Home Table of Contents

§ 8106. Judicial control of discretionary powers

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 20 Pa.C.S.A. Decedents, Estates and FiduciariesEffective: July 15, 2002

Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated Statutes
Title 20 Pa.C.S.A. Decedents, Estates and Fiduciaries (Refs & Annos)
Chapter 81. Principal and Income (Refs & Annos)
Subchapter A. Preliminary Provisions; Power to Adjust; Power to Convert to Unitrust
Effective: July 15, 2002
20 Pa.C.S.A. § 8106
§ 8106. Judicial control of discretionary powers
(a) Standard of review.--A court shall not change a fiduciary's decision to exercise or not to exercise a discretionary power conferred by this chapter unless it determines that the decision was an abuse of the fiduciary's discretion.
(b) Remedies.--If a court determines that a fiduciary has abused its discretion regarding a discretionary power conferred by this chapter, the remedy is to restore the income and remainder beneficiaries to the positions they would have occupied if the fiduciary had not abused its discretion, according to the following rules:
(1) To the extent that the abuse of discretion has resulted in no distribution to a beneficiary or a distribution which is too small, the court shall require the fiduciary to distribute from the trust to the beneficiary an amount that the court determines will restore the beneficiary, in whole or in part, to the beneficiary's appropriate position.
(2) To the extent that the abuse of discretion has resulted in a distribution to a beneficiary which is too large, the court shall restore the beneficiaries, the trust or both, in whole or in part, to their appropriate positions by requiring the fiduciary to withhold an amount from one or more future distributions to the beneficiary who received the distribution that was too large or requiring that beneficiary or that beneficiary's estate to return some or all of the distribution to the trust, notwithstanding a spendthrift or similar provision.
(3) If the abuse of discretion concerns the power to convert a trust into a unitrust, the court shall require the trustee either to convert into a unitrust or to reconvert from a unitrust.
(4) To the extent that the court is unable, after applying paragraphs (1), (2) and (3), to restore the beneficiaries, the trust or both to the positions they would have occupied if the fiduciary had not abused its discretion, the court may require the fiduciary to pay an appropriate amount from its own funds to one or more of the beneficiaries or the trust or both.

Credits

2002, May 16, P.L. 330, No. 50, § 13, effective in 60 days.
20 Pa.C.S.A. § 8106, PA ST 20 Pa.C.S.A. § 8106
Current through Act 10 of the 2024 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
End of Document