(UDTA 1) Sections 30-4301 to 30-4319 shall be known and may be cited as the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act.

(UDTA 2) In the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act:

(1) Breach of trust includes a violation by a trust director or trustee of a duty imposed on that director or trustee by the terms of the trust, the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act, or law of this state other than the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act pertaining to trusts.

(2) Directed trust means a trust for which the terms of the trust grant a power of direction.

(3) Directed trustee means a trustee that is subject to a trust director's power of direction.

(4) Person means an individual, estate, business or nonprofit entity, public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or other legal entity.

(5) Power of direction means a power over a trust granted to a person by the terms of the trust to the extent the power is exercisable while the person is not serving as a trustee. The term includes a power over the investment, management, or distribution of trust property or other matters of trust administration, including, but not limited to, amendment, reform, or termination of the trust. The term excludes the powers described in subsection (b) of section 30-4305.

(6) Settlor has the same meaning as in section 30-3803.

(7) State means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any other territory or possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

(8) Terms of a trust means:

(A) except as otherwise provided in subdivision (8)(B) of this section, the manifestation of the settlor's intent regarding a trust's provisions as:

(i) expressed in the trust instrument; or

(ii) established by other evidence that would be admissible in a judicial proceeding; or

(B) the trust's provisions as established, determined, or amended by:

(i) a trustee or trust director in accordance with applicable law;

(ii) court order; or

(iii) a nonjudicial settlement agreement under section 30-3811.

(9) Trust director means a person that is granted a power of direction by the terms of a trust to the extent the power is exercisable while the person is not serving as a trustee. The person is a trust director whether or not the terms of the trust refer to the person as a trust director and whether or not the person is a beneficiary or settlor of the trust.

(10) Trustee has the same meaning as in section 30-3803.

(UDTA 3) The Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act applies to a trust, whenever created, that has its principal place of administration in this state, subject to the following rules:

(1) If the trust was created before September 7, 2019, the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act applies only to a decision or action occurring on or after September 7, 2019.

(2) If the principal place of administration of the trust is changed to this state on or after September 7, 2019, the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act applies only to a decision or action occurring on or after the date of the change.

(UDTA 4) The common law and principles of equity supplement the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act, except to the extent modified by the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act or law of this state other than the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act.

(UDTA 5) (a) In this section, power of appointment means a power that enables a person acting in a nonfiduciary capacity to designate a recipient of an ownership interest in or another power of appointment over trust property.

(b) The Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act does not apply to a:

(1) power of appointment;

(2) power to appoint or remove a trustee or trust director;

(3) power of a settlor over a trust to the extent the settlor has a power to revoke the trust;

(4) power of a beneficiary over a trust to the extent the exercise or nonexercise of the power affects the beneficial interest of:

(A) the beneficiary; or

(B) the beneficial interest of another beneficiary represented by the beneficiary under sections 30-3822 to 30-3826 with respect to the exercise or nonexercise of the power;

(5) power over a trust if:

(A) the terms of the trust provide that the power is held in a nonfiduciary capacity; and

(B) the power must be held in a nonfiduciary capacity to achieve the settlor's tax objectives under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as defined in section 49-801.01; or

(6) power over a trust if:

(A) the terms of the trust provide that the power is held in a nonfiduciary capacity; and

(B) the power must be held in a nonfiduciary capacity to correct a mistake of the scrivener in order to conform the terms of the trust with the intention of a settlor. The correction must not reform the trust in any material respect.

(c) Unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise, a power granted to a person to designate a recipient of an ownership interest in or power of appointment over trust property which is exercisable while the person is not serving as a trustee is a power of appointment and not a power of direction.

(UDTA 6) (a) Subject to section 30-4307, the terms of a trust may grant a power of direction to a trust director.

(b) Unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise:

(1) a trust director may exercise any further power appropriate to the exercise or nonexercise of a power of direction granted to the trust director under subsection (a) of this section; and

(2) trust directors with joint powers must act by majority decision.

(c) A power of direction includes only those powers granted by the terms of the trust and further powers pursuant to subdivision (b)(1) of this section must be appropriate to the exercise or nonexercise of such power of direction granted by the terms of the trust.

(UDTA 7) A trust director is subject to the same rules as a trustee in a like position and under similar circumstances in the exercise or nonexercise of a power of direction or further power under subdivision (b)(1) of section 30-4306 regarding:

(1) a payback provision in the terms of a trust necessary to comply with the medicaid reimbursement requirements of section 68-919; and

(2) a charitable interest in the trust, including notice regarding the interest to the Attorney General.

(UDTA 8) (a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, with respect to a power of direction or further power under subdivision (b)(1) of section 30-4306:

(1) a trust director has the same fiduciary duty and liability in the exercise or nonexercise of the power:

(A) if the power is held individually, as a sole trustee in a like position and under similar circumstances; or

(B) if the power is held jointly with a trustee or another trust director, as a cotrustee in a like position and under similar circumstances; and

(2) the terms of the trust may vary the director's duty or liability to the same extent the terms of the trust could vary the duty or liability of a trustee in a like position and under similar circumstances.

(b) Unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise, if a trust director is licensed, certified, or otherwise authorized or permitted by law other than the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act to provide health care in the ordinary course of the director's business or practice of a profession, to the extent the director acts in that capacity, the director has no duty or liability under the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act.

(c) The terms of a trust may impose a duty or liability on a trust director in addition to the duties and liabilities under this section.

(UDTA 9) (a) Subject to subsections (b) and (c) of this section, a directed trustee shall take reasonable action to comply with a trust director's exercise or nonexercise of a power of direction or further power under subdivision (b)(1) of section 30-4306, and the trustee is not liable for the action.

(b) A directed trustee must not comply with a trust director's exercise or nonexercise of a power of direction or further power under subdivision (b)(1) of section 30-4306 to the extent that by complying the trustee would engage in willful misconduct.

(c) A directed trustee must determine that the trust director's exercise of power of direction under subsection (a) of section 30-4306 or appropriation of further power under subsection (b) of section 30-4306 is granted by the terms of the trust pursuant to subsection (c) of section 30-4306.

(d) An exercise of a power of direction under which a trust director may release a trustee or another trust director from liability for breach of trust is not effective if:

(1) the breach involved the trustee's or other director's willful misconduct;

(2) the release was induced by improper conduct of the trustee or other director in procuring the release; or

(3) at the time of the release, the director did not know the material facts relating to the breach.

(e) A directed trustee that has reasonable doubt about its duty under this section may petition the court for instructions.

(f) The terms of a trust may impose a duty or liability on a directed trustee in addition to the duties and liabilities under this section.

(UDTA 10) (a) Subject to section 30-4311, a trustee shall provide information to a trust director to the extent the information is reasonably related both to:

(1) the powers or duties of the trustee; and

(2) the powers or duties of the director.

(b) Subject to section 30-4311, a trust director shall provide information to a trustee or another trust director to the extent the information is reasonably related both to:

(1) the powers or duties of the director; and

(2) the powers or duties of the trustee or other director.

(c) A trustee that acts in reliance on information provided by a trust director is not liable for a breach of trust to the extent the breach resulted from the reliance, unless by so acting the trustee engages in willful misconduct.

(d) A trust director that acts in reliance on information provided by a trustee or another trust director is not liable for a breach of trust to the extent the breach resulted from the reliance, unless by so acting the trust director engages in willful misconduct.

(UDTA 11) (a) Unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise:

(1) a trustee does not have a duty to:

(A) monitor a trust director; or

(B) inform or give advice to a settlor, beneficiary, trustee, or trust director concerning an instance in which the trustee might have acted differently than the director; and

(2) by taking an action described in subdivision (a)(1) of this section, a trustee does not assume the duty excluded by such subdivision.

(b) Unless the terms of a trust provide otherwise:

(1) a trust director does not have a duty to:

(A) monitor a trustee or another trust director; or

(B) inform or give advice to a settlor, beneficiary, trustee, or another trust director concerning an instance in which the director might have acted differently than a trustee or another trust director; and

(2) by taking an action described in subdivision (b)(1) of this section, a trust director does not assume the duty excluded by such subdivision.

(UDTA 12) The terms of a trust may relieve a cotrustee from duty and liability with respect to another cotrustee's exercise or nonexercise of a power of the other cotrustee to the same extent that in a directed trust a directed trustee is relieved from duty and liability with respect to a trust director's power of direction under sections 30-4309 to 30-4311.

(UDTA 13) (a) An action against a trust director for breach of trust must be commenced within the same limitation period as under section 30-3894 for an action for breach of trust against a trustee in a like position and under similar circumstances.

(b) A report or accounting has the same effect on the limitation period for an action against a trust director for breach of trust that the report or accounting would have under section 30-3894 in an action for breach of trust against a trustee in a like position and under similar circumstances.

(UDTA 14) In an action against a trust director for breach of trust, the director may assert the same defenses a trustee in a like position and under similar circumstances could assert in an action for breach of trust against the trustee.

(UDTA 15) (a) By accepting appointment as a trust director of a trust subject to the Nebraska Uniform Directed Trust Act, the director submits to personal jurisdiction of the courts of this state regarding any matter related to a power or duty of the director.

(b) This section does not preclude other methods of obtaining jurisdiction over a trust director.