British Columbia is looking to develop a new, modern law to govern the role of trustees, and it launched a consultation on the issue Wednesday.
The provincial government says it is seeking input on recommendations that could form the basis of a new Trustee Act. The new legislation it envisions would “provide an updated set of comprehensive rules governing the duties and powers of trustees, the administration of trusts and powers of the court to intervene in a trust.”
Such a law would affect a variety of critical areas that involve the financial industry, including the administration of wills and estates, investing, and pension fund management, among numerous others.
The government says that the new act would be based on the Uniform Trustee Act, which was developed by the Uniform Law Conference of Canada (ULCC) in 2012 as a reformed uniform statute for use in all common-law jurisdictions in Canada (which excludes Québec).
Comments on both the model act, and a report from the B.C. Law Institute that was published in 2004 on modernizing trustee law in the province, are due by July 31. Following the consultation, Ministry of Justice staff will begin drafting recommendations for proposed new legislation, it notes.