Uniform Trust Code (Portfolio 864)

Description

Bloomberg Tax Portfolio, Uniform Trust Code, No. 864, describes the Uniform Trust Code (UTC) as promulgated by the Uniform Law Commission (formerly known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL)). As of April 2014, 28 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the UTC, and many of the remaining states have a bill pending or are studying it for future introduction.

The UTC is the first major attempt to collect, unify and codify the law of trusts. It borrows from the comprehensive trust statutes of Georgia, Indiana, Texas and Washington, and was patterned initially after the trust laws of California. The UTC is comprised largely of a series of default rules that apply only when the trust document is silent. It nevertheless has a number of innovative provisions, including certain mandatory rules that may not be overridden by the settlor, new rules providing for virtual representation of unborn and unascertained beneficiaries, the concept of qualified beneficiaries, new and more flexible rules for trust modification and termination, and a section of special rules for revocable trusts.

This Portfolio discusses and analyzes the UTC and the significant differences among the UTC, the common law of trusts and the modifications created by the enacting jurisdictions. This Portfolio discusses only the statutes of the jurisdictions that had adopted the UTC by November 2013. Subsequent updates may provide later adoptions.

Quotations in the Portfolio from the UTC and its official Notes and Comments are with the permission of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. ©2010 by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. Reproduced with its permission. All rights reserved.

This Portfolio may be cited as Cohen, 864 T.M., Uniform Trust Code.

Table of Contents

I. General Overview
II. General Provisions and Definitions – Article 1
III. Judicial Proceedings – Article 2
IV. Representation – Article 3
V. Creation, Validity, Modification, and Termination of Trusts – Article 4
VI. Creditor’s Claims; Spendthrift and Discretionary Trusts – Article 5
VII. Revocable Trusts – Article 6
VIII. Office of Trustee – Article 7
IX. Duties and Powers of Trustee – Article 8
X. Prudent Investor Act – Article 9
XI. Liability of Trustees and Rights of Persons Dealing with Trustees – Article 10
XII. Miscellaneous Provisions – Article 11