§ 3322 — Fiduciary agency contracts; delegation

(a) A fiduciary may appoint agents to assist in the performance of the fiduciary’s duties, pay such agents from the fiduciary fund and delegate investment, management, or other fiduciary duties to any such agent, including an agent who is a cofiduciary.

(b) When a fiduciary, acting in the fiduciary’s discretion and not at the direction of any adviser, appoints an agent to assist in the performance of the fiduciary’s duties, the standard of care applicable to the fiduciary when personally performing such duties shall continue to apply to the fiduciary with respect to selecting and hiring the agent, paying the agent from the fiduciary fund, establishing the scope and specific terms of the agency relationship, and overseeing the agent’s actions and continuing the agency relationship, but the fiduciary shall not otherwise be liable for the conduct of such agent. The foregoing rule shall apply even if:

(1) The aggregate amount paid to the agent and the fiduciary from the fiduciary fund exceeds the amount otherwise payable from the fiduciary fund to the fiduciary under subchapter V of Chapter 35 of this title or other applicable law; or

(2) The standard of care applicable to the agent is a lower standard than the standard applicable to the fiduciary when personally performing duties to be performed by the agent.

(c) When a fiduciary delegates investment, management, or other fiduciary duties to an agent, such delegation shall not cause the fiduciary to cease to be a fiduciary or cause the agent to be a fiduciary.

Legislative History

65 Del. Laws, c. 422, § 6 ; 73 Del. Laws, c. 47, § 1 ; 74 Del. Laws, c. 82, § 7 ; 75 Del. Laws, c. 300, § 1 ; 79 Del. Laws, c. 352, § 3 ; 82 Del. Laws, c. 52, § 1