Chapter 44D, Chapter 44D

This chapter may be cited as the West Virginia Uniform Trust Code.

This chapter applies to express trusts, charitable or noncharitable, and trusts created pursuant to a statute, judgment, or decree that requires the trust to be administered in the manner of an express trust.

In this chapter: (1) "Action", with respect to an act of a trustee, includes a failure to act. (2) "Ascertainable standard" means a standard relating to an individual's health, education, support, or maintenance within the meaning of Section 2041(b)(1)(A) or 2514(c)(1) of the Int…

(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, a person has knowledge of a fact if the person: (1) Has actual knowledge of it; (2) Has received a notice or notification of it; or (3) From all the facts and circumstances known to the person at the time in question, has reason to k…

(a) Except as otherwise provided in the terms of the trust instrument, this chapter governs the duties and powers of a trustee, relations among trustees, and the rights and interests of a beneficiary. (b) The terms of a trust prevail over any provision of this chapter except: (1)…

The common law of trusts and principles of equity supplement this chapter, except to the extent modified by this chapter or another statute of this state.

The meaning and effect of the terms of a trust are determined by: (1) The law of the jurisdiction designated in the terms of the trust instrument, including terms which may provide for change of jurisdiction from time to time, unless the designation of that jurisdiction's law is …

(a) Without precluding other means for establishing a sufficient connection with the designated jurisdiction, terms of a trust designating the principal place of administration are valid and controlling if: (1) A trustee’s principal place of business is located in, or a trustee i…

(a) Notice to a person under this chapter or the sending of a document to a person under this chapter must be accomplished in a manner reasonably suitable under the circumstances and likely to result in receipt of the notice or document. Permissible methods of notice or for sendi…

(a) Whenever notice to qualified or current beneficiaries of a trust is required under this chapter, the trustee shall also give notice to any other beneficiary who has sent the trustee a request for notice. (b) A charitable organization expressly designated to receive distributi…

(a) For purposes of this section "interested persons" means persons whose consent would be required in order to achieve a binding settlement were the settlement to be approved by the court. (b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section, interested persons may…

The rules of construction that apply in this state to the interpretation of and disposition of property by will also apply as appropriate to the interpretation of the terms of a trust and the disposition of the trust property.

(a) A trustee of a trust has an insurable interest in the life of an individual insured under a life insurance policy that is owned by the trustee of the trust acting in a fiduciary capacity or that designates the trust itself as the owner if, on the date the policy is issued: (1…

(a) The court may intervene in the administration of a trust to the extent its jurisdiction is invoked by an interested person or as provided by law. (b) A trust is not subject to continuing judicial supervision unless ordered by the court. (c) A judicial proceeding involving a t…

(a) By accepting the trusteeship of a trust having its principal place of administration in this state or by moving the principal place of administration to this state, the trustee submits personally to the jurisdiction of the courts of this state regarding any matter involving t…

The court has exclusive jurisdiction of proceedings in this state brought by a trustee or beneficiary concerning the administration of a trust.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, 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 unless the proceeding is to recover land, determine ti…

(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…

To the extent there is no conflict of interest between the holder of a general testamentary 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, t…

To the extent there is no 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 or guardian of the protected person may represent and bind the estate that the…

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 person having a substantially identical interest with respect to the particula…

(a) If the court determines in a judicial proceeding 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, …

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

(a) Except as created by an order of the court, a trust is created only if: (1) The grantor has capacity to create a trust; (2) The grantor indicates an intention, in a trust instrument, to create the trust; (3) The trust has a definite beneficiary or is: (A) A charitable trust; …

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 grantor was domiciled, had a place of abode, or was a nat…

A trust may be created only to the extent its purposes are lawful, not contrary to public policy and possible to achieve. A trust and its terms must be for the benefit of its beneficiaries.

(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 trust…

A trust is void to the extent its creation was induced by fraud, duress or undue influence. As used in this section, "fraud", "duress" and "undue influence" have the same meanings for trust validity purposes as they have for purposes of determining the validity of a will.

Oral trusts are unenforceable in this state.

(a) A trust may be created to provide for the care of an animal alive during the grantor'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 animal alive during the grantor's lifetime, upon the death …

Except as otherwise provided in section four hundred eight of this article, or by the provisions of article five-a, chapter thirty-five of this code, or by another statute, the following rules apply: (1) A trust may be created for a noncharitable purpose without a definite or def…

(a) In addition to the methods of termination prescribed by sections four hundred eleven through four hundred fourteen, article four of this chapter, a trust terminates to the extent the trust is revoked or expires pursuant to its terms, no purpose of the trust remains to be achi…

(a) If, upon petition, the court finds that the grantor and all beneficiaries consent to the modification or termination of a noncharitable irrevocable trust, the court shall approve the modification or termination even if the modification or termination is inconsistent with a ma…

(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 grantor, 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) of this section, if a particular charitable purpose becomes unlawful, impracticable, impossible to achieve, or wasteful: (1) The charitable trust does not fail, in whole or in part; (2) The charitable trust property does not reve…

(a) After notice to the qualified beneficiaries, the trustee of a trust consisting of a noncharitable trust property having a total value less than $200,000 may terminate the trust, without the necessity of court approval, if the trustee concludes that the value of the trust prop…

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

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

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

To the extent a beneficiary's interest is not subject to a spendthrift provision, the court may authorize a creditor or assignee of the beneficiary to reach the beneficiary's interest in a trust by execution or other process against the present or future distributions to or for t…

(a) A spendthrift provision contained in a trust instrument is valid if it contains language substantially to the effect that it restrains both voluntary and involuntary transfers of a beneficiary's interest. (b) A term of a trust instrument providing that the interest of a benef…

(a) In this section, "child" includes any person for whom an order or judgment for child support has been entered in this or another state. (b) A spendthrift provision is unenforceable against: (1) A beneficiary's child, who has a judgment or court order against the beneficiary f…

(a) A grantor may transfer assets to a qualified self-settled spendthrift trust and retain in that trust a qualified interest, and, except as otherwise provided in this article, the provisions of section five hundred five of this article do not apply to such qualified interest. (…

As used in this article, unless the context requires a different meaning: (a) “Qualified trustee” means any person who is a natural person residing within the state or a legal entity authorized to engage in trust business within the state and who maintains or arranges for custody…

(a) A vacancy in the position of qualified trustee that occurs for any reason, whether or not there is then serving another trustee, shall be filled in the following order of priority: (1) By a person eligible to be a qualified trustee and who is designated pursuant to the terms …

(a) In this section, "child" includes any person for whom an order or judgment for child support has been entered in this or another state. (b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section, whether or not a trust instrument contains a spendthrift provision, a cr…

(a) Whether or not the terms of a trust instrument contain a spendthrift provision, the following rules apply: (1) During the lifetime of the grantor, the property of a revocable trust is subject to claims of the grantor’s creditors. (2) During the lifetime of the grantor, with r…

(a) In this section, "mandatory distribution" means a distribution of income or principal which the trustee is required to make to a beneficiary under the terms of the trust instrument, including a distribution upon termination of the trust. The term does not include a distributi…

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

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.