§ 15-1.5-115. Reporting and Accounting by Custodial Trustee – Determination of Liability of Custodial Trustee

1. 1. Upon the acceptance of custodial trust property, the custodial trustee shall provide a written statement describing the custodial trust property and shall thereafter provide a written statement of the administration of the custodial trust property:
      1. Once each year;
      2. Upon request at reasonable times by the beneficiary or the beneficiary’s legal representative;
      3. Upon resignation or removal of the custodial trustee; and
      4. Upon termination of the custodial trust.
   2. The statements must be provided to the beneficiary or to the beneficiary’s legal representative, if any. Upon termination of the beneficiary’s interest, the custodial trustee shall furnish a current statement to the person to whom the custodial trust property is to be delivered.
2. A beneficiary, the beneficiary’s legal representative, an adult member of the beneficiary’s family, a person interested in the custodial trust property, or a person interested in the welfare of the beneficiary may petition the court for an accounting by the custodial trustee or the custodial trustee’s legal representative.
3. A successor custodial trustee may petition the court for an accounting by a predecessor custodial trustee.
4. In an action or proceeding under this article or in any other proceeding, the court may require or permit the custodial trustee or the custodial trustee’s legal representative to account. The custodial trustee or the custodial trustee’s legal representative may petition the court for approval of final accounts.
5. If a custodial trustee is removed, the court shall require an accounting and order delivery of the custodial trust property and records to the successor custodial trustee and the execution of all instruments required for transfer of the custodial trust property.
6. On petition of the custodial trustee or any person who could petition for an accounting, the court, after notice to interested persons, may issue instructions to the custodial trustee or review the propriety of the acts of a custodial trustee or the reasonableness of compensation determined by the custodial trustee for the services of the custodial trustee or others.

Source: L. 99: Entire article added, p. 1220, § 1, effective August 4.

OFFICIAL COMMENT

This section requires that the custodial trustee inform the beneficiary of the initiation of the trust and provide reasonably current reports of the administration of the custodial trust to the beneficiary or the beneficiary’s legal representative. Even though some custodial trustees may act informally, it seems appropriate that both the trustee and the beneficiary be expected to exchange complete information concerning the administration of the trust at least once each year. In some cases, more frequent exchanges of information between the custodial trustee and beneficiary would be expected, e.g., when they use a bank account to which both have access. This is particularly true with regard to necessary information for tax reporting by the parties involved. This section assumes the usual minimum components of an account, i.e., assets and values at the beginning of the accounting period, receipts, and disbursements during the accounting period and assets and their values on hand or available for distribution at the close of the accounting period.

Subsection (1) identifies the necessary reports and accountings for the parties, and subsection (2) identifies a broad group of persons who may petition the court for an accounting by the custodial trustee or the custodial trustee’s legal representative. Much of the section is drawn from Section 19 of the UTMA modified to fit the custodial trust. Subsection (6) recognizes the inherent power of the court to instruct trustees and review their actions. This paragraph is patterned after Uniform Probate Code Section 7-205.