Keeping Trustee Minutes

Advocate David Dorgan, from Crill Canavan's trusts and foundations team, considers why keeping accurate minutes is best practice for trustees.

It is in the interests of trustees and beneficiaries that accurate minutes and records are kept.

Not only is it a statutory obligation, but it is best practice and common sense too. Keeping accurate minutes helps to prevent future mismanagement of trusts and protects present and future trustee from negligence claims.

Trustees have a statutory obligation "to keep accurate accounts and records" of their trusteeship. While it is arguable whether "records" extends to trustees' minutes, trustees should minute their deliberations and decisions as evidence that their decisions were lawfully taken in the proper discharge of their fiduciary duties.