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2018 Georgia Code 53-12-246 | Car Wreck Lawyer

Link to State of Georgia Official Statute 2018 Georgia Code Annotated (sourced from legal.resource.org)
O.C.G.A. 53-12-246 Case Law from Google Scholar Amendments to OCGA 53-12-246

TITLE 53 WILLS, TRUSTS, AND ADMINISTRATION OF ESTATES

Section 12. (Revised Trust Code of 2010) Trusts, 53-12-1 through 53-12-506.

ARTICLE 13 TRUSTEES' DUTIES AND POWERS

53-12-246. Duty to avoid conflict of interest.

  1. A trustee shall administer the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries.
  2. This Code section shall not preclude the following transactions, if fair to the beneficiaries:
    1. An agreement between a trustee and a beneficiary relating to the appointment or compensation of the trustee;
    2. Payment of reasonable compensation to the trustee; or
    3. Performing and receiving reasonable compensation for performing services of a managerial, executive, or business advisory nature for a corporation or other business enterprise, where the trust estate owns an interest in the corporation or other business enterprise.

(Code 1981, §53-12-246, enacted by Ga. L. 2010, p. 579, § 1/SB 131.)

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Dual role permitted.

- O.C.G.A. § 53-12-246(b) expressly recognizes that trustees may act in a dual role when the trust estate owns an interest in a corporation or business enterprise, as long as it is fair to the beneficiaries. Rollins v. Rollins, 294 Ga. 711, 755 S.E.2d 727 (2014).

Sale of trust asset to a co-trustee through a straw man.

- Because there were genuine issues as to whether trustees fraudulently concealed their breach of fiduciary duty in selling the principal trust asset to a co-trustee at a discount through a straw man in 1979, tolling the statute of limitations, and whether the beneficiaries exercised diligence in discovering the fraud, summary judgment was improper. Smith v. SunTrust Bank, 325 Ga. App. 531, 754 S.E.2d 117 (2014).

No conflict of interest existed.

- Trial court erred by awarding summary judgment to a beneficiary on the question of whether the trustee acted under a conflict of interest simply by serving as trustee of the marital trust while at the same time serving as co-chair of a university's capital campaign committee to which a gift was made from trust assets because the trustee did not stand to gain any tangible benefit solely by being co-chair of the committee while concurrently serving as trustee of the marital trust. Hasty v. Castleberry, 293 Ga. 727, 749 S.E.2d 676 (2013).

Trustee's/executor's powers did not entitle trustee to ignore purpose of trust or commit waste.

- Trial court erred in concluding that a widow's considerable powers of control over two testamentary trusts as trustee and executor entitled her to summary judgment on two of the children's/beneficiaries' claims against the trust created for the purpose of supporting them during their lifetimes; she was required to diligently and in good faith ascertain whether they required support, and her powers over the assets did not entitle her to commit waste. Peterson v. Peterson, 303 Ga. 211, 811 S.E.2d 309 (2018).

Jury question as to whether duty breached.

- Jury question was presented as to whether two trustees of their children's trusts acted against the interests of the beneficiaries (their children) in bad faith by amending a partnership agreement to concentrate all voting power in themselves to the exclusion of the beneficiaries, who otherwise would have become partners when they turned 45. Likewise, the trustees as partners owed duties to the trusts as partners in the partnership. Rollins v. Rollins, 338 Ga. App. 308, 790 S.E.2d 157 (2016).

Cases Citing O.C.G.A. § 53-12-246

Total Results: 4  |  Sort by: Relevance  |  Newest First

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Hasty v. Castleberry, 293 Ga. 727 (Ga. 2013).

Cited 12 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Oct 7, 2013 | 749 S.E.2d 676, 2013 Fulton County D. Rep. 3065

...duciary to be in a position where his interests might conflict with that of a beneficiary” (Harp v. Pryor, 276 Ga. 478, 479 (578 SE2d 424) (2003)), and “[a] trustee shall administer the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries.” OCGA § 53-12-246 (a)....
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Peterson v. Peterson, 303 Ga. 211 (Ga. 2018).

Cited 11 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 5, 2018

...at 733 (“The trustee has a duty to administer the trust, diligently and in good faith, in accordance with the terms of the trust and applicable law.” (citation and punctuation omitted)); id. at 735 (“‘[A] trustee shall administer the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries.’” (quoting OCGA § 53-12-246 (a)))....
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Peterson v. Peterson, 811 S.E.2d 309 (Ga. 2018).

Cited 11 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 5, 2018

...n good faith, in accordance with the terms of the trust and applicable law." (citation and quotation marks omitted) ); id. at 735, 749 S.E.2d 676 (" 'A trustee shall administer the trust solely in the interests of the beneficiaries.' " (quoting OCGA § 53-12-246 (a) ) )....
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Rollins v. Rollins, 294 Ga. 711 (Ga. 2014).

Cited 7 times | Published | Supreme Court of Georgia | Mar 3, 2014 | 755 S.E.2d 727, 2014 Fulton County D. Rep. 374

...gislature’s 2010 amendment to the Trust Code which expressly recognizes that trustees may act in a dual role where the trust estate owns an interest in a corporation or business enterprise, as long as it is “fair to the beneficiaries.” OCGA § 53-12-246 (b). On remand, the Court of Appeals is directed to apply a corporate fiduciary standard when considering the trustees’ conduct with regard to their management of the corporate family entities held within the trusts. Judgment reversed in part and vacated in part, and case remanded with direction....