Comparison of Uniform Trust Code, DC Trust Code, Maryland Trust Act, and Virginia Trust Code, with Annotations
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Subtitle 5 of the MTA differs substantially from UTC Article 5. Much of the common law of Maryland regarding creditors’ rights is well established and follows closely the statement of the law as found in the Restatement (Second) of Trusts.
Article 5 of the UTC is primarily modeled on the precepts of the Restatement (Third) of the Law of Trusts and does not recognize the distinctions recognized by Maryland common law limiting the rights of creditors to reach discretionary trusts, support trusts, and spendthrift trusts. In particular, First National Bank v. Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 284 Md. 720, 399 A.2d 891 (1979), provides guidance on the creation and administration of discretionary and support trusts.
Under Maryland common law, it is well-settled that limited powers of appointment are not property and therefore are not subject to remedies for the benefit of the limited powerholder’s creditors. See, United State v. Baldwin, 283 Md. 586, 391 A.2d 844 (1978) and Mercantile Trust Co. v. Bergdorf & Goodman Co., 167 Md. 158, 173 A.2d 21 (1934). In order to explain and support the provisions of Subtitle 5 of the MTA, a number of definitions are included in MD §14.5-103 which are omitted from the UTC. Those definitions are “discretionary distribution provision,” “support provision,” “mandatory distribution provision,” “power of appointment,” “general power of appointment,” “power of withdrawal,” and “spendthrift provision.”
MD §§14.5-503 and §14.5-504 allow a settlor to retrain the transfer of a beneficiary’s interest regardless of whether the beneficiary has an interest in income, in principal or in both. Unless one of the exceptions applies, a creditor of the beneficiary is prohibited from attaching a protected interest and may only attempt to collect directly from the beneficiary after a distribution is made.
(a) Except as provided in §§ 14.5–505 and § 14.5–506(b) of this subtitle:
(1) A beneficial interest that is subject to a support provision may not be judicially foreclosed, attached by a creditor, or transferred by the beneficiary; and
(2) Trust property that is subject to a support provision is not subject to the enforcement of a judgment until income or principal or both is distributed directly to the beneficiary.
(b) (1) The use, occupancy, and enjoyment of a single parcel of residential real property, as designated by the trustee, and tangible personal property by a beneficiary whose interest is subject to a support provision may not be transferred by the beneficiary of the use, occupancy, or enjoyment.
(2) The use, occupancy, and enjoyment described in paragraph (1) of this subsection are not subject to the enforcement of a judgment against the beneficiary.
