On July 13, 2011, Delaware Governor Jack Markell signed Trust Act 2011 into law, effective August 1, 2011. Attached is a summary of the material changes to Title 12 of the Delaware Code, relevant to trust administration, included in the Act. Click the following link for a summary of Trust Act 2011
In a recent matter before the Delaware Chancery Court, Vice Chancellor Glasscock confirmed the court’s commitment to honor the settlor’s intent and defer to the language of the trust document with regard to the standard of liability used to measure the conduct of a trustee in exercising its fiduciary duties. Relying on the language of Title 12, Section 3303 of the Delaware Code, a corporate trustee was held to the standard of good faith with regard to a matter of permissible self-dealing due to the specific language found in the trust instrument. For the full opinion, please refer to the above-captioned matter at http://courts.delaware.gov/opinions/list.aspx?ag=court of chancery or utilize our Delaware Law Links section.
Rohlf Memorandum Opinion 7-12-2011