2018 Tennessee Code
Title 35 - Fiduciaries and Trust Estates
Chapter 15 - Tennessee Uniform Trust Code
Part 5 - Creditor's Claims -- Mandatory, Support and Discretionary Interests -- Effect of Spendthrift Provision.
§ 35-15-504. Discretionary interests -- Effect thereof.
(a) A discretionary interest is neither a property interest nor an enforceable right; it is a mere expectancy.
(b) Relative to a discretionary interest, whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision:
(1) No creditor or assignee shall force or otherwise reach a distribution with regard to a discretionary interest;
(2) No creditor or assignee shall require a trustee, cotrustee or other fiduciary to exercise the trustee's, cotrustee's or other fiduciary's discretion to make a distribution with regard to a discretionary interest;
(3) Regardless of whether a beneficiary has any outstanding creditors or assignees, a trustee, cotrustee or other fiduciary of a discretionary interest may directly pay any expense on behalf of such beneficiary and may exhaust the income and principal of the trust for the benefit of such beneficiary;
(4) No trustee, cotrustee or other fiduciary is liable to any creditor or assignee for paying the expenses of a beneficiary of a discretionary interest;
(5) (A) Regardless of whether a beneficiary holding a discretionary interest is also a trustee, cotrustee or other fiduciary, subdivisions (b)(1)-(4) remain applicable if:
(i) The beneficiary-fiduciary does not have the discretion to make or participate in making distributions to such beneficiary-fiduciary;
(ii) The beneficiary-fiduciary's discretion to make or participate in making distributions to such beneficiary-fiduciary is limited by an ascertainable standard; or
(iii) The beneficiary-fiduciary's discretion to make or participate in making distributions to such beneficiary-fiduciary is exercisable only with the consent of a cotrustee or another person holding an adverse interest.
(B) A creditor or assignee may compel or otherwise reach a distribution only to the extent the creditor or assignee may compel or otherwise reach a distribution if the beneficiary was not acting as a trustee, cotrustee or other fiduciary.
