2019 Delaware Code
Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations
Chapter 33. Administrative Provisions
§ 3325 Specific powers of trustee [For application of this section, see 79 Del. Laws, c. 172, § 6; 80 Del. Laws, c. 153, § 5; 81 Del. Laws, c. 149, § 6].

(1) Collect trust property and accept or decline additions to the trust property from a trustor or any other person;

(2) Acquire or sell property, for cash or on credit, at public or private sale;

(3) Exchange, partition or otherwise change the character of trust property;

(4) Deposit trust funds in an account in a regulated financial services institution, including an institution operated by or affiliated with the trustee;

(5) Borrow money, with or without security, and mortgage or pledge trust property for a period within or extending beyond the duration of the trust and, in connection with any such borrowing, mortgaging or pledging, indemnify the lender against liability incurred with respect to, or in connection with, the borrowing and entering into any related mortgage or pledge or security agreement;

(6) Advance money for the protection of the trust, where the trustee has a lien on the trust property as against a beneficiary for reimbursement of those advances, with reasonable interest;

(7) With respect to an interest in a proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, statutory trust, business trust, corporation or other form of business or enterprise, continue the business or other enterprise and take any action that may be taken by shareholders, members or property owners, including merging, dissolving or otherwise changing the form of business organization or contributing additional capital;

(8) With respect to stocks or other securities, to exercise the rights of an absolute owner, including the right to:

(9) With respect to an interest in real property, construct, make ordinary or extraordinary repairs, alterations or improvements in buildings or other structures, demolish improvements, raze existing or erect new party walls or buildings, subdivide or develop land, dedicate land to public use or grant public or private easements, and make or vacate plats and adjust boundaries;

(10) Enter into a lease for any purpose as lessor or lessee, including a lease or other arrangement for exploration and removal of natural resources, with or without the option to purchase or renew, for a period within the duration of the trust;

(11) Grant an option involving a sale, lease or other disposition of trust property or take an option for the acquisition of property, excluding an option exercisable beyond the duration of the trust, and exercise an option so acquired;

(12) Insure the property of the trust against damage or loss and insure the trustee, the trustee’s agents and beneficiaries against liability arising from the administration of the trust;

(13) Abandon or decline to administer property of no value or of insufficient value to justify its collection or continued administration;

(14) With respect to possible liability for environmental conditions:

(15) Pay or contest any claim, settle a claim by or against the trust, and release, in whole or in part, a claim belonging to the trust:

(16) Pay taxes, assessments and compensation of the trustee and of employees and agents of the trust, and other expenses incurred in the administration of the trust;

(17) Exercise elections with respect to federal, state and local taxes;

(18) Select a mode of payment under any employee benefit or retirement plan, annuity or life insurance payable to the trustee, exercise rights thereunder, and take appropriate action to collect the proceeds, including exercise of the right to indemnification against expenses and liabilities;

(19) Make loans out of or guarantees based on trust property and, in connection with any such guarantee of a loan, indemnify the lender against liability incurred with respect to, or in connection with, the loan and any related mortgage, pledge or security agreement, including loans to or guarantees for the benefit of a beneficiary on terms and conditions the trustee considers to be fair and reasonable under the circumstances, and subject to § 3536 of this title, the trustee has a lien on future distributions for repayment of those loans and for the repayment of an amount equal to any payment made or that might be made on account of such guarantee; provided further that any such loans or guarantees shall only be permitted to the extent the same are either:

(20) Appoint a trustee to act in another state or country as to trust property located in the other jurisdiction, confer upon the appointed trustee all of the powers and duties of the appointing trustee, require that the appointed trustee furnish security, and remove any trustee so appointed;

(21) Pay an amount distributable to a beneficiary who is under a legal disability or who the trustee reasonably believes is incapacitated by paying it directly to the beneficiary or applying it for the beneficiary’s benefit, or by:

(22) On distribution of trust property or the division or termination of a trust, make distributions in divided or undivided interests, allocate particular assets in proportionate or disproportionate shares, value the trust property for those purposes, and adjust for resulting differences in valuation;

(23) Decide, in accordance with § 61-103(b) of this title, how and in what proportions any receipts or disbursements are credited, charged or apportioned as between principal and income, including the ability to create reserves out of income for depreciation, depletion, amortization or obsolescence;

(24) If all interested beneficiaries also consent, consent to the resolution of a dispute concerning the interpretation of the trust or its administration by mediation, arbitration or other procedure for alternative dispute resolution;

(25) Prosecute or defend an action, claim or judicial proceeding in any jurisdiction to protect trust property and the trustee in the performance of the trustee’s duties;

(26) Sign and deliver contracts and other instruments that are useful to achieve or facilitate the exercise of the trustee’s powers;

(27) On termination of the trust, exercise the powers appropriate to wind up the administration of the trust and distribute the trust property to the persons entitled to it;

(28) Sever any trust estate on a fractional basis into 2 or more separate trusts for any reason; and segregate by allocation to a separate account or trust a specific amount or specific assets included in the trust property or gift made from any trust to reflect a partial disclaimer, to reflect or result in differences in federal tax attributes, to satisfy any federal tax requirement or election, to reduce potential generation-skipping transfer tax liability, to accomplish a division along family lines, or for any other reason, in a manner consistent with the rules governing disclaimers, such federal tax attributes, such requirements or elections, or any applicable tax rules or regulations, and income earned on a segregated amount, specific assets, or gift after segregation occurs shall pass to the designated taker of such amount, specific assets, or gift. In managing, investing, administering, and distributing the trust property of any separate account or trust and in making applicable tax elections, the trustee may consider the differences in federal tax attributes and all other factors the trustee believes pertinent and may make disproportionate distributions from the separate trusts created. A separate account or trust created by severance or segregation shall be treated as a separate trust for all purposes from and after the date on which the severance or segregation is effective, and shall be held on terms and conditions that are substantially equivalent to the terms of the trust from which it was severed or segregated so that the aggregate interests of each beneficiary in the several trusts are substantially equivalent to the beneficiary’s interests in the trust before severance or segregation; provided, however, that any terms of the trust before severance or segregation that, if altered, would adversely affect qualification of the trust for any federal tax deduction, exclusion, election, exemption, or other special federal tax status must remain identical in each of the separate trusts created;

(29) Declare 1 or more new trusts for the purpose of merging all, or a portion, of the trust with or into the new trust or trusts and merge all or a portion of the trust with or into any other trust or trusts, including statutory trusts and foreign statutory trusts as defined in § 3801 of this title, whether or not created by the same trustor and whether or not funded prior to the merger, to be held and administered as a single trust if such a merger would not result in a material change in the dispositive terms of the trust defining the nature and extent of any trust beneficiary’s interest in the principal or income of the trust;

(30) Take such actions as are necessary to cause gains from the sale or exchange of trust assets, as determined for federal income-tax purposes, to be taxed for federal income-tax purposes as part of a distribution of income (including income which has been increased by an adjustment from principal to income under § 61-104 of this title), a unitrust distribution, or a distribution of principal to a beneficiary; and

(31) Exercise all rights and powers granted to a fiduciary under the Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets and Accounts Act, Chapter 50 of this title.