- Bond of trustee. A. In the absence of contrary or limiting provisions in the trust agreement or a subsequent order or decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, the trustee of an express trust is authorized: 1. To exchange, reexchange, subdivide, develop, improve, dedicate to public use, make or vacate public plats, adjust boundaries, or partition real property, and to adjust differences in valuation by giving or receiving money or money's worth. Easements may be dedicated to public use without consideration if deemed by the trustee to be for the best interest of the trust; 2. To grant options and to sell real or personal property at public auction or at private sale for cash, or upon credit secured by lien upon the property sold or upon such property or a part thereof or other property; 3. To grant or take leases of real property and of all rights and privileges above or below the surface of real property for any term or terms, including exploration for and removal of oil, gas, and other minerals, with or without options of purchase, and with or without covenants as to erection of buildings or as to renewals thereof, through the term of the lease or renewals thereof, or of such options extend beyond the term of the trust; 4. To raze existing party walls or buildings or erect new party walls or buildings alone or jointly with owners of adjacent property. To make ordinary repairs and in addition thereto such extraordinary alterations in buildings or other structures which are necessary to make the property productive. To effect and keep in force, fire, rent, title, liability, casualty, or other insurance of any nature, in any form and in any amount; 5. To compromise, contest, arbitrate, or settle any and all claims of or against the trust estate or the trustee as such. To abandon property deemed by the trustee burdensome or valueless; 6. To pay calls, assessments, and any other sums chargeable or accruing against, or on account of shares of stock or other securities in the hands of the trustee where such payment may be legally enforceable against the trustee or any property of the trust, or the trustee deems payment expedient and for the best interest of the trust. To sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights, participate in foreclosures, reorganizations, consolidations, mergers, liquidations, pooling agreements and voting trusts; to assent to corporate sales, leases, and encumbrances, and in general, except as limited by the particular trust agreement, have and exercise all powers of an absolute owner in respect of such securities. In the exercise of the foregoing powers the trustee shall be authorized, where he or she deems such course expedient, to deposit stocks, bonds, or other securities with any protective or other committee formed by or at the instance of persons holding similar securities, under such terms and conditions respecting the deposit thereof as the trustee may approve. Any stock or other securities obtained by conversion, reorganization, consolidation, merger, liquidation, or the exercise of subscription rights shall be free, unless the trust agreement provides otherwise, from any restrictions on sale or otherwise contained in the trust agreement relative to the securities originally held; 7. To make such investment directly or in the form of securities of, or other interests in, any open-end or closed-end management type investment company or investment trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, 15 U.S.C.A., Section 80a-1 et seq.; provided, that the portfolio of such investment company or investment trust is limited to United States government obligations and to repurchase agreements fully collateralized by such United States government obligations, and provided further, that any such investment company or investment trust shall take delivery of such collateral, either directly or through an authorized custodian; 8. To borrow money or create an indebtedness or obligation including any bond indebtedness or obligation, except as limited by the provisions of the Oklahoma Trust Act, and generally to execute any deed or other instrument and to do all things in relation to such trust necessary or desirable for carrying out any of the above powers or incident to the purposes of such trust; and 9. To employ attorneys, accountants, agents, and brokers reasonably necessary in the administration of the trust estate; permit real estate held in trust to be occupied by a surviving spouse or minor child of the trustor and, where reasonably necessary for the maintenance of the surviving spouse or minor child or children, invest trust funds in real property to be used for a home by such beneficiary; make any contracts pertaining to oil, gas, or other natural resources as are customary in the community where the real property held in trust is situated; in the trustee's discretion pay funeral expenses of any beneficiary actually receiving benefits from the trust estate at the time of the death of the beneficiary. B. 1. In the exercise of its authority under paragraph 9 of subsection A of this section, a trustee may pay, from the assets of the trust, reasonable compensation and costs incurred in connection with employment of attorneys, accountants, agents, and brokers reasonably necessary in the administration of the trust estate. 2. In the event of any legal proceeding regarding the trust, a trustee may pay the costs or attorney fees incurred in any proceeding from the assets of the trust without the approval of any person and without court authorization unless otherwise ordered by the court in such legal proceeding. 3. Unless expressly provided otherwise in a written employment agreement, the creation of an attorney-client relationship between an attorney and a person serving as a fiduciary shall not impose upon the attorney any duties or obligations to other persons interested in the estate, trust estate, or other fiduciary property, even though fiduciary funds may be used to compensate the attorney for legal services rendered to the fiduciary. This paragraph is intended to be declaratory of the common law and governs relationships in existence between attorneys and persons serving as fiduciaries and any such relationship hereafter created. 4. Whenever an attorney-client relationship exists between an attorney and a fiduciary, communications between the attorney and the fiduciary shall be subject to attorney-client privilege unless waived by the fiduciary, even though fiduciary funds may be used to compensate the attorney for legal services rendered to the fiduciary. The existence of a fiduciary relationship between a fiduciary and a beneficiary does not constitute or give rise to any waiver of the privilege for communications between the attorney and the fiduciary. C. The following rules of administration shall be applicable to all express trusts but such rules shall not be exclusive of those otherwise imposed by law unless contrary to these rules: 1. Where a trustee is authorized to sell or dispose of land, such authority shall include the right to sell or dispose of part thereof, whether the division is horizontal, vertical, or made in any other way, or undivided interests therein; 2. Where a trustee is authorized by the trust agreement creating the trust or by law to pay or apply capital money subject to the trust for any purpose or in any manner, the trustee shall have and shall be deemed always to have had power to raise the money required by selling, converting, calling in, or mortgaging or otherwise encumbering all or any part of the trust property for the time being in possession; 3. A trustee shall have a lien and may be reimbursed with interest for, or pay or discharge out of the trust property, either principal or income or both, all advances made for the benefit or protection of the trust or its property and all expenses, losses, and liabilities, not resulting from the negligence of the trustee, incurred in or about the execution or protection of the trust or because of the trustee holding or ownership of any property subject thereto; and 4. When the happening of any event, including marriage, divorce, attainment of a certain age, performance of educational requirements, death, or any other event, affects distribution of income or principal of trust estates, the trustees shall not be liable for mistakes of fact prior to the actual knowledge or written notice of such fact. D. The powers, duties, and responsibilities stated in the Oklahoma Trust Act or the Oklahoma Uniform Prudent Investor Act shall not be deemed to exclude other implied powers, duties, or responsibilities not inconsistent herewith. E. The trustee shall pay all taxes and assessments levied or assessed against the trust estate or the trustee by governmental taxing or assessing agencies. F. No trustee shall be required to give bond unless the instrument creating the trust, or a court of competent jurisdiction in its discretion upon the application of an interested party, requires a bond to be given. Added by Laws 1941, p. 255, § 24. Amended by Laws 1949, p. 413, § 1; Laws 1986, c. 106, § 2, emerg. eff. April 5, 1986; Laws 1994, c. 306, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1994; Laws 1995, c. 351, § 23, eff. Nov. 1, 1995; Laws 2024, c. 369, § 40, eff. Nov. 1, 2024.
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