Sec. 13.36.175. Action on contract against trustee in representative capacity.

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A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

(a)When a trustee makes a contract that is within the trustee's powers as trustee or when a predecessor trustee has made a contract within the predecessor trustee's powers as trustee and a cause of action arises on the contract, the party in whose favor the cause of action has accrued may collect the judgment by execution on the trust property.

(b)In an action under this section, the plaintiff is not required to prove that the trustee could have been reimbursed from the trust fund if the trustee had paid the plaintiff's claim.

(c)A beneficiary or, in the case of a charitable trust, the attorney general and a corporation that is a beneficiary or agent in the performance of the charitable trust, may intervene in an action under this section and contest the right of the plaintiff to recover.

(d)A judgment may not be rendered in favor of the plaintiff in an action under this section unless the plaintiff proves that, within 30 days after the beginning of the action or within another period set by the court and more than 30 days before obtaining the judgment, the plaintiff has notified each of the beneficiaries who is known to the trustee and who then has a present interest in the existence and nature of the action, or, in the case of a charitable trust, the attorney general of this state and a corporation that is a beneficiary or agent in the performance of the charitable trust. The notice shall be given by mailing copies of the notice with postage prepaid to the beneficiaries at their last known addresses. The trustee shall furnish the plaintiff with a list of names and addresses of the beneficiaries within 10 days after the plaintiff makes a written demand for the list. Notification of the persons on the list constitutes compliance with the duty placed on the plaintiff by this section.

(e)The plaintiff in an action under this section may also hold the trustee who made the contract personally liable on the contract if the contract does not exclude the trustee's personal liability. In a contract action under this section, the addition of the word “trustee” or the words “as trustee” after the signature of a trustee to a contract creates a presumption, which may only be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence otherwise, of an intent to exclude the trustee from personal liability, and, unless the presumption is rebutted, the trustee is not personally liable under the contract.