§ 3343 — Authority to allocate trustee duties among multiple trustees

(a) The power to appoint a successor trustee under a governing instrument shall be deemed to include the power to appoint multiple successor trustees. A presently exercisable power to remove and replace a trustee under a governing instrument shall be deemed to include the power to appoint additional trustees to serve with the current trustee. The power to appoint multiple successor trustees and the power to appoint additional trustees shall be deemed to include the power to allocate various trustee powers (which trustee powers may include the power to direct or prevent certain actions of the trustees) exclusively to 1 or some of the trustees serving from time to time.

(b) All of the provisions of a governing instrument generally applicable to the trustees (including, but not limited to, the provisions regarding trustee qualifications, resignation, removal, standard of care, indemnification, compensation, and the scope and nature of the restrictions, limitations, and immunities applicable when exercising powers and authority) shall apply to trustees appointed under this section so that, for example (but not by way of limitation):

(1) Provisions waiving certain duties when exercising certain investment powers shall apply equally to trustees appointed under this section;

(2) Provisions permitting the removal and replacement of a trustee subject to various limitations and conditions shall apply equally to trustees appointed under this section; and

(3) Provisions proscribing the trustor and trust beneficiaries and persons or entities related or subordinate to the trustor and any trust beneficiary from being eligible to serve as a trustee shall apply equally to proscribe all of those persons from serving as trustees appointed under this section.

(c) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, if an appointment under this section confers upon a cotrustee, to the exclusion of another cotrustee, the power to take certain actions with respect to the trust, including the power to direct or prevent certain actions of the trustees, then:

(1) The duty and liability of the excluded trustee and the cotrustee holding the power, whether that be the powers of an excluded trustee or cotrustee described under § 3313A(a)(1) or § 3313A(a)(2) of this title, shall be as set forth under § 3313A of this title; and

(2) The excluded trustee shall have the rights of a trustee that has been removed as trustee of the trust under applicable law and the terms of the governing instrument, to seek, with respect to the power and authority so excluded as a result of an appointment under this section, a judicial proceeding or nonjudicial matter, as defined in § 3303(e) of this title.

(d) Any powers granted in subsection (a) of this section to appoint additional trustees, which are exercised in such a manner as to modify the duties of an existing trustee, shall not become effective until 30 days after the receipt by the existing trustee of a written notice—from the person or persons authorized to appoint additional trustees—detailing such changes. The 30-day notice requirement may be waived by the existing trustee.

(e) Except as otherwise expressly provided by the terms of a governing instrument, this section shall be available to any trust that is administered in this State or otherwise governed by the laws of this State.

Legislative History

82 Del. Laws, c. 52, § 1 ; 82 Del. Laws, c. 278, § 1