§2130. Transfer of fiduciary accounts

A. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Chapter to the contrary, any two or more banks authorized to exercise fiduciary powers may enter into an agreement under which a bank domiciled in the state of Louisiana is substituted as fiduciary for each existing fiduciary account listed in the agreement. The agreement shall be filed with the commissioner of financial institutions for approval or other disposition within thirty days, and shall be accompanied by a fee to be determined by the commissioner by rule.

B. Following approval by the commissioner and not later than sixty days prior to the effective date of a substitution under this Section, the transferring bank shall send written notice of the substitution of fiduciary to each interested party for each fiduciary account listed in the agreement. For purposes of this Section, an interested party shall include only the following, each as may be appropriate to the respective fiduciary account:

(1) Each adult beneficiary.

(2) Each parent, tutor, or guardian of a minor beneficiary receiving or entitled to receive current distributions of income or principal.

(3) Each co-fiduciary.

(4) Each person who alone or acting in conjunction with others has the power to remove the transferring bank.

(5) Each surviving settlor.

(6) Each issuer of a security for which the transferring bank administers a fiduciary account.

(7) The plan sponsor of each employee benefit plan.

(8) The principal of each agency account.

(9) The curator of the person of each interdict under curatorship.

C. The notice shall be sent by United States mail to the person's current address as shown on the records of the transferring bank. If the transferring bank has no address on its records, the transferring bank shall make a reasonable attempt to ascertain the person's current address. The notice shall disclose the person's rights with respect to objecting to the transfer of the fiduciary account. Intentional failure to send the required notice renders the substitution of fiduciary ineffective, but an unintentional failure to send the required notice shall not impair the validity or effect of the substitution. If a substitution is determined to be ineffective because of a defect in the required notice, the actions taken by the substitute bank before the determination of the invalidity of the substitution shall be valid if the actions would have been valid if performed by the transferring bank.

D. Except as provided by this Subsection, the prospective designation in a will or other instrument of the transferring bank as fiduciary shall be considered designation of the substitute bank. However, the transferring bank and substitute bank may agree in writing to have the designation of the transferring bank as fiduciary of particular fiduciary accounts remain binding, or the creator of the fiduciary account may, by appropriate language in the document creating the fiduciary account, provide that the fiduciary account is not eligible for substitution under this Section.

E. Substitution under this Section shall be effective for all purposes on the effective date stated in the agreement between the two banks unless, not later than fifteen days prior to the effective date:

(1) An interested party entitled to notice under this Section who possesses the lawful authority to designate the trustee or successor trustee sends via certified mail a written objection to the proposed transfer of the particular account. Upon receipt of such objection, the transferring bank shall remove that account from the operation of the agreement. The transferring bank shall, upon the direction of such interested party, transfer the account to a qualified successor.

(2) Any other interested party entitled to notice under this Section files a written petition in a court of competent jurisdiction and venue seeking to have the substitution denied and serves the transferring bank and the substitute bank with a copy of the filed petition. The substitution may be denied if the court, on notice and hearing, determines that the substitution of fiduciary is a material detriment to the account or to the beneficiaries of the account.

F. Subsection E of this Section shall be cumulative to any applicable provisions for removal of a fiduciary or appointment of a successor fiduciary in any other statute or in the instrument creating the fiduciary relationship.

G. On the effective date of the substitution, the substitute bank shall succeed to all rights, title, and interest in all property that the transferring bank holds as fiduciary in the listed accounts, without the necessity of any instrument of transfer or conveyance, and the substitute bank shall, without the necessity of any judicial action or action by the creator of the fiduciary account, become fiduciary and perform all the duties and obligations and exercise all the powers and authority connected with or incidental to the fiduciary capacity in the same manner as if the substitute bank had been originally named or designated fiduciary. However, the transferring bank shall be responsible and liable for all actions taken by it while it acted as fiduciary.

H. A fiduciary account may be removed from the operation of the agreement by an amendment to the agreement filed with the commissioner prior to the effective date stated in the agreement.

Acts 1990, No. 191, §1; Acts 1991, No. 665, §1; Acts 2001, No. 532, §1, eff. June 21, 2001.