Agreement by distributees to alter interests, shares or amounts to which they are otherwise entitled under terms of will: Requirements; exceptions; personal representative to abide by terms. Subject to the rights of creditors and taxing authorities, distributees may agree among themselves to alter the interests, shares or amounts to which they are entitled under the terms of the will of the decedent, or under the laws of intestacy, in any way that they provide in a written agreement executed by all who are affected by its provisions. The personal representative shall abide by the terms of the agreement subject to his obligation to administer the estate for the benefit of creditors, to pay all taxes and costs of administration, and to carry out the responsibilities of the office for the benefit of any distributees of the decedent who are not parties. Personal representatives of the estate of decedents are not required to oversee the performance of trusts if the trustee thereof is another person who is willing to accept the trust. Accordingly, trustees of a testamentary trust are distributees for the purposes of this section. This section does not relieve trustees of any duties owed to beneficiaries of trusts.
Last modified: February 25, 2006