Rhode Island § 18-4-22 - Powers of Fiduciaries

§ 18-4-22. Administration of trusts.

(a) In the administration of any trust which is a “private foundation,” a “charitable trust,” or a “split-interest trust,” as these terms are defined in §§ 509(a), 4947(a)(1), and 4947(a)(2), respectively, of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. §§ 509(a), 4947(a)(1) and 4947(a)(2), the following acts are prohibited:

(1) Engaging in any act of “self-dealing,” as defined in § 4941(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 4941(d), which would give rise to any liability for the tax imposed by § 4941(a);

(2) Retaining any “excess business holdings,” as defined in § 4943(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 4943(c), which would give rise to any liability for the tax imposed by § 4943(a);

(3) Making any investments which would jeopardize the carrying out of any of the exempt purposes of the trust, within the meaning of § 4944 of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 4944, which would give rise to any liability for the tax imposed by § 4944(a); and

(4) Making any “taxable expenditures,” as defined in § 4945(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 4945(d), which would give rise to any liability for the tax imposed by § 4945(a);

(b) This section shall not apply either to those “split-interest trusts” or to amounts of them which are not subject to the prohibitions applicable to a “private foundation” as defined in § 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. § 509(a), by reason of § 4947.

(c) In the administration of any trust which is a “private foundation” or a “charitable trust” as defined in §§ 509(a) and 4947(a)(1), respectively, of the Internal Revenue Code, 26 U.S.C. §§ 509(a) and 4947(a)(1), there shall be distributed, for the purposes specified in the trust instrument, for each taxable year, amounts of income and, if necessary, corpus at least sufficient to avoid liability for the tax imposed by 26 U.S.C. § 4942(a).

(d) The provisions of subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not apply to any trust to the extent that a court of competent jurisdiction shall determine that the application would be contrary to the terms of the instrument governing the trust and that the instrument may not properly be changed to conform to these subsections.

(e) All references to sections of the Internal Revenue Code shall include future amendments to those sections and corresponding provisions of future internal revenue laws.