Title 35, Fiduciaries And Trust Estates

(1) Chancery courts and other courts of record having probate jurisdiction:(1) To the exclusion of all other courts, have concurrent jurisdiction over proceedings in this state brought by a trustee or beneficiary concerning the administration of a trust; and(2) Have concurrent ju…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), venue for a judicial proceeding involving a trust is in the county of this state in which the trust's principal place of administration is or will be located and, if the trust is created by will and the estate is not yet closed,…

(a) If the trustee resigns, is removed, or upon the full or partial termination of the trust, a qualified beneficiary or successor trustee may petition the court to require the trustee transferring or distributing the trust to appear before the court for a final accounting. Howev…

(a) Notice to a person who may represent and bind another person under this chapter has the same effect as if notice were given directly to the other person. (b) The consent of a person who may represent and bind another person under this chapter is binding on the person represen…

(a) (1) To the extent there is no material conflict of interest between the holder of a power of appointment and the persons represented with respect to the particular question or dispute, the holder may represent and bind persons whose interests, as permissible appointees, taker…

(a) To the extent there is no material conflict of interest between the representative and the person represented or among those being represented with respect to a particular question or dispute:(1) A conservator of the property or guardian of the property may represent and bind…

Unless otherwise represented, a minor, incapacitated, or unborn individual, or a person whose identity or location is unknown and not reasonably ascertainable, may be represented by and bound by another having a substantially identical interest with respect to the particular ques…

(a) If the court determines that an interest is not represented under this chapter, or that the otherwise available representation might be inadequate, the court may appoint a representative to receive notice, give consent, and otherwise represent, bind, and act on behalf of a mi…

(1) A trust may be created by:(1) The transfer of property to another person as trustee during the settlor's lifetime or by will or other disposition taking effect upon the settlor's death;(2) The declaration by the owner of property that the owner holds identifiable property as …

(a) A trust is created only if:(1) The settlor has capacity to create a trust;(2) The settlor indicates an intention to create the trust;(3) The trust has a definite beneficiary or is:(A) A charitable trust;(B) A trust for the care of an animal, as provided in § 35-15-408; or(C) …

(1) A trust not created by will is validly created if its creation complies with the law of the jurisdiction in which the trust instrument was executed, or the law of the jurisdiction in which, at the time of creation:(1) The settlor was domiciled, had a place of abode, or was a …

A trust may be created only to the extent its purposes are lawful and possible to achieve. A trust and its terms must be for the benefit of its beneficiaries as the interests of such beneficiaries are defined under the terms of the trust.

(a) A charitable trust may be created for the relief of poverty, the advancement of education or religion, the promotion of health, governmental or municipal purposes, or other purposes the achievement of which is beneficial to the community. (b) If the terms of a charitable trus…

A trust is void to the extent its creation was induced by fraud, duress, or undue influence.

Except as required by a statute other than this chapter, a trust need not be evidenced by a trust instrument, but the creation of an oral trust and its terms may be established only by clear and convincing evidence.

(a) A trust may be created to provide for the care of an animal alive during the settlor's lifetime. The trust terminates upon the death of the animal or, if the trust was created to provide for the care of more than one (1) animal alive during the settlor's lifetime, upon the de…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in § 35-15-408 or by another statute, the following rules apply:(1) A trust may be created for a noncharitable purpose without a definite or definitely ascertainable beneficiary or for a noncharitable but otherwise valid purpose to be selected by …

(a) In addition to the methods of termination prescribed by §§ 35-15-411 — 35-15-414, a trust terminates to the extent the trust is revoked or expires pursuant to its terms, no purpose of the trust remains to be achieved, or the purposes of the trust have become unlawful or impos…

(a) During the settlor's lifetime, a noncharitable irrevocable trust may be modified or terminated by the trustee upon consent of all qualified beneficiaries, even if the modification or termination is inconsistent with a material purpose of the trust if the settlor does not obje…

(a) The court may modify the administrative or dispositive terms of a trust or terminate the trust if, because of circumstances not anticipated by the settlor, modification or termination will further the purposes of the trust. To the extent practicable, the modification must be …

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), if a particular charitable purpose becomes unlawful, impracticable, impossible to achieve, obsolete or ineffective:(1) The trust does not fail, in whole or in part;(2) The trust property does not revert to the settlor or the set…

(a) After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the trustee of a trust consisting of trust property having either a total value less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000) or for which the trustee's annual fee for administering the trust, as set forth in the trustee'…

The court may reform the terms of a trust, even if unambiguous, to conform the terms to the settlor's intention if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence that both the settlor's intent and the terms of the trust were affected by a mistake of fact or law, whether in express…

To achieve the settlor's tax objectives, the court may modify the terms of a trust in a manner that is not contrary to the settlor's probable intention. The court may provide that the modification has retroactive effect.

After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, a trustee may combine two (2) or more trusts into a single trust or divide a trust into two (2) or more separate trusts, if the result does not impair rights of any beneficiary or adversely affect the achievement of the purposes of the…

This part applies to a creditor's or assignee's claims and ability to reach mandatory, support and discretionary interests regardless of whether such interests are subject to a spendthrift provision. To the extent not otherwise prohibited by this part, the court may authorize a c…

(a) A spendthrift provision is valid only if it restrains both voluntary and involuntary transfer of a beneficiary's interest. (b) A term of a trust providing that the interest of a beneficiary is held subject to a “spendthrift trust,” or words of similar import, is sufficient to…

A spendthrift provision is unenforceable against a claim of this state to the extent a statute of this state so provides.

(a) A discretionary interest is neither a property interest nor an enforceable right; it is a mere expectancy. (b) Relative to a discretionary interest, whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision:(1) No creditor or assignee shall force or otherwise reach a distributi…

(a) Whether or not the terms of a trust contain a spendthrift provision, the following rules apply:(1) During the lifetime of the settlor, the property of a revocable trust is subject to claims of the settlor's creditors;(2) Except as provided in chapter 16 of this title regardin…

(a) Relative to a support interest, whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision:(1) Although a beneficiary of a support interest has enforceable rights under § 35-15-814, those rights do not raise the beneficiary's support interest to the level of a property interest;…

Trust property is not subject to personal obligations of the trustee, even if the trustee becomes insolvent or bankrupt.

(a) No creditor or assignee of a beneficiary shall have the power to reach an interest of a beneficiary or any other person who holds an unconditional or conditional removal or replacement power over a trustee or other fiduciary. Such power over a trustee or other fiduciary is pe…

(1) Regardless of whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision:(1) No beneficial interest, power of appointment, or reserved power in a trust shall be judicially foreclosed;(2) No creditor or assignee shall reach a power of appointment or a remainder interest at the tr…

(a) (a) As used in this section, “proceeds” means:(1) Property acquired by the trustee upon the sale, lease, license, exchange, or other disposition of property originally conveyed by a husband and wife as tenants by the entirety to a trustee or trustees;(2) Property collected by…

The capacity required to create, amend, revoke, or add property to a revocable trust, or to direct the actions of the trustee of a revocable trust, is the same as that required to make a will. To be effective as a post death disposition of property transferred during the transfer…

(a) Unless the terms of a trust expressly provide that the trust is irrevocable, the settlor may revoke or amend the trust. This subsection (a) does not apply to a trust created under an instrument executed before July 1, 2004. (b) If a revocable trust is created or funded by mor…

(a) While a trust is revocable and the settlor has capacity to revoke the trust, rights of the beneficiaries are subject to the control of, and the duties of the trustee are owed exclusively to, the settlor. (b) If a revocable trust has more than one (1) settlor, the duties of th…

(a) A person may commence a judicial proceeding to contest the validity of a trust that was revocable immediately preceding the settlor's death within the earlier of:(1) Two (2) years after the settlor's death; or(2) One hundred twenty (120) days after the trustee sent the person…

(a) (1) A revocable (living) trust that becomes irrevocable upon the death of its settlor may refer to a written statement or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically disposed of by the revocable trust, other than money, evidences of indeb…

(a) The settlor of a revocable trust may remove a trustee and appoint a successor trustee by giving written notice to the trustee being removed and to the successor trustee being appointed. (b) If there are two (2) or more settlors of the same revocable trust, then the removal an…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c), a person designated as trustee accepts the trusteeship:(1) By substantially complying with a method of acceptance provided in the terms of the trust; or(2) If the terms of the trust do not provide a method or the method provided…

(a) A trustee shall give bond to secure performance of the trustee's duties only if the court finds that a bond is needed to protect the interests of the beneficiaries or is required by the terms of the trust and the court has not dispensed with the requirement. (b) The court may…

(a) Cotrustees who are unable to reach a unanimous decision may act by majority decision. (b) If a vacancy occurs in a cotrusteeship, the remaining cotrustees may act for the trust. (c) A cotrustee must participate in the performance of a trustee's function unless the cotrustee i…

(a) A vacancy in a trusteeship occurs if:(1) A person designated as trustee rejects the trusteeship;(2) A person designated as trustee cannot be identified or does not exist;(3) A trustee resigns;(4) A trustee is disqualified or removed;(5) A trustee dies; or(6) A conservator is …

(a) A trustee may resign:(1) Upon at least thirty (30) days' notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the settlor, if living, and all cotrustees; or(2) With the approval of the court. (1) Upon at least thirty (30) days' notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the settlor, if living,…