Nebraska § 30-3859 - (UTC 703) Cotrustees.

§ 30-3859. (UTC 703) Cotrustees.

(UTC 703) (a) Cotrustees who are unable to reach a unanimous decision may act by majority decision, except that any cotrustee may act independently as provided in section 30-901.

(b) If a vacancy occurs in a cotrusteeship, the remaining cotrustees may act for the trust.

(c) Subject to section 30-4312, a cotrustee must participate in the performance of a trustee's function unless the cotrustee is unavailable to perform the function because of absence, illness, disqualification under other law, or other temporary incapacity or the cotrustee has properly delegated the performance of the function to another trustee.

(d) If a cotrustee is unavailable to perform duties because of absence, illness, disqualification under other law, or other temporary incapacity, and prompt action is necessary to achieve the purposes of the trust or to avoid injury to the trust property, the remaining cotrustee or a majority of the remaining cotrustees may act for the trust.

(e) A trustee may not delegate to a cotrustee the performance of a function the settlor reasonably expected the trustees to perform jointly. Unless a delegation was irrevocable, a trustee may revoke a delegation previously made.

(f) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (g) of this section, a trustee who does not join in an action of another trustee is not liable for the action.

(g) Subject to section 30-4312, each trustee shall exercise reasonable care to:

(1) prevent a cotrustee from committing a serious breach of trust; and

(2) compel a cotrustee to redress a serious breach of trust.

(h) A dissenting trustee who joins in an action at the direction of the majority of the trustees and who notified any cotrustee of the dissent at or before the time of the action is not liable for the action unless the action is a serious breach of trust.

A trustee is liable for the action of another trustee if he joins in the action, fails to prevent the cotrustee from committing a serious breach of trust, or fails to compel the cotrustee to redress a serious breach of trust. In re Conservatorship of Abbott, 295 Neb. 510, 890 N.W.2d 469 (2017).

Where one cotrustee also acts as a power of attorney for a second cotrustee in managing trust affairs, that cotrustee is considered to join in all actions of the second cotrustee and may owe certain fiduciary duties as a result. In re Conservatorship of Abbott, 295 Neb. 510, 890 N.W.2d 469 (2017).