Question:
First Virginia Bank of Tidewater was the trustee of a testamentary marital trust. In the course of the bank's service as trustee, it invested $40,000 in real estate investment trusts (REIT). The investment became worthless. The beneficiaries of the trust brought suit, complaining that the bank had violated the Virginia statutory "prudent man rule," which guided trustees in careful investment of trust assets. The bank defended, alleging the settler had granted the bank broad discretion, obviating the "prudent man rule." Language in the will authorized real estate investments and to hold or sell investments "... without liability on the part of any fiduciary for depreciation in the value...." Can a settler supersede a statutory standard for a trustee? Did the testator settler do so in this case?