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Comparison of Uniform Trust Code, DC Trust Code, Maryland Trust Act, and Virginia Trust Code, with Annotations

  • Preamble
  • Article 1
  • Article 2
  • Article 3
  • Article 4
  • Article 5
  • Article 6
  • Article 7
  • Article 8
  • UPIA-UTC Article 9
  • Article 10
  • Article 11
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A

UTC §108(b) provides: A trustee is under a continuing duty to administer the trust at a place appropriate to its purposes, it administration, and the interest of the beneficiaries. This provision is included in the DC UTC and the MTA, but not in the VA UTC. This provision has prompted concern that a trustee might be held liable for failing to determine the best jurisdiction in the United States, and possibly elsewhere, that is the best place to administer the trust.

UTC §108(c) provides that the trustee may transfer the trust’s principal place of administration to another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the U.S. without precluding the right of the court to order, approve, or disapprove such a transfer. VA §64.2-706(B) allows the trustee to transfer the principal place of administration of an inter vivos trust, but not a testamentary trust. VA §64.2-706(F) expressly provides that the court, for good cause shown, may transfer the principal place of administration of a testamentary trust to another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the U.S. upon such conditions, if any, as it may deem appropriate. The UTC, the MTA, and the DC UTC do not differentiate between inter vivos and testamentary trusts in connection with the transfer of a trust’s principal place of administration.

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UTC

§ 108. Principal place of administration.

(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 is a resident of the designated jurisdiction; or
(2) all or part of the administration occurs in the designated jurisdiction.
(b) A trustee is under a continuing duty to administer the trust at a place appropriate to its purposes, its administration, and the interests of the beneficiaries.
(c) Without precluding the right of the court to order, approve, or disapprove a transfer, the trustee, in furtherance of the duty prescribed by subsection (b), may transfer the trust’s principal place of administration to another State or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States.
(d) The trustee shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of a proposed transfer of a trust’s principal place of administration not less than 60 days before initiating the transfer. The notice of proposed transfer must include:
(1) the name of the jurisdiction to which the principal place of administration is to be transferred;
(2) the address and telephone number at the new location at which the trustee can be contacted;
(3) an explanation of the reasons for the proposed transfer;
(4) the date on which the proposed transfer is anticipated to occur; and
(5) the date, not less than 60 days after the giving of the notice, by which the qualified beneficiary must notify the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer.
(e) The authority of a trustee under this section to transfer a trust’s principal place of administration terminates if a qualified beneficiary notifies the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer on or before the date specified in the notice.
(f) In connection with a transfer of the trust’s principal place of administration, the trustee may transfer some or all of the trust property to a successor trustee designated in the terms of the trust or appointed pursuant to Section 704.

DC

§ 19-1301.08. Principal place of administration.

(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 is a resident of the designated jurisdiction; or
(2) All or part of the administration occurs in the designated jurisdiction.
(b) A trustee is under a continuing duty to administer the trust at a place appropriate to its purposes, its administration, and the interests of the beneficiaries.
(c) Without precluding the right of the court to order, approve, or disapprove a transfer, the trustee, in furtherance of the duty prescribed by subsection (b) of this section, may transfer the trust's principal place of administration to another State or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States.
(d) The trustee shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of a proposed transfer of a trust's principal place of administration not less than 60 days before initiating the transfer. The notice of proposed transfer must include:
(1) The name of the jurisdiction to which the principal place of administration is to be transferred;
(2) The address and telephone number at the new location at which the trustee can be contacted;
(3) An explanation of the reasons for the proposed transfer;
(4) The date on which the proposed transfer is anticipated to occur; and
(5) The date, not less than 60 days after the giving of the notice, by which the qualified beneficiary must notify the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer.
(e) The authority of a trustee under this section to transfer a trust's principal place of administration terminates if a qualified beneficiary notifies the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer on or before the date specified in the notice.
(f) In connection with a transfer of the trust's principal place of administration, the trustee may transfer some or all of the trust property to a successor trustee designated in the terms of the trust or appointed pursuant to section 19-1307.04.

MD

§ 14.5–108. Principal place of administration.

(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) The principal place of business of a trustee is located in or a trustee is a resident of the designated jurisdiction; or
(2) All or part of the administration of the trust occurs in the designated jurisdiction.
(b) A trustee is under a continuing duty to administer the trust at a place appropriate to its purposes, its administration, and the interests of the beneficiary.
(c) Without precluding the right of the court to order, approve, or disapprove a transfer, the trustee, in furtherance of the duty under subsection (b) of this section, may transfer the principal place of administration of the trust to another state or a jurisdiction outside the United States.
(d) (1) the trustee shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of a proposed transfer of a trust’s principal place of administration not less than 60 days before initiating the transfer.
(2) The notice of proposed transfer under paragraph (1) of this subsection must include:
(i) The name of the jurisdiction to which the principal place of administration is to be transferred;
(ii) The address and telephone number at the new location at which the trustee can be contacted;
(iii) An explanation of the reasons for the proposed transfer;
(iv) The date on which the proposed transfer is anticipated to occur; and (v) The date, not less than 60 days after the giving of the notice, by which the qualified beneficiary must notify the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer.
(e) The authority of a trustee under this section to transfer a trust’s principal place of administration terminates if a qualified beneficiary notifies the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer on or before the date specified in the notice.
[MISSING UTC(f)]

VA

§ 64.2-706. Principal place of administration

A

A. Without precluding other means for establishing a sufficient connection with the designated jurisdiction, terms of an inter vivos 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 is a resident of the designated jurisdiction; or
2. All or part of the administration occurs in the designated jurisdiction.
[VA(B) BELOW COMBINES UTC(b) AND (c), BUT IS MISSING "A TRUSTEE IS UNDER A CONTINUING DUTY TO ADMINISTER THE TRUST AT A PLACE"]
B. Without precluding the right of the court to order, approve, or disapprove a transfer, the trustee of an inter vivos trust may transfer the trust's principal place of administration to another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States that is appropriate to the trust's purposes, its administration, and the interests of the beneficiaries.
C. When the proposed transfer of a trust's principal place of administration is to another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States, the trustee shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of the proposed transfer not less than 60 days before initiating the transfer. A corporate trustee that maintains a place of business in the Commonwealth where one or more trust officers are available on a regular basis for personal contact with trust customers and beneficiaries shall not be deemed to have transferred its principal place of administration if all or significant portions of the administration of the trust are performed outside the Commonwealth. The notice of proposed transfer shall include:
1. The name of the jurisdiction to which the principal place of administration is to be transferred;
2. The address and telephone number at the new location at which the trustee can be contacted;
3. An explanation of the reasons for the proposed transfer;
4. The date on which the proposed transfer is anticipated to occur; and
5. The date, not less than 60 days after the giving of the notice, by which the qualified beneficiary shall notify the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer.
D. The authority of a trustee under this section to transfer a trust's principal place of administration to another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States terminates if a qualified beneficiary notifies the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer on or before the date specified in the notice.
E. In connection with a transfer of the trust's principal place of administration, the trustee may transfer some or all of the trust property to a successor trustee designated in the terms of the trust or appointed pursuant to § 64.2-757.
F. The court, for good cause shown, may transfer the principal place of administration of a testamentary trust to another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States upon such conditions, if any, as it may deem appropriate.

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