§ 36C-2-209.  Qualification and accounting of trustee of a testamentary trust.

(a) For any testamentary trust created under a will of a decedent executed before January 1, 2004, the trustee shall first qualify under the laws applicable to executors, and shall file in the office of the clerk of superior court of the county where the will is probated inventories of the assets that come into the trustee's hands and annual and final accounts of the trust that are the same as required of executors and administrators. The power of the clerk of superior court to enforce the filing and the clerk's duties to audit and approve the trustee's inventories and accounts is the same as the clerk's powers and duties with respect to the inventories and accounts of executors and administrators. This subsection shall not apply to the extent that the will makes a different provision.

(b) For any testamentary trust created under a will of a decedent executed on or after January 1, 2004, that directs the trustee to account to the clerk of superior court, the trustee shall first qualify under the laws applicable to executors and shall file in the office of the clerk of superior court of the county where the will is probated inventories of the assets that come into the trustee's hands and annual and final accounts of the trust that are the same as are required of executors and administrators. The power of the clerk of superior court to enforce the filing and the clerk's duties to audit and approve the trustee's inventories and accounts is the same as the clerk's powers and duties with respect to the inventories and accounts of executors and administrators. No trustee, including a trustee appointed by the clerk of superior court, is required to account to the clerk of superior court unless the will directs that the trustee is required to account to the clerk of superior court or unless otherwise required by law.

(c) The Administrative Office of the Courts may adopt rules regulating the registration or indexing of testamentary trusts. (1907, c. 804; C.S., s. 51; 1961, c. 519; 1965, c. 1176, s. 1; 1973, c. 1329, s. 4; 1977, c. 502, s. 2; 1985, c. 377, s. 1, 2; 2003-261, s. 7(j); 2005-192, s. 2.)