An Act To Amend the Maine Uniform Trust Code Regarding Reporting by Trustees and the Duties of Trustees to Settlors (AFTER DEADLINE)
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1827
Committee: Judiciary
Sponsors: CARDONE, HILL, BAILEY
Amends: 18-B MRSA §105, 18-B MRSA §813

Legislative Document
No. 1827
H.P. 1269
House of Representatives, February 7, 2018
An Act To Amend the Maine Uniform Trust Code Regarding 
Reporting by Trustees and the Duties of Trustees to Settlors
(AFTER DEADLINE)
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
205.
Reference to the Committee on Judiciary suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative CARDONE of Bangor.
Cosponsored by Senator HILL of York and
Representative: BAILEY of Saco.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  18-B MRSA §105, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2011, c. 42, §4, is further 
amended to read:
3.  Waiver or modification.  The settlor, in the trust instrument or in another writing 
delivered to the trustee, may waive or modify the duties of a trustee under section 813, 
subsection 1 or, 2 or 3 to give notice, information and reports to qualified beneficiaries in 
either or both of the following ways:
A.  Waiving or modifying such duties as to all qualified beneficiaries except the 
settlor's surviving spouse during the lifetime of the settlor or the lifetime of the 
settlor's surviving spouse; and
B.  With respect to one or more of the current beneficiaries as to whom the settlor has 
waived or modified such duties, designating a person or persons, any of whom may 
or may not be a beneficiary, to act in good faith to protect the interests of the current 
beneficiaries who are not receiving notice, information or reports and to receive any 
notice, information or reports required under section 813, subsection 1 or, 2 or 3 in 
lieu of providing such notice, information or reports to the current beneficiaries.  The 
person or persons designated under this paragraph are deemed to be representatives 
of the current beneficiaries not receiving notice, information or reports for the 
purposes of the time limitation for a beneficiary to commence an action against the 
trustee for breach of trust as provided in section 1005, subsection 1.
Sec. 2.  18-B MRSA §813, sub-§6, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 42, §7, is amended 
to read:
6.  Duty to settlor of revocable trust. During the lifetime of the settlor of a 
revocable trust, whether or not the settlor has capacity to revoke the trust, the trustee's 
duties under this section are owed exclusively to the settlor and the trustee has no duty to 
provide information or reports to distributees, permissible distributees or qualified 
beneficiaries. If the settlor lacks capacity to revoke the trust, a trustee may satisfy the 
trustee's duties under this section by providing information and reports to any one or more 
of the following in the order of preference listed:
A.  The person or persons designated by the settlor in the trust to receive information 
and reports on the settlor's behalf;
B.  The settlor's spouse or registered domestic partner under Title 22, section 2710;
C.  The settlor's agent under a durable power of attorney;
D.  The settlor's court-appointed conservator; or
E.  The settlor's court-appointed guardian.
If the settlor lacks capacity to revoke the trust and there are no persons listed in this 
subsection to whom the trustee may provide information and reports, the trustee shall 
satisfy its duties under this section by providing information and reports to the qualified 
beneficiaries.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the Maine Uniform Trust Code in 2 ways.  First, it corrects a gap in 
the statute governing a trustee's duties with regard to reporting to a beneficiary or another 
person designated by the trust's settlor.  The correction allows the trustee to carry out the 
settlor's directions without violating the duty established by statute.  Second, this bill 
corrects an ambiguity with regard to the duty the trustee owes to the settlor of a revocable 
trust during the settlor's lifetime, clarifying that the trustee has no duty to provide 
information and reports to distributees, permissible distributees or qualified beneficiaries 
while the settlor is alive.