Current as of November 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.
New Hampshire runs two accounting regimes side by side. The New Hampshire Trust Code, RSA Chapter 564-B, sets the reporting duties every trustee owes beneficiaries. Separately, RSA 564:19 requires trustees of testamentary trusts to file annual accounts with the probate court, a duty most Uniform Trust Code states do not impose. Which regime applies, or whether both do, is the first question for any New Hampshire account.
Who must provide an accounting in New Hampshire
Section 564-B:8-813 sets the reporting duty, with New Hampshire changes to the uniform text. The duty to keep beneficiaries informed of an irrevocable trust runs to qualified beneficiaries who have reached 21 years of age, and to those with the rights of a qualified beneficiary. A trustee who provides the notices and reports the section describes is presumed to have met the duty.
The notices are timed to the last settlor's death. Within sixty days after the later of accepting the trusteeship or the death of the last surviving settlor, the trustee notifies those beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee's name, address and telephone number. Within sixty days after learning that the trust exists, has been funded and the last surviving settlor has died, the trustee tells them of the trust's existence, their right to request a copy of the instrument, and their right to a trustee's report. Changes in the method or rate of compensation are reported within sixty days.
The report goes out at least annually and at termination, to the distributees and permissible distributees of income or principal unless the trust terms provide otherwise, to qualified beneficiaries who request it, and to a settlor who has lost capacity or that settlor's guardian or agent. A revocable trust whose settlor no longer has capacity to revoke owes a comparable report to its distributees. Beneficiaries may waive reports and later withdraw the waiver. These duties apply to trustees accepting, and trusts created or becoming irrevocable, on or after October 1, 2004.
The trust terms can go further. Section 564-B:1-105 lists the provisions a trust's terms cannot override, and the duty to inform and report is not on the list.
What a New Hampshire trust accounting must contain
The section 564-B:8-813 report covers the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation, a listing of the trust assets and, if feasible, their market values. When a trusteeship becomes vacant without a remaining cotrustee, the former trustee sends a report. A personal representative, conservator or guardian may send it for a trustee who has died or become incapacitated.
A probate court account under RSA 564:19 is an account of administration filed with the court, and a final account is filed together with a statement of the names and residences of the beneficiaries.
Income and principal allocation in New Hampshire
Allocation is governed by RSA Chapter 564-C, New Hampshire's Uniform Principal and Income Act. New Hampshire has not adopted the 2018 Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act. Chapter 564-C does include a trustee's power to adjust, a power to convert to a unitrust, and provisions for creating a total return unitrust.
Filing an accounting with the New Hampshire probate court
Under RSA 564:19, every trustee of a testamentary trust files an annual account of administration in the probate court unless the judge excuses it on petition. An excuse lasts no more than three years, extendable to five in aggregate with the attorney general's written approval where filing would be impractical and a financial hardship. The court may allow an annual account without publication.
Two exemptions matter most. A will admitted to probate on or after January 1, 2012 may expressly waive annual accountings. And any testamentary trust is exempt if all interested persons agree to waive the filing and the court finds the waiver does not violate a material purpose of the trust, which can be done by nonjudicial settlement agreement. An exempt trust remains subject to the beneficiary reporting duties of the Trust Code, and the court may still order a judicial accounting on motion or on its own.
When a New Hampshire accounting is contested
Section 564-B:10-1005 bars a proceeding for breach of trust more than one year after the beneficiary or a representative was sent a report that adequately disclosed the potential claim and stated the time allowed to sue. Otherwise the limit is three years from the first of the trustee's removal, resignation or death, the end of the beneficiary's interest, the end of the trust, or the sending of an adequate report.
New Hampshire adds a rule most states lack. The limitation periods are not tolled for any reason except a written agreement of the trustees and qualified beneficiaries, or a court order.
How T.E.A. Fiduciary helps
We prepare New Hampshire probate court accounts for testamentary trustees and section 564-B:8-813 reports for every trust, built to start the section 564-B:10-1005 period. We work alongside your attorney and your tax preparer; we do not prepare tax returns.
This page provides general information about New Hampshire fiduciary accounting requirements and is not legal or tax advice. Statutes and court rules change. Verify the current text before relying on any of it, and consult counsel on questions of legal interpretation.
More: the uniform framework · all state pages · our services
Primary source: RSA Chapter 564-B and RSA 564:19, New Hampshire General Court.
Written by Christina Gutman, C.P.A. — Founder and Principal of T.E.A. Fiduciary. Christina is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant by the State of California and has specialized exclusively in fiduciary accounting for over a decade, preparing trust, estate, and conservatorship accountings for law firms, professional fiduciaries, trust companies, family offices, and individual trustees nationwide. She has also served as a forensic consultant in contested accounting matters. More about Christina
