Trustee duties under the trust document and Trustee Acts: care, investment, advice, delegation, conflicts, records, tax and personal liability.
This guide is part of ProbateHelp's Wills & Planning guide cluster. Estimated reading time: 11 min.
The roles can overlap but are not identical. An executor administers the estate. A continuing will trust may then require the people appointed as trustees to hold and manage particular assets under the trust terms.
Where the statutory duty applies, a trustee must use the care and skill reasonable in the circumstances. The standard takes account of the trustee's actual or claimed expertise and applies a higher expectation to someone acting professionally.
Before investing and when reviewing investments, trustees normally obtain and consider proper advice. The statutory exception applies where the trustee reasonably concludes that advice is unnecessary or inappropriate in all the circumstances.
Some functions can be delegated, but not every decision. Asset-management delegation must be in or evidenced in writing and requires a written policy statement. Trustees must keep the agent and arrangements under review.
No. Most express trusts are within the Trust Registration Service, but GOV.UK lists exclusions, including some co-ownership and short-lived will trusts. Taxable trusts have separate registration and reporting triggers. Check the current trust type and facts.
No. Retirement or replacement must follow the trust document and the statutory route that applies, with the required consents, deed, remaining trustees and asset transfers. Leaving the work does not erase liability for an earlier breach.