Can a Trustee Delegate Their Duties in Washington?

Your mother named you trustee of her trust. You have a full-time job, you have never picked an investment, and the trust now owns a brokerage account, a rental house, and a tax filing obligation. Do you have to do all of it yourself?

No. Under RCW 11.98.071, a Washington trustee may delegate duties and powers that a prudent trustee of comparable skills could properly delegate under the circumstances. What a trustee cannot do is hand off the job and walk away. The statute lets you delegate tasks, and in exchange it requires you to choose carefully, give clear instructions, and keep watching.

What Does the Delegation Statute Require?

RCW 11.98.071 says the trustee must use reasonable care, skill, and caution in four things: selecting the delegate, setting the scope and terms of the delegation in a way that fits the purposes and terms of the trust, periodically reviewing the delegate's actions to monitor performance and compliance, and enforcing the delegate's duties under the terms of the delegation.

In practice that means checking qualifications instead of hiring a friend because it is easy, putting the delegate's authority and limits in writing, reading the statements on a regular schedule, and acting when the delegate falls short.

The delegate takes on an obligation too: a duty to the trustee to use reasonable care to comply with the terms of the delegation.

Is the Trustee Liable for a Delegate's Mistakes?

Not if the trustee did the four things. RCW 11.98.071 says a trustee who complies with those requirements is not liable to the beneficiaries or to the trust for an action of the delegate. A trustee who carefully hires a qualified investment advisor, gives sensible guidelines, and reviews the account is not the guarantor of every trade.

The protection has an edge to it. It applies only to a trustee who complied, and the statute adds that nothing in it relieves the trustee from any existing duty to compel the delegate to account for the delegate's actions. A trustee who signs up with an advisor and never opens another statement has not met the statute's conditions, and the default liability rules apply, as described in can a trustee be held personally liable in Washington.

Which Professionals Can a Trustee Hire?

The general list of trustee powers in RCW 11.98.070 includes the power to engage persons, including lawyers, accountants, investment advisors, or agents, even if they are associated with the trustee, to advise or assist the trustee or to perform any act, subject to RCW 11.98.071. The same section lets a trustee place securities in the custody of a bank, trust company, or New York Stock Exchange member firm selected and retained with reasonable care.

Hiring someone close to you takes extra care. Under the duty of loyalty in RCW 11.98.078, a transaction between the trust and the trustee's own agent or attorney is presumed to be affected by a conflict of interest. The same statute says a delegation to an agent affiliated or associated with the trustee cannot be voided on that ground if it is fair to the beneficiaries, and that reasonable compensation to the trustee and an affiliate is protected so long as the total is reasonable. Expect beneficiaries to ask about both fairness and cost: under RCW 11.96A.070, a trustee's report is presumed to give adequate disclosure when it includes, among other items, the agents the trustee hired, their relationship to the trustee, and their compensation.

Can One Co-Trustee Hand Duties to Another?

Yes, under a separate rule. RCW 11.98.071 sends delegation among co-trustees to RCW 11.98.016, which lets an individual trustee, with a co-trustee's consent, delegate any power, duty, or authority as trustee to that co-trustee by a signed, written instrument. The delegation takes effect when the instrument is delivered to the co-trustee and can be revoked at any time the same way.

There are two limits. A power the trust expressly gives to only one trustee cannot be delegated to a co-trustee, and a power the trust expressly keeps away from a particular trustee cannot be delegated to that trustee. A co-trustee who has made an effective delegation is not liable for failing to participate in the administration of the trust, but the statute is explicit that nothing in it excuses a co-trustee from liability for failing to attempt to prevent a breach of trust. More on shared trusteeship is in what happens when co-trustees disagree.

What Can a Trustee Not Hand Off?

The statute does not publish a list. Its test is what a prudent trustee of comparable skills could properly delegate under the circumstances, so the answer depends on the task and the trustee. Bookkeeping, tax preparation, property management, and investment management are commonly delegated. Turning over the whole trusteeship, including the judgment calls the trustor chose this person to make, is hard to square with that test.

The trust document matters as well. Under RCW 11.97.010, the terms of a trust can add to or cut back the powers the statutes give a trustee, so a trust can forbid delegation of certain decisions or allow more of it. A trust can also go a step further and give someone other than the trustee, called a trust director, power over certain decisions under chapter 11.98B RCW. That is the trustor's choice written into the trust, not a delegation by the trustee.

A personal power of attorney is not a shortcut. Under RCW 11.125.240, an agent can exercise fiduciary powers that the principal has authority to delegate only if the power of attorney expressly grants that authority, and even then the delegation rules above still set the outer boundary. A trustee who no longer wants the job, or can no longer do it, has a different path: RCW 11.98.029 lets a trustee resign without judicial proceedings by a signed writing filed with the trust records, but the resignation becomes effective only upon discharge under RCW 11.98.041. The trustee must complete the required notice and transition rather than simply stop acting. Naming successor trustees in advance, as discussed in how to choose a trustee, is what makes that handoff smooth.

A Worked Example

Priya is trustee of her late father's trust for her two teenage nephews. She interviews three advisors, hires a registered investment advisor, and signs an agreement with written guidelines built around the boys' college years. She hires a property manager for the trust's Lynnwood rental and an accountant for the tax returns. Every quarter she reads the statements and meets with the advisor, and once she replaces a property manager who stopped sending reports. If the market drops, Priya has done what RCW 11.98.071 asks, and the advisor's decisions are not her personal liability.

Her cousin Marcus, trustee of a similar trust, gives his brother-in-law online access to the brokerage account and never looks again. With no terms, no review, and nothing to enforce, the delegation statute gives him no cover if the account is drained.

Get the Structure Right at the Start

Delegation done well is good trusteeship. Delegation done casually is an easy way for a family trustee to get into trouble. If you are a new trustee sorting out what you can hand off and how to document it, the Law Office of Chad Foster can help you set it up correctly. Call 425.785.8679 to talk with a Snohomish County estate planning and probate attorney.