Section 703. Co-trustees

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Terms Used In Massachusetts General Laws ch. 203E sec. 703

  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.

(a) Co-trustees who are unable to reach a unanimous decision may act by majority decision.

(b) If a vacancy occurs in a co-trusteeship, the remaining co-trustees may act for the trust.

(c) A co-trustee shall participate in the performance of a trustee‘s function unless the co-trustee is unavailable to perform the function because of absence, illness, disqualification under other laws or other temporary incapacity or the co-trustee has properly delegated the performance of the function to another trustee.

(d) If a co-trustee is unavailable to perform duties because of absence, illness, disqualification under other laws 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 co-trustee or a majority of the remaining co-trustees may act for the trust.

(e) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (f), a trustee who does not join in an action of another trustee shall not be liable for the action.

(f) Each trustee shall exercise reasonable care to:

(1) prevent a co-trustee from committing a breach of trust; and

(2) compel a co-trustee to redress a breach of trust.