New Accounting and Reporting Requirements for Irrevocable Trusts
Posted Friday, April 6, 2012 by John S. Palmer
Effective January 1, 2012, trustees of irrevocable trusts in Washington State are required to keep all parties with a legally recognized interest in the trust reasonably informed about the administration of the trust and of the material facts necessary for them to protect their interests.
A report is presumed to satisfy the trustee’s duty to keep such persons reasonably informed for the period covered by the report if it contains such information as:
- A statement of receipts and disbursements of principal and income that have occurred during the accounting period;
- A statement of the assets and liabilities of the trust and their values at the beginning and end of the period;
- The trustee’s compensation for the period;
- The agents hired by the trustee, their relationship to the trustee, if any, and their compensation, for the period;
- Disclosure of any pledge, mortgage, option, or lease of trust property, or other agreement affecting trust property binding for a period of five years or more that was granted or entered into during the accounting period; and
- Disclosure of all transactions during the period that could have been affected by a conflict between the trustee’s fiduciary and personal interests.
In order to be presumed adequate, the report must also include a statement that the recipient of the report may petition the superior court to obtain review of the report and/or acts disclosed in the statement, and a statement that claims against the trustee for breach of trust may not be made after the expiration of three years from the date the beneficiary receives the statement.
Unlike the requirement to notify interested parties of the existence of an irrevocable trust, which only applies to trusts that were created or became irrevocable after December 31, 2011 (see my related blog post of April 4, 2012), this periodic reporting requirement applies to all irrevocable trusts governed by Washington law, regardless of when they were created.
This new statute also requires the trustee of an irrevocable trust to provide information within 60 days of a request by an interested party if that information is reasonably necessary to enable that party to enforce his or her rights under the trust. Delivery of the entire trust instrument is sufficient to satisfy a request for information concerning the terms of the trust.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment, please call us at (425) 455-5513, toll free at (877) 455-5513, or info@palmerlegal.com.