Trustees Duties and Responsibilities

The Trustee Act 2000 also introduced additional requirements on Trustees. The Act requires trustees to abide by a duty of care. The aim was to provide a safeguard against any potential misuse of the trustee’s powers.

The duty of care requires trustees to exercise due care and diligence. Trustees must take into account their experience and knowledge they might have. This means that there is a higher duty of care for professional trustees (for example an accountant, solicitor or investment manager) when carrying out the trustees duties.

If required, trusts can be amended to include or exclude the duty of care.