(a) When investing, reinvesting, purchasing, acquiring, exchanging, selling and managing property for the benefit of another, a trustee, executor, administrator, guardian, conservator or other fiduciary, other than a trustee governed by Chapter 3B, shall act with the care, skill, prudence, and diligence under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with such matters would use to attain the purposes of the account. In making investment decisions, a fiduciary shall consider the role that the investment plays within the account’s overall portfolio of assets and may consider the general economic conditions, the anticipated tax consequences of the investment, the anticipated duration of the account and the needs of the beneficiaries of the account.
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Terms Used In Alabama Code 19-3-120.2

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • 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.
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • property: includes both real and personal property. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
(b) The propriety of an investment decision is to be determined by what a fiduciary knew or should have known at the time of the decision about the inherent nature and expected performance of the investment, the attributes of the account portfolio, the general economy, and the needs and objectives of the beneficiaries of the account as they existed at the time of the investment decision.
(c) Any fiduciary acting under a governing instrument shall not be liable to anyone whose interests arise from such instrument for the fiduciary’s good faith reliance on the express provisions of such instrument. The standards set forth in this section may be expanded, restricted, or eliminated by express provisions in a governing instrument.
(d) In the absence of an express provision to the contrary in a governing instrument, a fiduciary may without liability continue to hold property received into an account at its inception or subsequently added to it or acquired pursuant to proper authority if and as long as the fiduciary, in the exercise of good faith and of reasonable prudence, may consider that retention to be in the best interest of the account or in furtherance of the goals of the governing instrument. Such property may include, among other things, stock in the fiduciary if a corporation, and stock in any corporation controlling, controlled by or under common control with the fiduciary.
(e) Nothing in this section shall abrogate or restrict the power of the appropriate court in a proper case to direct or permit a fiduciary to deviate from the terms of a governing instrument regarding the acquisition, investment, reinvestment, exchange, retention, sale or management of property.
(f) The provisions of this section shall apply to all fiduciary relations, other than trustee relations covered by Chapter 3B, now existing or hereafter created, but only to the fiduciary actions or inactions occurring after the effective date hereof. Effective January 1, 2007, the standards for fiduciary investment and management for trustees shall be governed by Chapter 3B instead of this section.
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