A. Co-trustees who are unable to reach a unanimous decision may act by majority decision.

B. If a vacancy occurs in a co-trusteeship, the remaining co-trustees may act for the trust.

C. Subject to Section 12 [46-14-12 NMSA 1978] of the Uniform Directed Trust Act, a co-trustee shall participate in the performance of a trustee's function unless the co-trustee is unavailable to perform the function because of absence, illness, disqualification under other law or other temporary incapacity, or the co-trustee has properly delegated the performance of the function to another trustee.

D. If a co-trustee is unavailable to perform duties because of absence, illness, disqualification under other law or other temporary incapacity, and prompt action is necessary to achieve the purposes of the trust or to avoid injury to the trust property, the remaining co-trustee or a majority of the remaining co-trustees may act for the trust.

E. A trustee shall not delegate to a co-trustee the performance of a function the settlor reasonably expected the trustees to perform jointly. Unless a delegation was irrevocable, a trustee may revoke a delegation previously made.

F. Except as otherwise provided in Subsection G of this section, a trustee who does not join in an action of another trustee is not liable for the action.

G. Subject to Section 12 of the Uniform Directed Trust Act, each trustee shall exercise reasonable care to:

(1) prevent a co-trustee from committing a serious breach of trust; and

(2) compel a co-trustee to redress a serious breach of trust.

H. A dissenting trustee who joins in an action at the direction of the majority of the trustees and who notified any co-trustee of the dissent at or before the time of the action is not liable for the action unless the action is a serious breach of trust.

History: Laws 2003, ch. 122, § 7-703; 2018, ch. 63, § 23.

The 2018 amendment, effective January 1, 2019, made certain provisions related to co-trustees subject to the Uniform Directed Trust Act; in Subsection C, added "Subject to Section 12 of the Uniform Directed Trust Act", and after the first occurrence of "co-trustee", deleted "must" and added "shall"; in Subsection E, after "A trustee", deleted "may" and added "shall"; and in Subsection G, added "Subject to Section 12 of the Uniform Directed Trust Act".