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Trustee’s Duty to Inform

Rachael Phillips
August 27, 2014

The California Probate Code imposes on a trustee the duty to “keep the beneficiaries of the trust reasonably informed of the trust and its administration.” While the Probate Code specifically requires a trustee to provide certain types of information to the beneficiaries at certain times, it does not include any definition of the phrase “reasonably informed of the trust and its administration.”

In many cases, the more information a trustee provides the better. A trustee is likely to encounter problems with beneficiaries who feel like they are being kept in the dark. The best way to avoid that is to be as open and forthcoming with information as possible. Even where the Probate Code does not require it, the beneficiaries will likely appreciate being informed of any significant actions the trustee plans to take, such as selling or distributing any trust property of significant monetary or sentimental value. On the other hand, it may be more efficient for a trustee to inform the beneficiaries of more routine actions through periodic updates, rather than individual notifications of each and every action taken. The important thing for a trustee to remember is that the beneficiaries have a right to request “information”; therefore, answering questions from beneficiaries is an important trustee responsibility under current California law.