(703) Cotrustees
N.D. Cent. Code § 59-15-03
in effect59-15-03. (703) Cotrustees
1. Cotrustees who are unable to reach a unanimous decision may act by majority
decision.
2. If a vacancy occurs in a cotrusteeship, the remaining cotrustees may act for the trust.
3. A cotrustee must participate in the performance of a trustee's function unless the
cotrustee is unavailable to perform the function because of absence, illness,
disqualification under other law, or other temporary incapacity or the cotrustee has
properly delegated the performance of the function to another trustee.
4. If a cotrustee is unavailable to perform duties because of absence, illness,
disqualification under other law, or other temporary incapacity, and prompt action is
necessary to achieve the purposes of the trust or to avoid injury to the trust property,
the remaining cotrustee or a majority of the remaining cotrustees may act for the trust.
5. A trustee may delegate to a cotrustee the performance of any function other than a
function that the terms of the trust expressly require to be performed by the trustees
jointly. Unless a delegation was irrevocable, a trustee may revoke a delegation
previously made.
6. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, a trustee who does not join in an action
of another trustee is not liable for the action.
7. Each trustee shall exercise reasonable care to prevent a cotrustee from committing a
serious breach of trust and compel a cotrustee to redress a serious breach of trust.
8. A dissenting trustee who joins in an action at the direction of the majority of the
trustees and who notified any cotrustee of the dissent at or before the time of the
action is not liable for the action unless the action is a serious breach of trust.
Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t59c15.pdf#nameddest=59-15-03Fetched: 10/16/2026