§ 30-3878 — (UTC 813) Duty to inform and report

(UTC 813) (a) A trustee shall keep the qualified beneficiaries of the trust reasonably informed about the administration of the trust and of the material facts necessary for them to protect their interests. Unless unreasonable under the circumstances, a trustee shall promptly respond to a beneficiary's request for information related to the administration of the trust.
(b) A trustee:
(1) upon request of a beneficiary, shall promptly furnish to the beneficiary a copy of the trust instrument;
(2) within sixty days after accepting a trusteeship, shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee's name, address, and telephone number;
(3) within sixty days after the date the trustee acquires knowledge of the creation of an irrevocable trust, or the date the trustee acquires knowledge that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable, whether by the death of the settlor or otherwise, shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of the trust's existence, of the identity of the settlor or settlors, of the right to request a copy of the trust instrument, and of the right to a trustee's report as provided in subsection (c) of this section; and
(4) shall notify the qualified beneficiaries in advance of any change in the method or rate of the trustee's compensation.
(c) A trustee shall send to the distributees or permissible distributees of trust income or principal, and to other qualified or nonqualified beneficiaries who request it, at least annually and at the termination of the trust, a report of the trust property, liabilities, receipts, and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation, a listing of the trust assets and, if feasible, their respective market values. Upon a vacancy in a trusteeship, unless a cotrustee remains in office, a report must be sent to the qualified beneficiaries by the former trustee. A personal representative, conservator, or guardian may send the qualified beneficiaries a report on behalf of a deceased or incapacitated trustee.
(d) A beneficiary may waive the right to a trustee's report or other information otherwise required to be furnished under this section. A beneficiary, with respect to future reports and other information, may withdraw a waiver previously given.
(e) The duties of a trustee specified in this section are subject to the provisions of section 30-3855 .
(f) Subdivisions (b)(2) and (3) of this section do not apply to a trustee who accepts a trusteeship before January 1, 2006, to an irrevocable trust created before January 1, 2006, or to a revocable trust that becomes irrevocable before January 1, 2006.

Legislative History

Source: Laws 2003, LB 130, § 78; Laws 2005, LB 533, § 45. Annotations: A reasonable person acting in good faith and in the interests of the beneficiaries would not wait until an annual report was due before informing the beneficiaries that the trust assets were in danger of being lost, but would instead inform the beneficiaries of the material facts immediately in order to allow them to protect their interests. Rafert v. Meyer, 290 Neb. 219, 859 N.W.2d 332 (2015). An attorney's duty to report any danger to the trust property becomes immediate when he or she knows or should know that such danger exists rather than when an annual report is due. Rafert v. Meyer, 290 Neb. 219, 859 N.W.2d 332 (2015). In drafting a trust, an attorney cannot abrogate his or her duty under this section to keep beneficiaries of the trust reasonably informed of the material facts necessary for them to protect their interests. Rafert v. Meyer, 290 Neb. 219, 859 N.W.2d 332 (2015). The beneficiaries alleged sufficient facts for a court to find that the trustee's actions in providing a false address to the insurers of life insurance policies, which were the sole trust property, prevented the beneficiaries from receiving material facts necessary for them to protect their interests. Rafert v. Meyer, 290 Neb. 219, 859 N.W.2d 332 (2015).