A trustee has several fiduciary duties to the beneficiaries of a trust, including:
- Duty of loyalty: The trustee must act in the best interests of the beneficiaries, putting their interests ahead of their own or anyone else’s.
- Duty of prudence: The trustee must act with reasonable care, skill, and caution in managing the trust’s assets.
- Duty of impartiality: The trustee must treat all beneficiaries equally and impartially, without favoring one beneficiary over another.
- Duty of accountability: The trustee must keep accurate records of all trust transactions, and provide beneficiaries with regular reports on the trust’s assets and activities.
- Duty of confidentiality: The trustee must maintain the confidentiality of all trust-related information, and not disclose it to anyone without the beneficiaries’ consent.
- Duty to follow the trust terms: The trustee must administer the trust in accordance with the terms of the trust document, and carry out the settlor’s wishes to the best of their ability.
- Duty to invest prudently: The trustee must invest the trust’s assets prudently, considering the risk and return objectives of the trust and the needs of the beneficiaries.
Overall, a trustee must act in good faith and with the utmost integrity, always putting the interests of the beneficiaries first.