22-3-202. Judicial review of exercise of discretionary power — Request for instruction.
(1)
In this section, “fiduciary decision” means:
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Terms Used In Utah Code 22-3-202
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
Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
(a)
a fiduciary‘s allocation between income and principal or other determination regarding income and principal required or authorized by the terms of the trust or this chapter;
(b)
the fiduciary’s exercise or nonexercise of a discretionary power regarding income and principal granted by the terms of the trust or this chapter, including the power to:
convert an income trust to a unitrust under Subsection 22-3-303(1)(a);
(iii)
change the percentage or method used to calculate a unitrust amount under Subsection 22-3-303(1)(b); or
(iv)
convert a unitrust to an income trust under Subsection 22-3-303(1)(c); or
(c)
the fiduciary’s implementation of a decision described in Subsection (1)(a) or (b).
(2)
The court may not order a fiduciary to change a fiduciary decision, unless the court determines that the fiduciary decision was an abuse of the fiduciary’s discretion.
(3)
(a)
If the court determines that a fiduciary decision was an abuse of the fiduciary’s discretion, the court may order a remedy authorized by law, including a remedy authorized in Section 75-7-1001.
(b)
To place the beneficiaries in the positions that the beneficiaries would have occupied if there had not been an abuse of the fiduciary’s discretion, the court may order:
(i)
the fiduciary to exercise or refrain from exercising the power to adjust under Section 22-3-203;
(ii)
the fiduciary to exercise or refrain from exercising the power to:
(A)
convert an income trust to a unitrust under Subsection 22-3-303(1)(a);
(B)
change the percentage or method used to calculate a unitrust amount under Subsection 22-3-303(1)(b); or
(C)
convert a unitrust to an income trust under Subsection 22-3-303(1)(c);
(iii)
the fiduciary to distribute an amount to a beneficiary;
(iv)
a beneficiary to return some or all of a distribution; or
(v)
the fiduciary to withhold an amount from one or more future distributions to a beneficiary.
(4)
(a)
On petition by a fiduciary for instruction, the court may determine whether a proposed fiduciary decision will result in an abuse of the fiduciary’s discretion.
(b)
A beneficiary that opposes the proposed decision has the burden to establish that the proposed decision will result in an abuse of the fiduciary’s discretion if the petition:
(i)
describes the proposed decision;
(ii)
contains sufficient information to inform the beneficiary of the reasons for making the proposed decision and the facts on which the fiduciary relies; and
(iii)
explains how the beneficiary will be affected by the proposed decision.
