Tseng v. Tseng

352 P.3d 74, 271 Or. App. 657
CourtCourt of Appeals of Oregon
DecidedJune 10, 2015
Docket120891165; A153639
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 352 P.3d 74 (Tseng v. Tseng) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Oregon primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Tseng v. Tseng, 352 P.3d 74, 271 Or. App. 657 (Or. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

LAGESEN, P. J.

This appeal requires us to address a question of first impression in this state: whether and to what extent, after a settlor’s death, ORS 130.710(1) requires a trustee of a revocable trust to provide beneficiaries of the trust with information about the administration of the trust during the settlor’s lifetime. We conclude that the statute, when construed in the context of the Oregon Uniform Trust Code (OUTC) and its legislative history, requires the trustee to provide qualified beneficiaries with, in the words of the statute, “the material facts necessary for those beneficiaries to protect their interests.” ORS 130.710(1). Because the probate court concluded that the beneficiaries of a revocable trust cannot, as a matter of law, obtain any information about the trust’s administration during the settlor’s lifetime, we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

STATUTORY AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This case requires us to construe provisions of the OUTC governing revocable trusts, as well as provisions governing the rights of trust beneficiaries to obtain information about trust administration. In 2005, Oregon adopted the Uniform Trust Code with modifications. Hope Presbyterian v. Presbyterian Church (USA), 352 Or 668, 687, 291 P3d 711 (2012). See generally Valerie Vollmar, The Oregon Uniform Trust Code and Comments, 42 Willamette L Rev 187 (2006) (hereinafter Oregon UTC & Comments). In addressing issues of trust law, we look both to the OUTC and to Oregon case law, because “the common law remains relevant: ‘The common law of trusts and principles of equity supplement this chapter [ORS chapter 130], except to the extent modified by this chapter or other law.’” Hope Presbyterian, 352 Or at 687 n 5 (quoting ORS 130.025).

A revocable trust is a trust over which the settlor retains complete control while alive: “‘Revocable trust’ means a trust that can be revoked by the settlor without the consent of the trustee or a person holding an adverse interest.” ORS 130.010(16). The OUTC “treats the revocable trust as the functional equivalent of a will.” Oregon UTC [660]*660& Comments, 42 Willamette L Rev at 304. During the settlor’s lifetime, the settlor retains the power to “revoke or amend the trust.” ORS 130.505(1). The settlor has the power to direct the actions of the trustee, including the power to direct the trustee to take actions “contrary to the terms of the trust.” ORS 130.685(1). “While the settlor of a revocable trust is alive, rights of the beneficiaries are subject to the control of the settlor, and the duties of the trustee are owed exclusively to the settlor.” ORS 130.510(1). By placing control over beneficiary rights in the hands of the settlor during the settlor’s lifetime, ORS 130.510 has the “effect of postponing enforcement of the rights of the beneficiaries of a revocable trust until the death of the settlor or other person holding the power to revoke the trust. This section thus recognizes that the settlor of a revocable trust is in control of the trust and should have the right to enforce the trust as long as the settlor is alive.” Oregon UTC & Comments, 42 Willamette L Rev at 312.

Given that the settlor of a revocable trust retains complete control over the trust while alive, if the trustee of a revocable trust engages in conduct amounting to a breach of trust during the settlor’s lifetime, and the settlor consents to that conduct, ratifies it, or releases the trustee from liability for it, that consent, ratification, or release is binding on all other beneficiaries of the trust. Oregon UTC & Comments, 42 Willamette L Rev at 392 (explaining that, as applied to a revocable trust, ORS 130.840, which authorizes a trust beneficiary to consent to or approve of conduct by the trustee that constitutes a breach of trust, means that “[a]n approval by the settlor of a revocable trust * * * binds all the beneficiaries”). Additionally, “while the settlor of a revocable trust is alive, beneficiaries other than the settlor have no right to receive notice, information or reports” from the trustee regarding trust administration to which such beneficiaries would otherwise be entitled under ORS 130.710. ORS 130.710(9); see also ORS 130.510(1) (explaining that while the settlor of a revocable trust is alive, “[b]eneficiaries other than the settlor have no right to receive notice, information or reports under this chapter”). Thus, the OUTC explicitly restricts beneficiaries’ access to information about the trust while the settlor is alive.

[661]*661When a “formerly revocable trust [becomes] irrevocable, whether by the death of the settlor or otherwise,” the trustee generally must alert all “qualified beneficiaries”1 of the existence of the trust, the identity of the settlor or settlors, and the qualified beneficiaries’ right to obtain a copy of the trust document and receive annual reports regarding trust administration. ORS 130.710(2). Qualified beneficiaries also are entitled to be “reasonably informed about the administration of the trust and of the material facts necessary for those beneficiaries to protect their interests.” ORS 130.710(1). Beneficiaries who are not qualified beneficiaries do not have any general entitlement to information about trust administration, although a trustee “may” respond to requests for information from such nonqualified beneficiaries. ORS 130.710(1). See generally ORS 130.710.

Petitioners Michael Tseng, Richard Tseng, and Dejin Seng are beneficiaries of a formerly revocable trust created by their father, Patrick E. Tseng. Patrick was originally from China and was married to petitioners’ mother, Sunyun. Petitioners and their two other surviving siblings, Deya Tseng and Depi Tseng, were born in China to Patrick and Sunyun. Sometime before 1954, Patrick moved to the United States. In 1954, believing his wife and children in China to be dead, Patrick remarried.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
352 P.3d 74, 271 Or. App. 657, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/tseng-v-tseng-orctapp-2015.