(a) A beneficial owner may bring an action in the Court of Chancery in the right of a statutory trust to recover a judgment in its favor if persons with authority to do so have refused to bring the action or if an effort to cause those persons to bring the action is not likely to succeed.
(b) In a derivative action, the plaintiff must be a beneficial owner at the time of bringing the action and:
(1) At the time of the transaction of which the plaintiff complains; or
(2) Plaintiff's status as a beneficial owner had devolved upon plaintiff by operation of law or pursuant to the terms of the governing instrument of the statutory trust from a person who was a beneficial owner at the time of the transaction.
(c) In a derivative action, the complaint shall set forth with particularity the effort, if any, of the plaintiff to secure initiation of the action by the persons with authority to do so, or the reasons for not making the effort.
(d) If a derivative action is successful, in whole or in part, or if anything is received by a statutory trust as a result of a judgment, compromise or settlement of any such action, the Court may award the plaintiff reasonable expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees. If anything is so received by the plaintiff, the Court shall make such award of plaintiff's expenses payable out of those proceeds and direct plaintiff to remit to the statutory trust the remainder thereof, and if those proceeds are insufficient to reimburse plaintiff's reasonable expenses, the Court may direct that any such award of plaintiff's expenses or a portion thereof be paid by the statutory trust.
(e) A beneficial owner's right to bring a derivative action may be subject to such additional standards and restrictions, if any, as are set forth in the governing instrument of the statutory trust, including, without limitation, the requirement that beneficial owners owning a specified beneficial interest in the statutory trust join in the bringing of the derivative action.
Structure Delaware Code
Title 12 - Decedents' Estates and Fiduciary Relations
Chapter 38. TREATMENT OF DELAWARE STATUTORY TRUSTS
Subchapter I. Domestic Statutory Trusts
§ 3802. Contributions by beneficial owners.
§ 3803. Liability of beneficial owners and trustees.
§ 3805. Rights of beneficial owners and trustees in trust property.
§ 3806. Management of statutory trust.
§ 3807. Trustee in State; registered agent [Effective until Aug. 1, 2023].
§ 3807. Trustee in State; registered agent [Effective Aug. 1, 2023].
§ 3808. Existence of statutory trust.
§ 3809. Applicability of trust law.
§ 3810. Certificate of trust; amendment; restatement; cancellation.
§ 3812. Filing of certificate.
§ 3813. Fees [Effective until Aug. 1, 2023].
§ 3813. Fees [Effective Aug. 1, 2023].
§ 3814. Use of names regulated.
§ 3815. Merger and consolidation.
§ 3819. Access to and confidentiality of information; records.
§ 3820. Conversion of other business entities to a statutory trust.
§ 3821. Conversion of a statutory trust.
§ 3822. Domestication of non-United States entities.
§ 3823. Transfer or continuance of domestic statutory trusts.
§ 3824. Judicial cancellation of certificate of trust; proceedings.
§ 3825. Division of a statutory trust.
§ 3826. Document form, signature and delivery.
§ 3828. Construction and application of chapter and governing instrument.