Section 13.36.072. Co-trustees.

   (a) Except as otherwise provided in the trust instrument,
        (1) co-trustees who are unable to reach a unanimous decision may decide to act by majority decision;
        (2) if a vacancy occurs in a co-trusteeship, the remaining co-trustee or co-trustees may continue to act for the trust with full authority;
        (3) a co-trustee shall participate in the performance of the co-trustee's function unless
             (A) the co-trustee is unavailable to perform the function because of absence, illness, disqualification under other law, or temporary incapacity; or
             (B) the co-trustee has properly delegated the performance of the function to another co-trustee;
        (4) if a co-trustee is unavailable to perform duties because of absence, illness, disqualification under other law, or temporary incapacity, and prompt action is necessary to achieve the purposes of the trust or to avoid injury to the trust property, the remaining co-trustee or a majority of the remaining co-trustees may act with full authority for the trust.
   (b) Except as prohibited by the terms of the trust, a co-trustee may, by a signed, written instrument, delegate to a co-trustee the performance of a function. Unless a delegation is irrevocable, a co-trustee may revoke a delegation.
   (c) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this section, if the terms of a trust instrument provide for the appointment of more than one trustee but confer on one or more of the trustees, to the exclusion of other trustees, the power to direct or prevent specified actions of other trustees, the excluded trustees shall act in accordance with the exercise of the power. An excluded trustee under this subsection is not liable, individually or as a fiduciary, for a consequence that results from complying with the exercise of the power, regardless of the information available to the excluded trustee. An excluded trustee does not have an obligation to review, inquire, investigate, or make recommendations or evaluations with respect to the exercise of the power. A trustee having the power is liable to the beneficiaries as a fiduciary with respect to the exercise of the power as if the excluded trustees were not in office and has the exclusive obligation to account to and to defend an action brought by the beneficiaries with respect to the exercise of the power. In this subsection, "power" means the power to direct or prevent specified actions by other trustees.

Notes

History

(Sec. 6 ch 7 SLA 2008; am Sec. 8 ch 45 SLA 2013)