Ala. Code § 19-3B-816

Current through the 2024 Regular Session.

Section 19-3B-816 - Specific powers of trustee

(a) Without limiting the authority conferred by Section 19-3B-815, a trustee may:

(1) collect trust property and accept or reject additions to the trust property from a settlor or any other person, including, but not being limited to, the authority to receive, collect, hold, and retain common or preferred stock or other interests in the trustee or any related party;

(2) acquire or sell property, for cash or on credit, at public or private sale;

(3) exchange, partition, or otherwise change the character of trust property;

(4) deposit trust money in an account in a regulated financial-service institution;

(5) borrow money, with or without security, and mortgage or pledge trust property for a period within or extending beyond the duration of the trust;

(6) with respect to an interest in a proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or other form of business or enterprise, continue the business or other enterprise and take any action that may be taken by shareholders, members, or property owners, including merging, dissolving, or otherwise changing the form of business organization or contributing additional capital;

(7) with respect to stocks or other securities, exercise the rights of an absolute owner, including the right to:

(A) vote, or give proxies to vote, with or without power of substitution, or enter into or continue a voting trust agreement;

(B) hold a security in the name of a nominee or in other form without disclosure of the trust so that title may pass by delivery;

(C) pay calls, assessments, and other sums chargeable or accruing against the securities, and sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights; and

(D) deposit the securities with a depositary or other regulated financial-service institution;

(8) with respect to an interest in real property, construct, or make ordinary or extraordinary repairs to, alterations to, or improvements in, buildings or other structures, demolish improvements, raze existing or erect new party walls or buildings, subdivide or develop land, dedicate land to public use or grant public or private easements, and make or vacate plats and adjust boundaries;

(9) enter into a lease for any purpose as lessor or lessee, including a lease or other arrangement for exploration and removal of natural resources, with or without the option to purchase or renew, for a period within or extending beyond the duration of the trust;

(10) grant an option involving a sale, lease, or other disposition of trust property or acquire an option for the acquisition of property, including an option exercisable beyond the duration of the trust, and exercise an option so acquired;

(11) insure the property of the trust against damage or loss and insure the trustee, the trustee's agents, and beneficiaries against liability arising from the administration of the trust;

(12) abandon or decline to administer property of no value or of insufficient value to justify its collection or continued administration;

(13) with respect to environmental law, exercise those powers granted a fiduciary by applicable law;

(14) pay or contest any claim, settle a claim by or against the trust, and release, in whole or in part, a claim belonging to the trust;

(15) pay taxes, assessments, compensation of the trustee and of employees and agents of the trust, and other expenses incurred in the administration of the trust;

(16) exercise elections with respect to federal, state, and local taxes;

(17) select a mode of payment under any employee benefit or retirement plan, annuity, or life insurance payable to the trustee, exercise rights thereunder, including exercise of the right to indemnification for expenses and against liabilities, and take appropriate action to collect the proceeds;

(18) make loans out of trust property, including loans to a beneficiary on terms and conditions the trustee considers to be fair and reasonable under the circumstances, and the trustee has a lien on future distributions for repayment of those loans;

(19) pledge trust property to guarantee loans made by others to the beneficiary;

(20) appoint a trustee to act in another jurisdiction with respect to trust property located in the other jurisdiction, confer upon the appointed trustee all of the powers and duties of the appointing trustee, require that the appointed trustee furnish security, and remove any trustee so appointed;

(21)

(A) pay an amount distributable to a beneficiary who is under a legal disability or who the trustee reasonably believes is incapacitated, by paying it directly to the beneficiary or applying it for the beneficiary's benefit, or by:

1. paying it to the beneficiary's conservator or, if the beneficiary does not have a conservator, the beneficiary's guardian;

2. paying it to the beneficiary's custodian under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act or custodial trustee under the Uniform Custodial Trust Act, and, for that purpose, creating a custodianship or custodial trust;

3. if the trustee does not know of a conservator, guardian, custodian, or custodial trustee, paying it to an adult relative or other person having legal or physical care or custody of the beneficiary, to be expended on the beneficiary's behalf; or

4. managing it as a separate fund on the beneficiary's behalf, subject to the beneficiary's continuing right to withdraw the distribution.

(B) the trustee shall not be under any duty to see to the application of the payment made pursuant to subparagraphs 1. to 4. above, so made if the trustee acted as a prudent person in the selection of the person, including the minor or incompetent, to whom the payments were made; and the receipt of the person shall be full acquittance to the trustee.

(22) on distribution of trust property or the division or termination of a trust, make distributions in divided or undivided interests, allocate particular assets in proportionate or disproportionate shares, value the trust property for those purposes, and adjust for resulting differences in valuation;

(23) resolve a dispute concerning the interpretation of the trust or its administration by mediation, arbitration, or other procedure for alternative dispute resolution and to employ counsel, expert witnesses, or other agents;

(24) prosecute or defend an action, claim, or judicial proceeding in any jurisdiction to protect trust property and the trustee in the performance of the trustee's duties and to employ counsel, expert witnesses, or other agents;

(25) sign and deliver contracts and other instruments that are useful to achieve or facilitate the exercise of the trustee's powers;

(26) on termination of the trust, exercise the powers appropriate to wind up the administration of the trust and distribute the trust property to the persons entitled to it;

(27) create or join in the creation of a joint venture, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or other form of business or enterprise, continue the business or other enterprise and take any action that may be taken by shareholders, members, or property owners, including merging, dissolving, or otherwise changing the form of business organization or contributing additional capital;

(28) employ and compensate persons deemed by the trustee needful to advise or assist in the proper management and administration of the trust, including, but not limited to, agents, auditors, including public accountants, certified public accountants or internal auditors, brokers, attorneys-at-law, attorneys-in-fact, investment bankers, investment advisors, rental agents, realtors, appraisers, and tax specialists, including any related party, so long as the relationship and the fees charged are reasonable and disclosed in any reasonable manner to the current beneficiaries; and to do so without liability for any neglect, omission, misconduct, or default of the agent or representative, provided the trustee acted as a prudent person in selecting and monitoring the agent or representative. For purposes of the immediately preceding sentence, compensation charged by or paid to an affiliated business entity shall be presumed to be reasonable if the compensation is consistent with the published fee schedule maintained by the affiliated business entity in the ordinary course of business;

(29) pay any and all expenses reasonably necessary for the administration of the trust including interest, taxes, insurance premiums, assessments, agents' fees or compensation, trustees' fees or compensation, including additional fees for extraordinary services and fees to related parties, and other expenses incurred in the collection, care, administration, and protection of the trust estate; and

(30) in addition to the investments authorized by the document or any provision of law for the investment of funds held by a trustee, the trustee may invest in and hold (i) interests, however evidenced, in any common trust fund or other collective investment fund maintained by any national or state chartered bank or trust company having trust powers or (ii) securities of or other interests in any open-end or closed-end management type investment company or investment trust so long as the portfolio of such common trust fund, collective investment fund, or investment company or investment trust consists of investments authorized with respect to the trustee.

(b) Nothing contained in this section, insofar as such authorization may be prohibited by the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, shall authorize the investment of trust assets in the stock of any private corporation.

Ala. Code § 19-3B-816 (1975)

Act 2006-216, p. 314, §1; Act 2010-598, p. 1344, § 1 (b).