Opinion ID: 165803
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Law of Trusts.

Text: 40 Our interpretation of the statutory language is also supported by the law of trusts. First, a trustee is almost always given powers of management over trust property, see George Gleason Bogert, TRUSTS & TRUSTEES § 50 (2d ed.1984), which, as we have shown, the Lunas do not have. Additionally, at common law, fiduciary duties characteristically attach to decisions about managing assets and distributing property to beneficiaries. Pegram v. Herdrich, 530 U.S. 211, 231, 120 S.Ct. 2143, 147 L.Ed.2d 164 (2000) (citing G. Bogert & G. Bogert, LAW OF TRUSTS AND TRUSTEES §§ 551, 741-747, 751-775, 781-799 (2d. ed.1980); 2A A. Scott & W. Fratcher, TRUSTS §§ 176, 181 (4th ed.1987)). Trustees buy, sell, and lease investment property, lend and borrow, and do other things to conserve and nurture assets. They pay out income, choose beneficiaries, and distribute remainders at termination. Id. Making contractually-owed contributions to an ERISA plan bears only a limited resemblance, if any, to these traditional fiduciary responsibilities. 41 In fact, given the context of the CBA whereby the Lunas agreed to make regular contributions to the Funds, as we have discussed above, the relationship between the Lunas and the Funds is best characterized as contractual, not fiduciary. This is well-supported by the law of trusts: A contract to convey property does not give rise to a fiduciary relationship. See THE RESTATEMENT (THIRD) OF TRUSTS § 5(i) and cmt. i (2001). Furthermore, the relationship of debtor to creditor that results from contract is not fiduciary in nature. Id. at § 5(k). As explained in the Restatement, When a trust is created there is a fiduciary relationship between the trustee and the beneficiaries.... A debtor does not as such stand in a fiduciary relationship to his or her creditors. A creditor as such has against the debtor merely a personal claim, which can be enforced by judicial proceedings to reach the debtor's property. Id. at cmt. k. 42 Thus, as with the statute's language, the law of trusts does not support the Trustees' contention that the Lunas were fiduciaries under ERISA — in fact, it compels the opposite conclusion. 43