Title 19, Descent, Distribution, and Trusts. [Enacted title]

(a) This chapter applies to a trust created before, on, or after [March 7, 2025], which: (1) Has its principal place of administration in the District, including a trust whose principal place of administration has been changed to the District; or (2) Provides by its trust instrum…

A trustee or other person that reasonably relies on the validity of a distribution of part or all of the property of a trust to another trust, or a modification of a trust, under this chapter, law of the District other than this chapter, or the law of another jurisdiction is not …

(a) For the purposes of this section, a notice period begins on the day notice is given under subsection (c) of this section and ends 59 days after the day notice is given. (b) Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, an authorized fiduciary may exercise the decanting power …

(a) Notice to a person with authority to represent and bind another person under a first-trust instrument or Chapter 13 of this Title has the same effect as notice given directly to the person represented. (b) Consent of or waiver by a person with authority to represent and bind …

(a) On application of an authorized fiduciary a person entitled to notice under § 19-1907(c), a beneficiary, or with respect to a charitable interest the Attorney General or other person that has standing to enforce the charitable interest, the court may: (1) Provide instructions…

An exercise of the decanting power must be made in a record signed by an authorized fiduciary. The signed record must, directly or by reference to the notice required by § 19-1907, identify the first trust and the second trust or trusts and state the property of the first trust b…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the term: (1) "Noncontingent right" means a right that is not subject to the exercise of discretion or the occurrence of a specified event that is not certain to occur. The term "noncontingent right" does not include a right held by a benefic…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the term "limited distributive discretion" means a discretionary power of distribution that is limited to an ascertainable standard or a reasonably definite standard. (b) An authorized fiduciary that has limited distributive discretion over t…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the term: (1) "Beneficiary with a disability" means a beneficiary of a first trust who the special-needs fiduciary believes may qualify for governmental benefits based on disability, whether or not the beneficiary currently receives those ben…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the term: (1) "Determinable charitable interest" means a charitable interest that is a right to a mandatory distribution currently, periodically, on the occurrence of a specified event, or after the passage of a specified time and which is un…

(a) An authorized fiduciary may not exercise the decanting power to the extent the first-trust instrument expressly prohibits exercise of: (1) The decanting power; or (2) A power granted by state law to the fiduciary to distribute part or all of the principal of the trust to anot…

(a) If a first-trust instrument specifies an authorized fiduciary's compensation, the fiduciary may not exercise the decanting power to increase the fiduciary's compensation above the specified compensation unless: (1) All qualified beneficiaries of the second trust consent to th…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a second-trust instrument may not relieve an authorized fiduciary from liability for breach of trust to a greater extent than the first-trust instrument. (b) A second-trust instrument may provide for indemnification of an authoriz…

(a) An authorized fiduciary may not exercise the decanting power to modify a provision in a first-trust instrument granting another person power to remove or replace the fiduciary unless: (1) The person holding the power consents to the modification in a signed record and the mod…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the term: (1) "Grantor trust" means a trust as to which a settlor of a first trust is considered the owner under 26 U.S.C. §§ 671 through 677 or 26 U.S.C. § 679. (2) "Internal Revenue Code" means the United States Internal Revenue Code of 198…

(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, a second trust may have a duration that is the same as or different from the duration of the first trust. (b) To the extent that property of a second trust is attributable to property of the first trust, the property of the second tr…

An authorized fiduciary may exercise the decanting power whether or not under the first trust's discretionary distribution standard the fiduciary would have made or could have been compelled to make a discretionary distribution of principal at the time of the exercise.

(a) If exercise of the decanting power would be effective under this chapter except that the second-trust instrument in part does not comply with this chapter, the exercise of the power is effective and the following rules apply with respect to the principal of the second trust a…

(a) For the purposes of this section, the term: (1) "Animal trust" means a trust or an interest in a trust created to provide for the care of one or more animals. (2) "Protector" means a person appointed in an animal trust to enforce the trust on behalf of the animal or, if no su…

A reference in Chapter 13 of this Title to a trust instrument or terms of the trust includes a second-trust instrument and the terms of the second trust.

(a) For the purposes of law of the District other than this chapter and subject to subsection (b) of this section, a settlor of a first trust is deemed to be the settlor of the second trust with respect to the portion of the principal of the first trust subject to the exercise of…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section, if exercise of the decanting power was intended to distribute all the principal of the first trust to one or more second trusts, later-discovered property belonging to the first trust and property paid to or acqu…

A debt, liability, or other obligation enforceable against property of a first trust is enforceable to the same extent against the property when held by the second trust after exercise of the decanting power.

In applying and construing this chapter, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.

This chapter modifies, limits, or supersedes the Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, approved June 30, 2000 (114 Stat. 464; 15 U.S.C. § 7001 et seq.), but does not modify, limit, or supersede section 101(c) of that act (15 U.S.C. § 7001(c)), or authorize el…