27 Power To Appoint New Trustees

27 (1) If a trustee, either original or substituted and whether appointed by any court or otherwise, is dead, remains out of British Columbia for more than 12 months, wishes to be discharged from all or any of the trusts or powers reposed in or conferred on the trustee, refuses or is unfit to act in them, or is incapable of acting in them, then the person nominated for the purpose of appointing new trustees by any instrument creating the trust, or if there is no such person or no such person able and willing to act, then the surviving or continuing trustees for the time being, or the personal representatives of the last surviving or continuing trustee, may by writing appoint another person or persons to be a trustee or trustees in the place of the trustee who is dead, remains out of British Columbia, wishes to be discharged, refuses or is unfit or incapable.

• (2) On the appointment of a new trustee for all or part of trust property,

• (a) the number of trustees may be increased,
• (b) a separate set of trustees may be appointed for a part of the trust property held on trusts distinct from those relating to any other part of the trust property, even though no new trustees are to be appointed for other parts of the trust property, and an existing trustee may be appointed or remain one of the separate set of trustees, or if only one trustee was originally appointed, then one separate trustee may be so appointed for the part of the trust property held on trusts distinct from those relating to any other part of the trust property,
• (c) it is not obligatory to appoint more than one new trustee if only one trustee was originally appointed, or to fill up the original number of trustees if more than 2 trustees were originally appointed but, except in a case in which only one trustee was originally appointed, a trustee must not be discharged under this section from the trustee’s trust unless there will be at least 2 trustees to perform the trust, and
• (d) the assurances or things required for vesting the trust property or any part of it jointly in the persons who are the trustees must be executed or done.

• (3) A new trustee appointed under this section, as well before as after all the trust property becomes by law, by assurance or otherwise vested in the trustee, has the same powers, authorities and discretions, and may in all respects act as if the trustee had been originally appointed a trustee by any instrument creating the trust.
• (4) The provisions of this section relating to

• (a) a trustee who is dead include the case of a person who is nominated a trustee in a will but who dies before the will-maker, and
• (b) a continuing trustee include a refusing or retiring trustee, if willing to act in the execution of the provisions of this section.

• (5) This section applies only if and as far as a contrary intention is not expressed in any instrument creating the trust, and has effect subject to the terms of that instrument.

1979-414-27; 1999-6-26, effective September 10, 1999 (B.C. Reg. 287/99); 2009-13-195, effective March 31, 2014 (B.C. Reg. 148/2013); 2023-10-1123.