2023 Nebraska Revised Statutes › Chapter 30 - Decedents' Estates; Protection of Persons and Property › 30-3881 - (UTC 816) Specific powers of trustee.

30-3881.
(UTC 816) Specific powers of trustee.
(UTC 816) (a) Without limiting the authority conferred by section 30-3880, a trustee may:
(1) collect trust property and accept or reject additions to the trust property from a settlor or any other person;
(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, including from the trustee, 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 possible liability for violation of environmental law:
(A) inspect or investigate property the trustee holds or has been asked to hold, or property owned or operated by an organization in which the trustee holds or has been asked to hold an interest, for the purpose of determining the application of environmental law with respect to the property;
(B) take action to prevent, abate, or otherwise remedy any actual or potential violation of any environmental law affecting property held directly or indirectly by the trustee, whether taken before or after the assertion of a claim or the initiation of governmental enforcement;
(C) decline to accept property into trust or disclaim any power with respect to property that is or may be burdened with liability for violation of environmental law;
(D) compromise claims against the trust which may be asserted for an alleged violation of environmental law; and
(E) pay the expense of any inspection, review, abatement, or remedial action to comply with environmental 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) 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:
(A) paying it to the beneficiary's conservator or, if the beneficiary does not have a conservator, the beneficiary's guardian;
(B) paying it to the beneficiary's custodian under the Nebraska Uniform Transfers to Minors Act or custodial trustee under the Nebraska Uniform Custodial Trust Act, and, for that purpose, creating a custodianship or custodial trust;
(C) 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
(D) managing it as a separate fund on the beneficiary's behalf, subject to the beneficiary's continuing right to withdraw the distribution;
(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;
(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;
(25) sign and deliver contracts and other instruments that are useful to achieve or facilitate the exercise of the trustee's powers; and
(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.
(b) Except as otherwise provided under the terms of the trust, a trustee, other than a trustee who is a related or subordinate party with respect to the settlor within the meaning of section 672(c) of the Internal Revenue Code as defined in section 49-801.01, may, from time to time, in the trustee's absolute discretion, pay directly to the taxing authorities or reimburse the settlor for any tax on trust income or principal that is payable by the settlor for the portion of the settlor's income tax liability attributable to the trust under sections 671 to 678 of the Internal Revenue Code as defined in section 49-801.01 or any similar tax law. A trustee shall not exercise or participate in the exercise of discretion pursuant to this subsection in a manner that (1) would cause the inclusion of the trust assets in the settlor's gross taxable estate for federal estate tax purposes at the time of exercise or (2) is inconsistent with the qualification of all or any portion of the trust for the federal gift or estate tax marital deduction, to the extent the trust is intended to qualify for such deduction.
(c) The changes made to this section by Laws 2019, LB593, shall apply retroactively to August 30, 2015.
Source
Laws 2003, LB 130, § 81;
Laws 2015, LB72, § 2;
Laws 2017, LB268, § 5;
Laws 2019, LB593, § 3;
Laws 2022, LB707, § 33.
Cross References
Nebraska Uniform Custodial Trust Act, see section 30-3501.
Nebraska Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, see section 43-2701.
Annotations
Pursuant to subsection (26) of this section, after the termination of a trust, the trustees continue to have a nonbeneficial interest in the trust for timely winding it up and distributing its assets; but their powers are limited to those that are reasonable and appropriate to the expeditious distribution of the trust property and preserving the trust property pending the winding up and distribution of that property. In re Estate of Barger, 303 Neb. 817, 931 N.W.2d 660 (2019).
A trustee's duty of impartiality in administering trust property plays particular importance in distributing assets. In re Estate of Hedke, 278 Neb. 727, 775 N.W.2d 13 (2009).
After a trust terminates, a trustee continues to have a nonbeneficial interest in the trust for timely winding up the trust and distributing its assets. But after a trust terminates, a trustee's property management powers are limited to those that are reasonable and appropriate in preserving the trust property, pending the winding up and distribution of assets. In re Estate of Hedke, 278 Neb. 727, 775 N.W.2d 13 (2009).