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DIVISION 9. TRUST LAW 15000-19530›PART 4. TRUST ADMINISTRATION 16000-16632›CHAPTER 1. Duties of Trustees 16000-16110›ARTICLE 2. Trustee’s Standard of Care 16040-16042

§ 16040

California Probate Code · 2026-09 edition · updated 2026-10-03 · California

(a) The trustee shall administer the trust with reasonable care, skill, and caution under the circumstances then prevailing that a prudent person acting in a like capacity would use in the conduct of an enterprise of like character and with like aims to accomplish the purposes of the trust as determined from the trust instrument.

(b) The settlor may expand or restrict the standard provided in subdivision (a) by express provisions in the trust instrument. A trustee is not liable to a beneficiary for the trustee’s good faith reliance on these express provisions.

(c) This section does not apply to investment and management functions governed by the Uniform Prudent Investor Act, Article 2.5 (commencing with Section 16045).

(Amended by Stats. 1995, Ch. 63, Sec. 4. Effective January 1, 1996.)

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