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Trust Law/Level IV · Trusts that care/4.3 Protective arrangements/Lesson 7

Reporting to beneficiaries

What US trustees under the Uniform Trust Code must tell beneficiaries, what a report contains, how far settlors can limit it, and how England and Wales approach disclosure.

Education, not legal advice. Trust law changes from country to country and state to state, and the right structure depends on your situation. Anything you sign should be drafted or reviewed by a qualified lawyer where you live.

The lean path

The cheapest, lowest-tax, simplest and most private route the law allows, best first. Each step names the rule it rests on and the condition that keeps it lawful.

  1. A trustee can self-prepare the annual UTC §813 report: property, liabilities, receipts, disbursements and trustee compensation. Good records cost little and are the cheapest defence against a court-ordered accounting.
  2. A beneficiary’s cheapest step is a written request: §813 requires a copy of the trust instrument on request and prompt responses; only if the trustee refuses is a court petition for an accounting needed.
  3. Beneficiaries may waive reports to cut administration cost and withdraw the waiver later; where enacted, UTC §105 still bars a settlor from removing notice to current beneficiaries aged 25 or older.
  4. Tax reporting is separate and still applies: a trust files Form 1041 once gross income reaches $600, sending each beneficiary a Schedule K-1; for calendar 2025 returns the deadline was 15 April 2026.
  5. England and Wales have no annual-report statute; a beneficiary asks the trustees first, and under Schmidt v Rosewood Trust [2003] UKPC 26 the court decides disclosure, weighing confidentiality.

MaterialsYour state’s version of Uniform Trust Code §§105 and 813, if your state adopted the UTC (free on state legislature websites)A copy of the trust document, if you have one, to look for terms about information and reportsAny trustee report or account statement you have received, if you are a beneficiary

Wonder

  1. What must a trustee tell beneficiaries, and when?
  2. What should an annual trustee’s report contain?
  3. Can a trust’s terms keep beneficiaries from knowing about the trust?

Explore

  1. In US states that adopted the Uniform Trust Code, about 36 plus the District of Columbia, §813 sets a general duty: a trustee must keep the qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed about the trust’s administration and the material facts they need to protect their interests. The trustee must also respond promptly to a qualified beneficiary’s reasonable request for reports and other information. Qualified beneficiaries broadly include current beneficiaries and those who would receive distributions if the trust ended now. States changed parts of §813, so each state’s version matters.
  2. Section 813 lists specific steps. On request, the trustee must give a beneficiary a copy of the trust instrument. Within 60 days of accepting the trusteeship, the trustee must notify qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance and the trustee’s name, address and telephone number. Within 60 days of learning that an irrevocable trust was created, or that a revocable trust has become irrevocable, the trustee must notify them of the trust’s existence, the settlor, and their right to a copy and to reports. Changes in the trustee’s compensation need advance notice.
  3. A trustee must send a report at least annually, and when the trust ends, to current beneficiaries and to other beneficiaries who ask. Under §813, the report covers the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee’s compensation, a list of the trust assets and, if feasible, their market values. Some states add more; Maine’s version, for example, also asks for tax bases. Under UTC §603, while a trust is revocable the trustee’s duties are owed to the settlor, so these reports generally go to the settlor then.
  4. Limits on reporting come from two directions. Under §813, a beneficiary may waive the right to a report or other information, and may later withdraw the waiver. A settlor can also reduce the duties in the trust terms, but UTC §105 makes some of them mandatory in its model text: notifying qualified beneficiaries aged 25 or older of the trust’s existence and their right to reports, and responding to a beneficiary’s request for information. Many states changed or omitted these two rules, and some allow ‘quiet trusts’ that delay or restrict notice for a period.
  5. England and Wales have no general statute like UTC §813 requiring annual reports. Trustees must keep proper accounts, and beneficiaries can ask to see trust documents. In Schmidt v Rosewood Trust [2003] UKPC 26, an appeal from the Isle of Man, the Privy Council held that disclosure is not a beneficiary’s property right but part of the court’s power to supervise trusts; the court decides what to disclose, weighing confidentiality. Breakspear v Ackland (2008) applied this in England (lesson 4.3.6). Trustees generally need not give reasons for discretionary decisions.
  6. Beneficiaries and trustees often keep copies of every report and notice received or sent, so questions can be checked against records later. If a trustee does not report, a beneficiary in a UTC state may ask the trustee in writing, and if needed ask a court, which can order an accounting or other remedies (lesson 2.3.7). Some families agree in writing what information will be shared and how often, within what the trust and state law allow. This lesson describes reporting rules; it does not suggest what any trust should provide.

Key facts

  • Under UTC §813, a trustee must keep qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed and respond promptly to their reasonable requests for information.
  • Under UTC §813, a trustee must notify qualified beneficiaries within 60 days of accepting the trusteeship and within 60 days of learning that a trust has become irrevocable.
  • A trustee’s report under UTC §813, at least annually, covers trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee’s compensation.
  • Under UTC §603, while a trust is revocable the trustee’s duties are owed to the settlor, so beneficiaries generally do not receive §813 reports then.
  • In its model text, UTC §105 stops a settlor from waiving notice to qualified beneficiaries aged 25 or older of the trust’s existence and their right to reports; many states changed this rule.
  • In Schmidt v Rosewood Trust [2003] UKPC 26, the Privy Council treated disclosure of trust documents as part of the court’s supervisory jurisdiction, not a beneficiary’s property right.

Exercise nine, six, three, one

9CollectList up to 9 pieces of information a beneficiary might want about a trust (some lists are shorter), such as a copy of the trust, the trustee’s contact details, a list of assets, payments made, the trustee’s fees or investment changes.
6ClusterSort them into 6 categories: the trust document, the trustee’s identity, assets and values, money in and out, trustee compensation, and other information.
3DistillReduce the 6 categories to 3 groups: information UTC §813 generally requires, information a beneficiary may have to ask for, and information that depends on the trust’s terms or state law.
1CrystallizeWrite 1 sentence explaining, in your own words, why a trustee’s report helps beneficiaries protect their interests.

Fact check

Dates, figures and claims checked against the published sources listed below.

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