Wisconsin Statutes 701.0813 – Duty to inform and report
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Terms Used In Wisconsin Statutes 701.0813
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Following: when used by way of reference to any statute section, means the section next following that in which the reference is made. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
- Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
- Irrevocable trust: A trust arrangement that cannot be revoked, rescinded, or repealed by the grantor.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Personal representative: means a person, however denominated, who is authorized to administer a decedent's estate. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
- Property: includes real and personal property. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
- Qualified: when applied to any person elected or appointed to office, means that such person has done those things which the person was by law required to do before entering upon the duties of the person's office. See Wisconsin Statutes 990.01
- Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
- Revocable trust: A trust agreement that can be canceled, rescinded, revoked, or repealed by the grantor (person who establishes the trust).
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
(1) A trustee shall keep the current beneficiaries and presumptive remainder beneficiaries who so request, reasonably informed about the administration of the trust. Unless unreasonable under the circumstances, a trustee shall promptly respond to a qualified beneficiary‘s request for information related to the administration of the trust.
(2) A trustee shall do all of the following:
(a) Upon the request of a qualified beneficiary for a copy of the trust instrument, promptly furnish to the qualified beneficiary either a copy of the portions of the trust instrument relating to the interest of the qualified beneficiary or a copy of the trust instrument or, upon the request of a settlor for a copy of the trust instrument, promptly furnish to the settlor a copy of the trust instrument.
(b) Within a reasonable period of time after accepting a trusteeship, notify the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee’s name, address, and telephone number.
(c) Within a reasonable period of time after the date on which the trustee acquires knowledge of the creation of an irrevocable trust, or the date on which the trustee acquires knowledge that a formerly revocable trust has become irrevocable, whether by the death of the settlor or otherwise, notify the qualified beneficiaries of all of the following:
1. The trust’s existence.
2. The identity of the settlor or settlors.
3. The name, address, and telephone number of each directing party and trust protector.
4. The right to request a copy of the documentation referred to in par. (a).
5. The right to request information under sub. (1).
6. The right to a trustee’s report as provided in sub. (3).
(d) Notify the current beneficiaries and presumptive remainder beneficiaries who so request, of any change in the method or rate of the trustee’s compensation.
(e) Upon receiving a petition to the court for action under ss. 701.0411 to 701.0416 that does not identify each trust protector and each directing party of the trust, notify the petitioning party of the identity of each trust protector and directing party, including the name, address, and telephone number of each trust protector and directing party, who is serving at the time the petition is filed.
(3)
(a) Subject to par. (c), at least annually and upon the termination of a trust, a trustee shall send to the current beneficiaries and to presumptive remainder beneficiaries who request it, all of the following:
1. A report of the trust property, liabilities, receipts, and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee’s compensation.
2. A listing of the trust assets and, if feasible, their respective market values.
(b) Subject to par. (c), upon a vacancy in a trusteeship, unless a cotrustee remains in office, the former trustee shall send a report containing the information described under par. (a) 1. to the qualified beneficiaries. A personal representative or guardian may send the qualified beneficiaries a report containing the information described in par. (a) 1. on behalf of a deceased or incapacitated trustee.
(c) A trustee may limit the report to a qualified beneficiary of a specific dollar amount or specific property to information that relates to the specific dollar amount or specific property.
(4) A qualified beneficiary may waive the right to a trustee’s report or other information otherwise required to be furnished under this section. A qualified beneficiary, with respect to future reports and other information, may withdraw a waiver previously given.
(5) Subsections (2) (b), (c), and (d) and (3) do not apply to a trustee who accepts a trusteeship before July 1, 2014, to an irrevocable trust created before July 1, 2014, or to a revocable trust that becomes irrevocable before July 1, 2014.
(6) The trustee has no duty to provide information about the administration of the trust to the settlor, but the trustee may provide such information if the trustee chooses to do so.
(7) The trust instrument may expand, restrict, eliminate, or otherwise vary the right of a beneficiary or class of beneficiaries to be informed of the beneficiary’s interest in a trust or to receive any or all information concerning the trust, and may do so for any period of time, including for the lifetime of a beneficiary or a class of beneficiaries. If there is no current acting representative of such a beneficiary or class of beneficiaries in accordance with the trust instrument, and a provision to appoint such a representative is not provided for in the trust instrument, the trustee may appoint a representative for a beneficiary or class of beneficiaries whose rights to information have been restricted or eliminated by the trust instrument.