 1005). How long to keep the record is a question for a licensed Massachusetts attorney of your choosing.
- How does a Massachusetts trustee sign a contract?
- The statute asks that the trustee disclose the fiduciary capacity in the contract: a trustee who does so is not personally liable on a contract properly entered into in that capacity in the course of administering the trust, unless the contract provides otherwise (G.L. c. 203E, § 1010(a)). The statute prescribes no particular words.
General information about Massachusetts law, not legal advice.