Chapter 55 - § 55.3 • ACCOUNTING

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 55.3 • ACCOUNTING

Fiduciaries, including personal representatives,² trustees,³ agents,⁴ and conservators,⁵ are all subject to a duty to account, both at common law and statutorily. The right to receive an accounting is crucial in terms of the ability to seek relief against a fiduciary for misconduct. Without an accounting of a fiduciary's actions, it can be difficult, if not entirely impossible, to determine the nature and extent of any possible wrongdoing.

While failure to account can be the basis for a breach of fiduciary duty claim, a request for an accounting can also be a form of equitable and/or statutory relief sought from a court. C.R.S. §§ 15-12-1001(1), 15-14-414(1), and 15-5-1001(2)(d). In some situations, the party requesting the accounting is only seeking to obtain more information, based on the jurisdiction of the courts in probate over fiduciaries. Such might be the case if the party does not have a clear right to the information contained in the accounting, or if court action is necessary to establish that right. This situation might also arise in cases where a party who does have a clear right to the information believes that complete information has not previously been provided.

In other cases, a party may seek to obtain an accounting based on concerns over fiduciary misconduct. In this regard, a preliminary request to the court that the fiduciary produce an accounting may precede, or be included as part of, an action against the fiduciary for misconduct. In this situation, the...