See also Discretionary Powers and General Rules for Trustees.

A trustee, without court approval, may exercise the powers contained in the terms of the trust.

Also, unless limited by the trust, all powers over the trust property which an unmarried competent owner has over individually owned property, any other powers appropriate to achieve the proper investment, management, distribution of the trust property and any other powers conferred by law.

All powers are subject to fiduciary duties of the trustee.

In any will or trust, the will or trust can contain a provision that incorporates powers of a trustee with, for example, language similar to the following: “There is incorporated in this will or trust all powers specified in Mississippi Code 91-9-101, et seq. for the Trustee”  If you incorporate the powers of 91-9-101 by reference, then any powers you do not want included must be rxpressly excluded by the terms of the will or trust.

If you do not want all of these powers incorporated into the will or trust, or exclude some, do not add such language and specifically indude a provision such as “I do not incorporate into this will or trust any of the powers in 91-9-101 et seq. for the trustee and expressly exclude same, except as otherwise provided in this will or trust.”

The powers specified in 91-9-101 are the following:

(1) Collect trust property and accept or reject additions to the trust property from a settlor or any other person;

(2) Acquire or sell property, for cash or on credit, at public or private sale;

(3) Exchange, partition, or otherwise change the character of trust property;

(4) Deposit trust money in an account in a regulated financial-service institution;

(5) Borrow money, with or without security, and mortgage or pledge trust property for a period within or extending beyond the duration of the trust;

(6) With respect to an interest in a proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, business trust, corporation, or other form of business or enterprise, continue the business or other enterprise and take any action that may be taken by shareholders, members, or property owners, including merging, dissolving, or otherwise changing the form of business organization or contributing additional capital;

(7) With respect to stocks or other securities, exercise the rights of an absolute owner, including the right to:

(A) Vote, or give proxies to vote, with or without power of substitution, or enter into or continue a voting trust agreement;
(B) Hold a security in the name of a nominee or in other form without disclosure of the trust so that title may pass by delivery;
(C) Pay calls, assessments, and other sums chargeable or accruing against the securities, and sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights; and
(D) Deposit the securities with a depository or other regulated financial-service institution;

(8) With respect to an interest in real property, construct or make ordinary or extraordinary repairs to, alterations to, or improvements in, buildings or other structures, demolish improvements, raze existing or erect new party walls or buildings, subdivide or develop land, dedicate land to public use or grant public or private easements, and make or vacate plats and adjust boundaries;

(9) Enter into a lease for any purpose as lessor or lessee, including a lease or other arrangement for exploration and removal of natural resources, with or without the option to purchase or renew, for a period within or extending beyond the duration of the trust;

(10) Grant an option involving a sale, lease, or other disposition of trust property or acquire an option for the acquisition of property, including an option exercisable beyond the duration of the trust, and exercise an option so acquired;

(11) Insure the property of the trust against damage or loss and insure the trustee, the trustee’s agents, and beneficiaries against liability arising from the administration of the trust;

(12) Abandon or decline to administer property of no value or of insufficient value to justify its collection or continued administration;

(13) With respect to possible liability for violation of environmental law:

(A) Inspect or investigate property the trustee holds or has been asked to hold, or property owned or operated by an organization in which the trustee holds or has been asked to hold an interest, for the purpose of determining the application of environmental law with respect to the property;
(B) Take action to prevent, abate, or otherwise remedy any actual or potential violation of any environmental law affecting property held directly or indirectly by the trustee, whether taken before or after the assertion of a claim or the initiation of governmental enforcement;
(C) Decline to accept property into trust or disclaim any power with respect to property that is or may be burdened with liability for violation of environmental law;
(D) Compromise claims against the trust which may be asserted for an alleged violation of environmental law; and

(E) Pay the expense of any inspection, review, abatement, or remedial action to comply with environmental law;

(14) Pay or contest any claim, settle a claim by or against the trust, and release, in whole or in part, a claim belonging to the trust;

(15) Pay taxes, assessments, compensation of the trustee and of employees and agents of the trust, and other expenses incurred in the administration of the trust;

(16) Exercise elections with respect to federal, state, and local taxes, including allocating capital gains to distributable net income;

(17) Select a mode of payment under any employee benefit or retirement plan, annuity, or life insurance payable to the trustee, exercise rights thereunder, including exercise of the right to indemnification for expenses and against liabilities, and take appropriate action to collect the proceeds;

(18) Make loans out of trust property, including loans to a beneficiary on terms and conditions the trustee considers to be fair and reasonable under the circumstances, where the trustee has a lien on future distributions for repayment of those loans;

(19) Pledge trust property to guarantee loans made by others to the beneficiary;

(20) Appoint a trustee to act in another jurisdiction with respect to trust property located in the other jurisdiction, confer upon the appointed trustee all of the powers and duties of the appointing trustee, require that the appointed trustee furnish security, and remove any trustee so appointed;

(21) Pay an amount distributable to a beneficiary who is under a legal disability or who the trustee reasonably believes is incapacitated, by paying it directly to the beneficiary or applying it for the beneficiary’s benefit, or by:

(A) Paying it to the conservator or guardian of the beneficiary’s estate or, if there is no conservator or guardian of the beneficiary’s estate, to the conservator or guardian of the beneficiary;
(B) Paying it to the beneficiary’s custodian under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, and, for that purpose, creating a custodianship or custodial trust;
(C) If the trustee does not know of a conservator, guardian, custodian, or custodial trustee, paying it to an adult relative or other person having legal or physical care or custody of the beneficiary, to be expended on the beneficiary’s behalf; or
(D) Managing it as a separate fund on the beneficiary’s behalf, subject to the beneficiary’s continuing right to withdraw the distribution;

(22) On distribution of trust property or the division or termination of a trust, make distributions in divided or undivided interests, allocate particular assets in proportionate or disproportionate shares, value the trust property for those purposes, and adjust for resulting differences in valuation and basis for income tax purposes;

(23) Resolve a dispute concerning the interpretation of the trust or its administration by mediation, arbitration, or other procedure for alternative dispute resolution;

(24) Prosecute or defend an action, claim, or judicial proceeding in any jurisdiction to protect trust property and the trustee in the performance of the trustee’s duties;

(25) Sign and deliver contracts and other instruments that are useful to achieve or facilitate the exercise of the trustee’s powers;

(26) On termination of the trust, exercise the powers appropriate to windup the administration of the trust and distribute the trust property to the persons entitled to it;

(27) Employ persons, including attorneys, auditors, investment advisors or agents, even if they are associated with the trustee, to advise or assist the trustee in the performance of his administrative duties; to act without independent investigation upon their recommendations; and instead of acting personally, to employ one or more agents to perform any act of administration, whether or not discretionary; and

(28)
(A) A trustee may insure the life of any person in which the trustee of the trust has an insurable interest as set forth in Section 83-5-251.
(B) A trustee may retain any life insurance policy contributed to a trust by a settlor, or purchased by the trustee upon the request of the settlor, as an asset of the trust without regard to any lack of diversification caused thereby and without regard to the terms and conditions of the life insurance policy. The trustee shall not be liable for lack of diversification to any beneficiary of a trust for the trustee’s retention of the life insurance policy.
(C) With respect to a life insurance policy owned by the trust a trustee may:

(i) Borrow funds from any party, including an insurance company, for the purpose of paying premiums on any policy of insurance owned by the trust and enter into a “split dollar” or other similar arrangement;
(ii) Collaterally assign any policy to a creditor of the trust;
(iii) Exercise any and all rights under any life insurance policy, including the power to pay, forego or adjust the amount of any premium payments, adjust the type and amount of death benefit, receive or apply dividends to premiums or purchase additional insurance, and allocate policy values among any subaccounts available under any variable or similar policy; and
(iv) With the consent of the insured, to sell any policy to a third party in a life settlement or viatical settlement transaction.