Section 5815.24. Limitations on liability

(A) As used in this section, "fiduciary" means a trustee under any expressed, implied, resulting, or constructive trust; an executor, administrator, public administrator, committee, guardian, conservator, curator, receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, or assignee for the benefit of creditors; a partner, agent, officer of a public or private corporation, or public officer; or any other person acting in a fiduciary capacity for any person, trust, or estate.

(B) A fiduciary, or a custodian, who is a transferee of real or personal property that is held by a fiduciary other than the person or entity serving as the transferee, is not required to inquire into any act, or audit any account, of the transferor fiduciary, unless the transferee is specifically directed to do so in the instrument governing the transferee or unless the transferee has actual knowledge of conduct of the transferor that would constitute a breach of the transferor's fiduciary responsibilities.

(C) If a trustee is authorized or directed in a trust instrument to pay or advance all or any part of the trust property to the personal representative of a decedent's estate for the payment of the decedent's legal obligations, death taxes, bequests, or expenses of administration, the trustee is not liable for the application of the trust property paid or advanced to the personal representative and is not liable for any act or omission of the personal representative with respect to the trust property, unless the trustee has actual knowledge, prior to the payment or advancement of the trust property, that the personal representative does not intend to use the trust property for such purposes.

(D) Regardless of whether a beneficiary is subject to the claims of any creditor, a trustee may pay any expense incurred by a beneficiary to the extent that payment is permitted by the instrument governing the trust, and the trustee may make those payments even if the payments exhaust the income and principal of the trust. A trustee is not liable to any creditor of a beneficiary for paying the expenses of a beneficiary as allowed by this division.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.201, HB 479, §1, eff. 3/27/2013.

Effective Date: 01-01-2007