Utah Uniform Probate Code
Utah Uniform Probate Code
Chapter 1
General Provisions, Definitions, and Probate Jurisdiction of Court
Part 1
Short Title, Construction, and General Provisions
75-1-104 Severability.
If any provision of this code or the application thereof to any person or circumstances is held
invalid, the invalidity shall not affect other provisions or applications of the code which can be given
effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this code are
declared to be severable.
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are deemed to act for beneficiaries to the extent their interests (as objects, takers in default, or
otherwise) are subject to the power.
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Part 2
Definitions
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(19) "Governing instrument" means a deed, will, trust, insurance or annuity policy, account with
POD designation, security registered in beneficiary form (TOD), pension, profit-sharing,
retirement, or similar benefit plan, instrument creating or exercising a power of appointment or a
power of attorney, or a dispositive, appointive, or nominative instrument of any similar type.
(20) "Guardian" means a person who has qualified as a guardian of a minor or incapacitated
person pursuant to testamentary or court appointment, or by written instrument as provided in
Section 75-5-202.5, but excludes one who is merely a guardian ad litem.
(21) "Heirs," except as controlled by Section 75-2-711, means persons, including the surviving
spouse and state, who are entitled under the statutes of intestate succession to the property of
a decedent.
(22) "Incapacitated" or "incapacity" is measured by functional limitations and means a judicial
determination after proof by clear and convincing evidence that an adult's ability to do the
following is impaired to the extent that the individual lacks the ability, even with appropriate
technological assistance, to meet the essential requirements for financial protection or physical
health, safety, or self-care:
(a) receive and evaluate information;
(b) make and communicate decisions; or
(c) provide for necessities such as food, shelter, clothing, health care, or safety.
(23) "Informal proceedings" mean those conducted without notice to interested persons by an
officer of the court acting as a registrar for probate of a will or appointment of a personal
representative.
(24) "Interested person" includes heirs, devisees, children, spouses, creditors, beneficiaries, and
any others having a property right in or claim against a trust estate or the estate of a decedent,
ward, or protected person. It also includes persons having priority for appointment as personal
representative, other fiduciaries representing interested persons, a settlor of a trust, if living, or
the settlor's legal representative, if any, if the settlor is living but incapacitated. The meaning as
it relates to particular persons may vary from time to time and shall be determined according to
the particular purposes of, and matter involved in, any proceeding.
(25) "Issue" of a person means descendant as defined in Subsection (9).
(26) "Joint tenants with the right of survivorship" and "community property with the right of
survivorship" includes coowners of property held under circumstances that entitle one or
more to the whole of the property on the death of the other or others, but excludes forms of
coownership registration in which the underlying ownership of each party is in proportion to that
party's contribution.
(27) "Lease" includes an oil, gas, or other mineral lease.
(28) "Letters" includes letters testamentary, letters of guardianship, letters of administration, and
letters of conservatorship.
(29) "Minor" means a person who is under 18 years of age.
(30) "Mortgage" means any conveyance, agreement, or arrangement in which property is used as
security.
(31) "Nonresident decedent" means a decedent who was domiciled in another jurisdiction at the
time of his death.
(32) "Organization" includes a corporation, limited liability company, business trust, estate, trust,
partnership, joint venture, association, government or governmental subdivision or agency, or
any other legal or commercial entity.
(33) "Parent" includes any person entitled to take, or who would be entitled to take if the child
died without a will, as a parent under this code by intestate succession from the child whose
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relationship is in question and excludes any person who is only a stepparent, foster parent, or
grandparent.
(34) "Payor" means a trustee, insurer, business entity, employer, government, governmental
agency or subdivision, or any other person authorized or obligated by law or a governing
instrument to make payments.
(35) "Person" means an individual or an organization.
(36)
(a) "Personal representative" includes executor, administrator, successor personal
representative, special administrator, and persons who perform substantially the same
function under the law governing their status.
(b) "General personal representative" excludes special administrator.
(37) "Petition" means a written request to the court for an order after notice.
(38) "Proceeding" includes action at law and suit in equity.
(39) "Property" includes both real and personal property or any interest therein and means
anything that may be the subject of ownership.
(40) "Protected person" means a person for whom a conservator has been appointed. A "minor
protected person" means a minor for whom a conservator has been appointed because of
minority.
(41) "Protective proceeding" means a proceeding described in Section 75-5-401.
(42) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an
electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(43) "Registrar" refers to the official of the court designated to perform the functions of registrar as
provided in Section 75-1-307.
(44) "Security" includes any note, stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence of
indebtedness, certificate of interest, or participation in an oil, gas, or mining title or lease or in
payments out of production under such a title or lease, collateral trust certificate, transferable
share, voting trust certificate, and, in general, any interest or instrument commonly known as
a security, or any certificate of interest or participation, any temporary or interim certificate,
receipt, or certificate of deposit for, or any warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase, any of
the foregoing.
(45) "Settlement," in reference to a decedent's estate, includes the full process of administration,
distribution, and closing.
(46) "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record other than a will:
(a) to execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
(b) to attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process.
(47) "Special administrator" means a personal representative as described in Sections 75-3-614
through 75-3-618.
(48) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico, any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States,
or a Native American tribe or band recognized by federal law or formally acknowledged by a
state.
(49) "Successor personal representative" means a personal representative, other than a special
administrator, who is appointed to succeed a previously appointed personal representative.
(50) "Successors" means persons, other than creditors, who are entitled to property of a decedent
under the decedent's will or this title.
(51) "Supervised administration" refers to the proceedings described in Title 75, Chapter 3, Part 5,
Supervised Administration.
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(52) "Survive," except for purposes of Part 3 of Article VI, Uniform TOD Security Registration
Act, means that an individual has neither predeceased an event, including the death of
another individual, nor is considered to have predeceased an event under Section 75-2-104
or 75-2-702. The term includes its derivatives, such as "survives," "survived," "survivor," and
"surviving."
(53) "Testacy proceeding" means a proceeding to establish a will or determine intestacy.
(54) "Testator" includes an individual of either sex.
(55) "Trust" includes a health savings account, as defined in Section 223, Internal Revenue Code,
any express trust, private or charitable, with additions thereto, wherever and however created.
The term also includes a trust created or determined by judgment or decree under which
the trust is to be administered in the manner of an express trust. The term excludes other
constructive trusts, and it excludes resulting trusts, conservatorships, personal representatives,
trust accounts as defined in Title 75, Chapter 6, Nonprobate Transfers, custodial arrangements
pursuant to any Uniform Transfers To Minors Act, business trusts providing for certificates to be
issued to beneficiaries, common trust funds, voting trusts, preneed funeral plans under Title 58,
Chapter 9, Funeral Services Licensing Act, security arrangements, liquidation trusts, and trusts
for the primary purpose of paying debts, dividends, interest, salaries, wages, profits, pensions,
or employee benefits of any kind, and any arrangement under which a person is nominee or
escrowee for another.
(56) "Trustee" includes an original, additional, and successor trustee, and cotrustee, whether or not
appointed or confirmed by the court.
(57) "Ward" means a person for whom a guardian has been appointed. A "minor ward" is a minor
for whom a guardian has been appointed solely because of minority.
(58) "Will" includes codicil and any testamentary instrument which merely appoints an executor,
revokes or revises another will, nominates a guardian, or expressly excludes or limits the
right of an individual or class to succeed to property of the decedent passing by intestate
succession.
Part 3
Scope, Jurisdiction, and Courts
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(1) To the full extent permitted by the Constitution of Utah, the court has jurisdiction over all subject
matter relating to:
(a) estates of decedents, including construction of wills and determination of heirs and
successors of decedents, and estates of protected persons;
(b) protection of minors and incapacitated persons; and
(c) trusts.
(2) The court has full power to make orders, judgments, and decrees and take all other action
necessary and proper to administer justice in the matters which come before it.
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75-1-307 Registrar.
The registrar shall be a judge of the court.
75-1-308 Appeals.
Appellate review, including the right to appellate review, interlocutory appeal, provisions as to
time, manner, notice, appeal bond, stays, scope of review, record on appeal, briefs, arguments and
power of the appellate court, is governed by the rules applicable to the appeals to the Supreme
Court in equity cases from the court of general jurisdiction, except that in proceedings where jury
trial has been had as a matter of right, the rules applicable to the scope of review in jury cases
apply.
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to be maintained against the applicant or petitioner pursuant to his submission to jurisdiction shall
be delivered to him or mailed to him by ordinary first-class mail at his address as it is known to the
moving party or as listed in the application or petition or as thereafter reported to the court.
Part 4
Notice, Parties, and Representation in Estate Litigation and Other Matters
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(2) The court for good cause shown may provide for a different method or time of giving notice for
any hearing.
(3) Proof of the giving of notice shall be made on or before the hearing and filed in the proceeding.
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(4) Even if there is representation under this section, if the court determines that representation
of the interest might otherwise be inadequate, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem to
represent the interest of, and approve an agreement on behalf of, a minor, incapacitated or
unborn person, or a person whose identity or location is unknown.
(5) If not precluded by conflict of interest, a guardian ad litem may be appointed to represent
several persons or interests. In approving an agreement, a guardian ad litem may consider the
general family benefit accruing to the living members of the family of the person represented.
(6) Whenever consent may be given by a person pursuant to this chapter, the consent of a person
who may represent and bind the person represented under this section is the consent of, and is
binding on, the person represented unless the person represented objects to the representation
before the consent would otherwise become effective.
Chapter 2
Intestate Succession and Wills
Part 1
Intestate Succession
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(2) For purposes of Subsections (1)(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), and (f) any nonprobate transfer, as defined
in Section 75-2-205, received by an heir is added to the probate estate in calculating the
intestate heirs' shares and is conclusively treated as an advancement under Section 75-2-109
to the heir in determining the heir's share.
75-2-105 No taker.
If there is no taker under the provisions of this chapter, the intestate estate passes to the state
for the benefit of the state school fund.
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(c) The remaining shares, if any, are combined and then divided in the same manner among the
surviving descendants of the deceased descendants as if the surviving descendants who
were allocated a share and their surviving descendants had predeceased the decedent.
(3)
(a) If, under Subsection 75-2-103(1)(c) or (d), a decedent's intestate estate or a part thereof
passes "per capita at each generation" to the descendants of the decedent's deceased
parents or either of them or to the descendants of the decedent's deceased paternal or
maternal grandparents or either of them, the estate or part thereof is divided into as many
equal shares as there are:
(i) surviving descendants in the generation nearest the deceased parents or either of them,
or the deceased grandparents or either of them, that contains one or more surviving
descendants; and
(ii) deceased descendants in the same generation who left surviving descendants, if any.
(b) Each surviving descendant in the nearest generation is allocated one share.
(c) The remaining shares, if any, are combined and then divided in the same manner among the
surviving descendants of the deceased descendants as if the surviving descendants who
were allocated a share and their surviving descendants had predeceased the decedent.
(4)
(a) If, under Subsection 75-2-103(1)(e), a decedent's intestate estate or a part of the estate
passes "per capita at each generation" to the descendants of the decedent's deceased
spouse, the estate or part of the estate is divided into as many equal shares as there are:
(i) surviving descendants in the generation nearest the deceased spouse that contains one or
more surviving descendants; and
(ii) deceased descendants in the same generation who left surviving descendants, if any.
(b) Each surviving descendant in the nearest generation is allocated one share.
(c) The remaining shares, if any, are combined and then divided in the same manner among the
surviving descendants of the deceased descendants as if the surviving descendants who
were allocated a share and their surviving descendants had predeceased the decedent.
(5) Any reference to this section found in a governing instrument for the definitions of "per capita,"
"per stirpes," "by representation," "share and share alike," "to the survivor of them," or "by right
of representation" shall be considered a reference to Section 75-2-709.
75-2-109 Advancements.
(1) If an individual dies intestate as to all or a portion of his estate, property the decedent gave
during the decedent's lifetime to an individual who, at the decedent's death, is an heir is treated
as an advancement against the heir's intestate share only if:
(a) the decedent declared in a contemporaneous writing or the heir acknowledged in writing that
the gift is an advancement; or
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(b) the decedent's contemporaneous writing or the heir's written acknowledgment otherwise
indicates that the gift is to be taken into account in computing the division and distribution of
the decedent's intestate estate.
(2) For purposes of Subsection (1), property advanced is valued as of the time the heir came into
possession or enjoyment of the property or as of the time of the decedent's death, whichever
first occurs.
(3)
(a) If the recipient of the property fails to survive the decedent, the property is not taken into
account in computing the division and distribution of the decedent's intestate estate, unless
the decedent's contemporaneous writing provides otherwise.
(b) If the amount of the advancement exceeds the share of the heir receiving the same, the heir
is not required to refund any part of the advancement.
75-2-111 Alienage.
No individual is disqualified to take as an heir because the individual or an individual through
whom he claims is or has been an alien.
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(3) Inheritance from or through a child by either natural parent or the child's kindred is precluded
unless that natural parent has openly treated the child as the natural parent's, and has not
refused to support the child.
Part 2
Elective Share of Surviving Spouse
75-2-201 Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Decedent's nonprobate transfers to others," as used in sections other than Section 75-2-205,
means the amounts that are included in the augmented estate under Section 75-2-205.
(2) "Fractional interest in property held in joint tenancy with the right of survivorship," whether the
fractional interest is unilaterally severable or not, means the fraction, the numerator of which is
one and the denominator of which, if the decedent was a joint tenant, is one plus the number of
joint tenants who survive the decedent and which, if the decedent was not a joint tenant, is the
number of joint tenants.
(3) "Marriage," as it relates to a transfer by the decedent during marriage, means any marriage of
the decedent to the decedent's surviving spouse.
(4) "Nonadverse party" means a person who does not have a substantial beneficial interest in
the trust or other property arrangement that would be adversely affected by the exercise or
nonexercise of the power that the person possesses respecting the trust or other property
arrangement. A person having a general power of appointment over property is considered to
have a beneficial interest in the property.
(5) "Power" or "power of appointment" includes a power to designate the beneficiary of a
beneficiary designation.
(6) "Presently exercisable general power of appointment" means a power of appointment under
which, at the time in question, the decedent, whether or not the decedent then had the capacity
to exercise the power, held a power to create a present or future interest in himself, his
creditors, his estate, or creditors of his estate, and includes a power to revoke or invade the
principal of a trust or other property arrangement.
(7) "Probate estate" means property that would pass by intestate succession if the decedent died
without a valid will.
(8) "Property" includes values subject to a beneficiary designation.
(9) "Right to income" includes a right to payments under a commercial or private annuity, an
annuity trust, a unitrust, or a similar arrangement.
(10) "Transfer," as it relates to a transfer by or of the decedent, includes:
(a) an exercise or release of a presently exercisable general power of appointment held by the
decedent;
(b) a lapse at death of a presently exercisable general power of appointment held by the
decedent; and
(c) an exercise, release, or lapse of a general power of appointment that the decedent created in
himself and of a power described in Subsection 75-2-205(2)(b) that the decedent conferred
on a nonadverse party.
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(i) Property over which the decedent alone, immediately before death, held a presently
exercisable general power of appointment.
(ii) The amount included is the value of the property subject to the power, to the extent
the property passed at the decedent's death, by exercise, release, lapse, in default, or
otherwise, to or for the benefit of any person other than the decedent's estate or surviving
spouse.
(b)
(i) The decedent's fractional interest in property held by the decedent in joint tenancy with the
right of survivorship.
(ii) The amount included is the value of the decedent's fractional interest, to the extent the
fractional interest passed by right of survivorship at the decedent's death to a surviving joint
tenant other than the decedent's surviving spouse.
(c)
(i) The decedent's ownership interest in property or accounts held in POD, TOD, or co-
ownership registration with the right of survivorship.
(ii) The amount included is the value of the decedent's ownership interest, to the extent the
decedent's ownership interest passed at the decedent's death to or for the benefit of any
person other than the decedent's estate or surviving spouse.
(d)
(i) Proceeds of insurance, including accidental death benefits, on the life of the decedent, if the
decedent owned the insurance policy immediately before death or if and to the extent the
decedent alone and immediately before death held a presently exercisable general power of
appointment over the policy or its proceeds.
(ii) The amount included:
(A) is the value of the proceeds, to the extent they were payable at the decedent's death to or
for the benefit of any person other than the decedent's estate or surviving spouse; and
(B) may not exceed the greater of the cash surrender value of the policy immediately prior
to the death of the decedent or the amount of premiums paid on the policy during the
decedent's life.
(2) Property transferred in any of the forms described in this Subsection (2) by the decedent during
marriage:
(a)
(i) Any irrevocable transfer in which the decedent retained the right to the possession or
enjoyment of, or to the income from, the property if and to the extent the decedent's right
terminated at or continued beyond the decedent's death.
(ii) An irrevocable transfer in trust which includes a restriction on transfer of the decedent's
interest as settlor and beneficiary as described in Section 25-6-502.
(iii) The amount included is the value of the fraction of the property to which the right or
restriction related, to the extent the fraction of the property passed outside probate to or for
the benefit of any person other than the decedent's estate or surviving spouse.
(b)
(i) Any transfer in which the decedent created a power over income or property, exercisable by
the decedent alone or in conjunction with any other person, or exercisable by a nonadverse
party, to or for the benefit of the decedent, creditors of the decedent, the decedent's estate,
or creditors of the decedent's estate.
(ii) The amount included with respect to a power over property is the value of the property
subject to the power, and the amount included with respect to a power over income is the
value of the property that produces or produced the income, to the extent the power in either
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case was exercisable at the decedent's death to or for the benefit of any person other than
the decedent's surviving spouse or to the extent the property passed at the decedent's
death, by exercise, release, lapse, in default, or otherwise, to or for the benefit of any person
other than the decedent's estate or surviving spouse.
(iii) If the power is a power over both income and property and Subsection (2)(b)(ii) produces
different amounts, the amount included is the greater amount.
(3) Property that passed during marriage and during the two-year period next preceding the
decedent's death as a result of a transfer by the decedent if the transfer was of any of the types
described in this Subsection (3).
(a)
(i) Any property that passed as a result of the termination of a right or interest in, or power over,
property that would have been included in the augmented estate under Subsection (1)(a),
(b), or (c), or under Subsection (2), if the right, interest, or power had not terminated until the
decedent's death.
(ii) The amount included is the value of the property that would have been included under
Subsection (1)(a), (b), (c), or Subsection (2) if the property were valued at the time the right,
interest, or power terminated, and is included only to the extent the property passed upon
termination to or for the benefit of any person other than the decedent or the decedent's
estate, spouse, or surviving spouse.
(iii)
(A) As used in this Subsection (3)(a), "termination," with respect to a right or interest in
property, occurs when the right or interest terminated by the terms of the governing
instrument or the decedent transferred or relinquished the right or interest, and, with
respect to a power over property, occurs when the power terminated by exercise, release,
lapse, default, or otherwise.
(B) With respect to a power described in Subsection (1)(a), "termination" occurs when the
power terminated by exercise or release, but not otherwise.
(b)
(i) Any transfer of or relating to an insurance policy on the life of the decedent if the proceeds
would have been included in the augmented estate under Subsection (1)(d) had the transfer
not occurred.
(ii) The amount included:
(A) is the value of the insurance proceeds to the extent the proceeds were payable at the
decedent's death to or for the benefit of any person other than the decedent's estate or
surviving spouse; and
(B) may not exceed the greater of the cash surrender value of the policy immediately prior
to the death of the decedent or the amount of premiums paid on the policy during the
decedent's life.
(c)
(i) Any transfer of property, to the extent not otherwise included in the augmented estate, made
to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent's surviving spouse.
(ii) The amount included is the value of the transferred property to the extent the aggregate
transfers to any one donee in either of the two years exceeded $10,000.
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Excluding property passing to the surviving spouse under the federal Social Security system,
any death benefits paid to the surviving spouse under any state workers' compensation law, and
property excluded under Section 75-2-208, the value of the augmented estate includes the value
of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to the decedent's surviving spouse, which consist of all
property that passed outside probate at the decedent's death from the decedent to the surviving
spouse by reason of the decedent's death, including:
(1) the decedent's fractional interest in property held as a joint tenant with the right of survivorship,
to the extent that the decedent's fractional interest passed to the surviving spouse as surviving
joint tenant;
(2) the decedent's ownership interest in property or accounts held in co-ownership registration with
the right of survivorship, to the extent the decedent's ownership interest passed to the surviving
spouse as surviving co-owner; and
(3) all other property that would have been included in the augmented estate under Subsection
75-2-205(1) or (2) had it passed to or for the benefit of a person other than the decedent's
spouse, surviving spouse, the decedent, or the decedent's creditors, estate, or estate creditors.
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(1) The value of any separate property of the decedent or the decedent's surviving spouse is
excluded from the augmented estate even if it otherwise would be included in the augmented
estate under Sections 75-2-204, 75-2-205, 75-2-206, and 75-2-207. Property is separate
property if it was:
(a) owned at the date of the most recent marriage of the decedent and the decedent's surviving
spouse;
(b) acquired by gift or disposition at death from a person other than the decedent or the
decedent's surviving spouse;
(c) subject to a presently exercisable power of appointment not created by the decedent or the
decedent's spouse that is exempt under Section 75-10-502;
(d) acquired in exchange for or with the proceeds of other separate property;
(e) designated as separate property by written waiver under Section 75-2-213; or
(f) acquired as a recovery for personal injury but only to the extent attributable to expenses paid
or otherwise satisfied from separate property.
(2) Income attributable to investment, rental, licensing or other use of separate property during
the most recent marriage of the decedent and the decedent's surviving spouse is separate
property.
(3) Appreciation in the value of separate property during the most recent marriage of the decedent
and the decedent's surviving spouse is separate property.
(4) Except as provided in this Subsection (4), any increase in the value of separate property due
to improvements to or the reduction in debt owed against separate property during the most
recent marriage of the decedent and the decedent's surviving spouse is separate property.
An amount equal to any payment for improvements to or the reduction in debt owed against
separate property of the decedent made during the most recent marriage of the decedent and
the decedent's surviving spouse from the joint or commingled funds of the decedent and the
decedent's surviving spouse, or from the separate property of the surviving spouse, shall not be
separate property to the extent of the amount actually paid for the improvements or the amount
actually paid for the reduction in debt, including principal, interest, and other payments under
the note, owed against separate property. The amount that is determined not to be separate
property may not exceed the value of the separate property.
(5) All property of the decedent or the decedent's surviving spouse, whether or not commingled, is
rebuttably presumed not to be separate property.
(6) The value of any property is excluded from the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others:
(a) to the extent the decedent received adequate and full consideration in money or money's
worth for a transfer of the property; or
(b) if the property was transferred with the written joinder of, or if the transfer was consented to in
writing by, the surviving spouse.
(7) The value of property:
(a) included in the augmented estate under Section 75-2-205, 75-2-206, or 75-2-207 is reduced
in each category by enforceable claims against the included property; and
(b) includes the commuted value of any present or future interest and the commuted value of
amounts payable under any trust, life insurance settlement option, annuity contract, public
or private pension, disability compensation, death benefit or retirement plan, or any similar
arrangement, exclusive of the federal Social Security system.
(8) In case of overlapping application to the same property of the section or subsections of Section
75-2-205, 75-2-206, or 75-2-207, the property is included in the augmented estate under the
provision yielding the greatest value, and under only one overlapping provision if they all yield
the same value.
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75-2-209 Sources from which elective share payable -- Elective share amount -- Unsatisfied
balance.
(1) In a proceeding for an elective share, the following are applied first to satisfy the elective-share
amount and to reduce or eliminate any contributions due from the decedent's probate estate
and recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others:
(a) amounts included in the augmented estate under Section 75-2-204 that pass or have passed
to the surviving spouse by testate or intestate succession and amounts included in the
augmented estate under Section 75-2-206;
(b) amounts included in the augmented estate under Section 75-2-207;
(c) the value at the decedent's death of the decedent's separate property, as defined in Section
75-2-208, that passes or has passed from the decedent to the decedent's surviving spouse by
reason of the decedent's death, whether by testate or intestate succession or by nonprobate
transfer at the decedent's death; and
(d) the surviving spouse's homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance, if any.
(2) If, after the application of Subsection (1), the elective-share amount is not fully satisfied or
the surviving spouse is entitled to a supplemental elective-share amount, amounts included
in the decedent's probate estate and in the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, other
than amounts included under Subsection 75-2-205(3)(a) or (c), are applied first to satisfy the
unsatisfied balance of the elective-share amount or the supplemental elective-share amount.
The decedent's probate estate and that portion of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others
are so applied that liability for the unsatisfied balance of the elective-share amount or for the
supplemental elective-share amount is equitably apportioned among the recipients of the
decedent's probate estate and of that portion of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others
in proportion to the value of their interests therein.
(3) If, after the application of Subsections (1) and (2), the elective-share or supplemental elective-
share amount is not fully satisfied, the remaining portion of the decedent's nonprobate
transfers to others is so applied that liability for the unsatisfied balance of the elective-share
or supplemental elective-share amount is equitably apportioned among the recipients of the
remaining portion of the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others in proportion to the value of
their interests therein.
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75-2-209, to the person who would have been entitled to it were that section or subsection not
preempted.
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spouse's behalf by his conservator, guardian, or agent under the authority of a power of
attorney.
(2) If the election is exercised on behalf of a surviving spouse who is an incapacitated person, the
court shall set aside that portion of the elective-share and supplemental elective-share amounts
due from the decedent's probate estate and recipients of the decedent's nonprobate transfers
to others under Subsections 75-2-209(2) and (3) and shall appoint a trustee to administer
that property for the support of the surviving spouse. For the purposes of this subsection,
an election on behalf of a surviving spouse by an agent under a durable power of attorney is
presumed to be on behalf of a surviving spouse who is an incapacitated person. The trustee
shall administer the trust in accordance with the following terms and such additional terms as
the court determines appropriate:
(a) Expenditures of income and principal may be made in the manner, when, and to the extent
that the trustee determines suitable and proper for the surviving spouse's support, without
court order but with regard to other support, income, and property of the surviving spouse
exclusive of benefits of medical or other forms of assistance from any state or federal
government or governmental agency for which the surviving spouse shall qualify on the basis
of need.
(b) During the surviving spouse's incapacity, neither the surviving spouse nor anyone acting on
behalf of the surviving spouse has a power to terminate the trust; but if the surviving spouse
regains capacity, the surviving spouse then acquires the power to terminate the trust and
acquire full ownership of the trust property free of trust, by delivering to the trustee a writing
signed by the surviving spouse declaring the termination.
(c) Upon the surviving spouse's death, the trustee shall transfer the unexpended trust property in
the following order:
(i) under the residuary clause, if any, of the will of the predeceased spouse against whom the
elective share was taken, as if that predeceased spouse died immediately after the surviving
spouse; or
(ii) to the predeceased spouse's heirs under Section 75-2-711.
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into after or in anticipation of separation or divorce is a waiver of all rights of elective share,
homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance by each spouse in the property
of the other and a renunciation by each of all benefits that would otherwise pass to him from
the other by intestate succession or by virtue of any will executed before the waiver or property
settlement.
Part 3
Spouse and Children Unprovided for in Wills
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(1) If a testator's surviving spouse married the testator after the testator executed his will, the
surviving spouse is entitled to receive, as an intestate share, no less than the value of the share
of the estate he would have received if the testator had died intestate as to that portion of the
testator's estate, if any, that neither is devised to a child of the testator who was born before
the testator married the surviving spouse and who is not a child of the surviving spouse nor is
devised to a descendant of such a child or passes under Section 75-2-603 or 75-2-604 to such
a child or to a descendant of such a child, unless:
(a) it appears from the will or other evidence that the will was made in contemplation of the
testator's marriage to the surviving spouse;
(b) the will expresses the intention that it is to be effective notwithstanding any subsequent
marriage; or
(c) the testator provided for the spouse by transfer outside the will and the intent that the transfer
be in lieu of a testamentary provision is shown by the testator's statements or is reasonably
inferred from the amount of the transfer or other evidence.
(2) In satisfying the share provided by this section, devises made by the will to the testator's
surviving spouse, if any, are applied first, and other devises, other than a devise to a child of
the testator who was born before the testator married the surviving spouse and who is not a
child of the surviving spouse or a devise or substitute gift under Section 75-2-603 or 75-2-604
to a descendant of such a child, abate as provided in Section 75-3-902.
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Part 4
Exempt Property and Allowances
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under the homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance to the trust established
under Subsection 75-2-212(2).
Part 5
Wills
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(1) A will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved, by acknowledgment
thereof by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized
to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which execution occurs, whether or not that
officer is also a witness to the will, and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal,
in substantially the following form:
I, _______, the testator, sign my name to this instrument this ____ day of _______, and being
first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that I sign and execute this
instrument as my will and that I sign it willingly (or willingly direct another to sign for me), that
I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that I am 18
years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
__________________
Testator
We, _______, _______, the witnesses, sign our names to this instrument, being first duly
sworn, and do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signs and executes
this instrument as [his] [her] will and that [he] [she] signs it willingly (or willingly directs another
to sign for [him] [her] ), and that each of us, in the presence and hearing of the testator, hereby
signs this will as witness to the testator's signing, and that to the best of our knowledge the
testator is 18 years of age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
___________________
Witness
__________________
Witness
State of _______
County of _______
Subscribed, sworn to and acknowledged before me by _______, the testator, and subscribed
and sworn to before me by _______, and _______, witnesses, this ____ day of _______.
(Signed) _______________
________________________
(Official capacity of officer)
(2) An attested will may be made self-proved at any time after its execution by the
acknowledgment thereof by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made
before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which the
acknowledgment occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under the official seal,
attached or annexed to the will in substantially the following form:
State of _______
County of _______
We, _______, _______, and _______, the testator and the witnesses, respectively,
whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument, being first duly sworn,
do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signed and executed the
instrument as the testator's will and that [he] [she] had signed willingly (or willingly directed
another to sign for [him] [her] ), and that [he] [she] executed it as [his] [her] free and voluntary
act for the purposes therein expressed, and that each of the witnesses, in the presence and
hearing of the testator, signed the will as witness and that to the best of [his] [her] knowledge
the testator was at that time 18 years or age or older, of sound mind, and under no constraint or
undue influence.
__________________
Testator
__________________
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Witness
__________________
Witness
Subscribed, sworn to, and acknowledged before me by _______, the testator, and
subscribed and sworn to before me by _______, and _______, witnesses, this ____ day of
_______.
(Signed) ___________________
___________________________
(Official capacity of officer)
(3) A signature affixed to a self-proving affidavit attached to a will is considered a signature affixed
to the will, if necessary to prove the will's due execution.
(4) The notarization of will provisions of this section preempt conflicting provisions in other sections
of the Utah Code whether the will was executed prior to or after July 1, 1998.
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(4) The testator is presumed to have intended a subsequent will to supplement rather than replace
a previous will if the subsequent will does not make a complete disposition of the testator's
estate. If this presumption arises and is not rebutted by clear and convincing evidence, the
subsequent will revokes the previous will only to the extent the subsequent will is inconsistent
with the previous will; each will is fully operative on the testator's death to the extent they are
not inconsistent.
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character of the corpus of the trust. The devise is not invalid because the trust is amendable
or revocable, or because the trust was amended after the execution of the will or the testator's
death.
(2) Unless the testator's will provides otherwise, property devised to a trust described in
Subsection (1) is not held under a testamentary trust of the testator, but it becomes a part of
the trust to which it is devised, and shall be administered and disposed of in accordance with
the provisions of the governing instrument setting forth the terms of the trust, including any
amendments thereto made before or after the testator's death.
(3) Unless the testator's will provides otherwise, a revocation or termination of the trust before the
testator's death causes the devise to lapse.
75-2-513 Separate writing identifying devise of certain types of tangible personal property.
Whether or not the provisions relating to holographic wills apply, a will may refer to a written
statement or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically
disposed of by the will, other than money. To be admissible under this section as evidence of the
intended disposition, the writing shall be signed by the testator and shall describe the items and the
devisees with reasonable certainty. The writing may be referred to as one to be in existence at the
time of the testator's death; it may be prepared before or after the execution of the will; it may be
altered by the testator after its preparation; and it may be a writing that has no significance apart
from its effect on the dispositions made by the will.
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A provision in a will purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the will or
instituting other proceedings relating to the estate is unenforceable if probable cause exists for
instituting proceedings.
Part 6
Rules of Construction for Wills
75-2-601 Scope.
In the absence of a finding of a contrary intention, the rules of construction in this part control
the construction of a will.
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(g) "Testator" includes the donee of a power of appointment if the power is exercised in the
testator's will.
(2) If a devisee fails to survive the testator and is a grandparent, a descendant of a grandparent,
or a stepchild of either the testator or the donor of a power of appointment exercised by the
testator's will, the following apply:
(a) Except as provided in Subsection (2)(d), if the devise is not in the form of a class gift and the
deceased devisee leaves surviving descendants, a substitute gift is created in the devisee's
surviving descendants. They take per capita at each generation the property to which the
devisee would have been entitled had the devisee survived the testator.
(b) Except as provided in Subsection (2)(d), if the devise is in the form of a class gift, other than
a devise to "issue," "descendants," "heirs of the body," "heirs," "next-of-kin," "relatives," or
"family," or a class described by language of similar import, a substitute gift is created in the
surviving descendant's of any deceased devisee. The property to which the devisees would
have been entitled had all of them survived the testator passes to the surviving devisees and
the surviving descendants of the deceased devisees. Each surviving devisee takes the share
to which he would have been entitled had the deceased devisees survived the testator. Each
deceased devisee's surviving descendants who are substituted for the deceased devisee
take per capita at each generation the share to which the deceased devisee would have been
entitled had the deceased devisee survived the testator. For the purposes of this Subsection
(2)(b), "deceased devisee" means a class member who failed to survive the testator and left
one or more surviving descendants.
(c) For the purposes of Section 75-2-601, words of survivorship, such as in a devise to an
individual "if he survives me," or in a devise to "my surviving children," are, in the absence of
clear and convincing evidence, a sufficient indication of an intent contrary to the application of
this section.
(d) If the will creates an alternative devise with respect to a devise for which a substitute gift is
created by Subsection (2)(a) or (b), the substitute gift is superseded by the alternative devise
only if an expressly designated devisee of the alternative devise is entitled to take under the
will.
(e) Unless the language creating a power of appointment expressly excludes the substitution of
the descendants of an appointee for the appointee, a surviving descendant of a deceased
appointee of a power of appointment can be substituted for the appointee under this section,
whether or not the descendant is an object of the power.
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(1) If a testator executes a will that devises securities and the testator then owned securities that
meet the description in the will, the devise includes additional securities owned by the testator
at death to the extent the additional securities were acquired by the testator after the will was
executed as a result of the testator's ownership of the described securities and are securities of
any of the following types:
(a) securities of the same organization acquired by reason of action initiated by the organization
or any successor, related, or acquiring organization, excluding any acquired by exercise of
purchase options;
(b) securities of another organization acquired as a result of a merger, consolidation,
reorganization, or other distribution by the organization or any successor, related, or acquiring
organization; or
(c) securities of the same organization acquired as a result of a plan of reinvestment.
(2) Distributions in cash before death with respect to a described security are not part of the
devise.
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(5) For the purposes of the references in Subsection (2) to an agent acting within the authority of a
durable power of attorney for an incapacitated principal:
(a) "incapacitated principal" means a principal who is an incapacitated person;
(b) no adjudication of incapacity before death is necessary; and
(c) the acts of an agent within the authority of a durable power of attorney are presumed to be for
an incapacitated principal.
75-2-607 Nonexoneration.
A specific devise passes subject to any mortgage interest existing at the date of death, without
right of exoneration, regardless of a general directive in the will to pay debts.
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Part 7
Rules of Construction for Governing Instruments
75-2-701 Scope.
In the absence of a finding of a contrary intention, the rules of construction in this part control
the construction of a governing instrument. The rules of construction in this part apply to a
governing instrument of any type, except as the application of a particular section is limited by its
terms to a specific type or types of provision or governing instrument.
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(d) the application of a 120-hour requirement of survival to multiple governing instruments would
result in an unintended failure or duplication of a disposition; but survival shall be established
by clear and convincing evidence.
(5)
(a) A payor or other third party is not liable for having made a payment or transferred an item
of property or any other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument who,
under this section, is not entitled to the payment or item of property, or for having taken any
other action in good faith reliance on the beneficiary's apparent entitlement under the terms
of the governing instrument, before the payor or other third party received written notice of
a claimed lack of entitlement under this section. A payor or other third party is liable for a
payment made or other action taken after the payor or other third party received written notice
of a claimed lack of entitlement under this section.
(b) Written notice of a claimed lack of entitlement under Subsection (5)(a) shall be mailed to the
payor's or other third party's main office or home by registered or certified mail, return receipt
requested, or served upon the payor or other third party in the same manner as a summons
in a civil action. Upon receipt of written notice of a claimed lack of entitlement under this
section, a payor or other third party may pay any amount owed or transfer or deposit any
item of property held by it to or with the court having jurisdiction of the probate proceedings
relating to the decedent's estate, or if no proceedings have been commenced, to or with the
court having jurisdiction of probate proceedings relating to the decedent's estates located in
the county of the decedent's residence. The court shall hold the funds or item of property
and, upon its determination under this section, shall order disbursement in accordance with
the determination. Payments, transfers, or deposits made to or with the court discharge the
payor or other third party from all claims for the value of amounts paid to or items of property
transferred to or deposited with the court.
(6)
(a) A person who purchases property for value and without notice, or who receives a payment
or other item of property in partial or full satisfaction of a legally enforceable obligation, is
neither obligated under this section to return the payment, item of property, or benefit nor is
liable under this section for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property
or benefit. But a person who, not for value, receives a payment, item of property, or any
other benefit to which the person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return the
payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment
or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who is entitled to it under this
section.
(b) If this section or any part of this section is preempted by federal law with respect to a
payment, an item of property, or any other benefit covered by this section, a person who, not
for value, receives the payment, item of property, or any other benefit to which the person is
not entitled under this section is obligated to return the payment, item of property, or benefit,
or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or
benefit, to the person who would have been entitled to it were this section or part of this
section not preempted.
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provisions relating to the elective share described in Part 2, Elective Share of Surviving Spouse,
the provisions relating to exempt property and allowances described in Part 4, Exempt Property
and Allowances, or any other public policy of this state otherwise applicable to the disposition.
75-2-706 Definitions -- Life insurance -- Retirement plan -- Account with POD designation
-- Transfer-on-death registration -- Deceased beneficiary -- Substitute gift -- Protection of
payors and bona fide purchasers -- Personal liability of recipient.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Alternative beneficiary designation" means a beneficiary designation that is expressly
created by the governing instrument and, under the terms of the governing instrument, can
take effect instead of another beneficiary designation on the happening of one or more
events, including survival of the decedent or failure to survive the decedent, whether an event
is expressed in condition-precedent, condition-subsequent, or any other form.
(b) "Beneficiary" means the beneficiary of a beneficiary designation under which the beneficiary
shall survive the decedent and includes:
(i) a class member if the beneficiary designation is in the form of a class gift; and
(ii) an individual or class member who was deceased at the time the beneficiary designation
was executed as well as an individual or class member who was then living but who failed
to survive the decedent, but excludes a joint tenant of a joint tenancy with the right of
survivorship and a party to a joint and survivorship account.
(c) "Beneficiary designation" includes an alternative beneficiary designation and a beneficiary
designation in the form of a class gift.
(d) "Class member" includes an individual who fails to survive the decedent but who would have
taken under a beneficiary designation in the form of a class gift had he survived the decedent.
(e) "Stepchild" means a child of the decedent's surviving, deceased, or former spouse, and not of
the decedent.
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determination. Payment made to the court discharges the payor from all claims for the
amounts paid.
(4)
(a) A person who purchases property for value and without notice, or who receives a payment
or other item of property in partial or full satisfaction of a legally enforceable obligation, is
neither obligated under this section to return the payment, item of property, or benefit nor is
liable under this section for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property
or benefit. But a person who, not for value, receives a payment, item of property, or any
other benefit to which the person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return the
payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment
or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who is entitled to it under this
section.
(b) If this section or any part of this section is preempted by federal law with respect to a
payment, an item of property, or any other benefit covered by this section, a person who, not
for value, receives the payment, item of property, or any other benefit to which the person is
not entitled under this section is obligated to return the payment, item of property, or benefit,
or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or
benefit, to the person who would have been entitled to it were this section or part of this
section not preempted.
75-2-707 Definitions -- Survivorship with respect to future interests under terms of trust --
Substitute takers.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Alternative future interest" means an expressly created future interest that can take effect
in possession or enjoyment instead of another future interest on the happening of one or
more events, including survival of an event or failure to survive an event, whether an event
is expressed in condition-precedent, condition-subsequent, or any other form. A residuary
clause in a will does not create an alternative future interest with respect to a future interest
created in a nonresiduary devise in the will, whether or not the will specifically provides that
lapsed or failed devises are to pass under the residuary clause.
(b) "Beneficiary" means the beneficiary of a future interest and includes a class member if the
future interest is in the form of a class gift.
(c) "Class member" includes an individual who fails to survive the distribution date but who would
have taken under a future interest in the form of a class gift had he survived the distribution
date.
(d) "Distribution date" with respect to a future interest, means the time when the future interest
is to take effect in possession or enjoyment. The distribution date need not occur at the
beginning or end of a calendar day, but can occur at a time during the course of a day.
(e) "Future interest" includes an alternative future interest and a future interest in the form of a
class gift.
(f) "Future interest under the terms of a trust" means a future interest that was created by a
transfer creating a trust or to an existing trust or by an exercise of a power of appointment to
an existing trust, directing the continuance of an existing trust, designating a beneficiary of an
existing trust, or creating a trust.
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75-2-708 Class gifts to "descendants," "issue," or "heirs of the body" -- Form of distribution
if none specified.
If a class gift in favor of "descendants," "issue," or "heirs of the body" does not specify the
manner in which the property is to be distributed among the class members, the property
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is distributed among the class members who are living when the interest is to take effect in
possession or enjoyment, in such shares as they would receive, under the applicable law of
intestate succession, if the designated ancestor had then died intestate owning the subject matter
of the class gift.
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Part 8
General Provisions
75-2-801 Disclaimer of property interests -- Time -- Form -- Effect -- Waiver and bar --
Remedy not exclusive -- Application.
(1) A person, or the representative of a person, to whom an interest in or with respect to property
or an interest therein devolves by whatever means may disclaim it in whole or in part
by delivering or filing a written disclaimer under this section. The right to disclaim exists
notwithstanding:
(a) any limitation on the interest of the disclaimant in the nature of a spendthrift provision or
similar restriction; or
(b) any restriction or limitation on the right to disclaim contained in the governing instrument.
For purposes of this subsection, the "representative of a person" includes a personal
representative of a decedent, a conservator of a person with a disability, a guardian of
a minor or incapacitated person, and an agent acting on behalf of the person within the
authority of a power of attorney.
(2) The following rules govern the time when a disclaimer shall be filed or delivered:
(a) If the property or interest has devolved to the disclaimant under a testamentary instrument
or by the laws of intestacy, the disclaimer shall be filed, if of a present interest, not later
than nine months after the death of the deceased owner or deceased donee of a power of
appointment and, if of a future interest, not later than nine months after the event determining
that the taker of the property or interest is finally ascertained and his interest is indefeasibly
vested. The disclaimer shall be filed in the district court of the county in which proceedings
for the administration of the estate of the deceased owner or deceased donee of the power
have been commenced. A copy of the disclaimer shall be delivered in person or mailed by
registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to any personal representative or other
fiduciary of the decedent or donee of the power.
(b) If a property or interest has devolved to the disclaimant under a nontestamentary instrument
or contract, the disclaimer shall be delivered or filed, if of a present interest, not later than
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nine months after the effective date of the nontestamentary instrument or contract and, if of
a future interest, not later than nine months after the event determining that the taker of the
property or interest is finally ascertained and his interest is indefeasibly vested. If the person
entitled to disclaim does not know of the existence of the interest, the disclaimer shall be
delivered or filed not later than nine months after the person learns of the existence of the
interest. The effective date of a revocable instrument or contract is the date on which the
maker no longer has power to revoke it or to transfer to the maker or another the entire legal
and equitable ownership of the interest. The disclaimer or a copy thereof shall be delivered
in person or mailed by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, to the person who
has legal title to or possession of the interest disclaimed.
(c) A surviving joint tenant or tenant by the entireties may disclaim as a separate interest any
property or interest therein devolving to him by right of survivorship. A surviving joint tenant
or tenant by the entireties may disclaim the entire interest in any property or interest therein
that is the subject of a joint tenancy or tenancy by the entireties devolving to the surviving
joint tenant or tenant by the entireties, if the joint tenancy or tenancy by the entireties was
created by act of a deceased joint tenant or tenant by the entireties, the survivor did not join in
creating the joint tenancy or tenancy by the entireties, and has not accepted a benefit under it.
(d) If real property or an interest therein is disclaimed, a copy of the disclaimer may be recorded
in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the property or interest disclaimed is
located.
(3) The disclaimer shall:
(a) describe the property or interest disclaimed;
(b) declare the disclaimer and extent thereof; and
(c) be signed by the disclaimant.
(4) The effects of a disclaimer are:
(a) If property or an interest therein devolves to a disclaimant under a testamentary instrument,
under a power of appointment exercised by a testamentary instrument, or under the laws of
intestacy, and the decedent has not provided for another disposition of that interest, should it
be disclaimed, or of disclaimed, or failed interests in general, the disclaimed interest devolves
as if the disclaimant had predeceased the decedent, but if by law or under the testamentary
instrument the descendants of the disclaimant would share in the disclaimed interest per
capita at each generation or otherwise were the disclaimant to predecease the decedent, then
the disclaimed interest passes per capita at each generation, or passes as directed by the
governing instrument, to the descendants of the disclaimant who survive the decedent. A
future interest that takes effect in possession or enjoyment after the termination of the estate
or interest disclaimed takes effect as if the disclaimant had predeceased the decedent. A
disclaimer relates back for all purposes to the date of death of the decedent.
(b) If property or an interest therein devolves to a disclaimant under a nontestamentary
instrument or contract and the instrument or contract does not provide for another disposition
of that interest, should it be disclaimed, or of disclaimed or failed interests in general, the
disclaimed interest devolves as if the disclaimant has predeceased the effective date of the
instrument or contract, but if by law or under the nontestamentary instrument or contract
the descendants of the disclaimant would share in the disclaimed interest per capita at
each generation or otherwise were the disclaimant to predecease the effective date of the
instrument, then the disclaimed interest passes per capita at each generation, or passes as
directed by the governing instrument, to the descendants of the disclaimant who survive the
effective date of the instrument. A disclaimer relates back for all purposes to that date. A
future interest that takes effect in possession or enjoyment at or after the termination of the
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disclaimed interest takes effect as if the disclaimant had died before the effective date of the
instrument or contract that transferred the disclaimed interest.
(c) The disclaimer or the written waiver of the right to disclaim is binding upon the disclaimant or
person waiving and all persons claiming through or under either of them.
(5) The right to disclaim property or an interest therein is barred by:
(a) an assignment, conveyance, encumbrance, pledge, or transfer of the property or interest, or a
contract therefor;
(b) a written waiver of the right to disclaim;
(c) an acceptance of the property or interest or a benefit under it; or
(d) a sale of the property or interest under judicial sale made before the disclaimer is made.
(6) This section does not abridge the right of a person to waive, release, disclaim, or renounce
property or an interest therein under any other statute.
(7) An interest in property that exists on July 1, 1998, as to which, if a present interest, the time
for filing a disclaimer under this section has not expired or, if a future interest, the interest has
not become indefeasibly vested or the taker finally ascertained, may be disclaimed within nine
months after July 1, 1998.
75-2-803 Definitions -- Effect of homicide on intestate succession, wills, trusts, joint assets,
life insurance, and beneficiary designations -- Forfeiture -- Revocation.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Disposition or appointment of property" includes a transfer of an item of property or any other
benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument.
(b) "Disqualifying homicide" means a homicide established by a preponderance of the evidence
that meets the elements of any felony homicide offense in Title 76, Chapter 5, Offenses
Against the Person, except automobile homicide, applying the same principles of culpability
and defenses as in Title 76, Utah Criminal Code, including but not limited to Chapter 2,
Principles of Criminal Responsibility.
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validity of the governing instrument, upon request and satisfactory proof of the decedent's
death, before the payor or other third party received written notice of a claimed forfeiture or
revocation under this section. A payor or other third party is liable for a payment made or
other action taken after the payor or other third party received written notice of a claimed
forfeiture or revocation under this section.
(b) Written notice of a claimed forfeiture or revocation under Subsection (8)(a) shall be mailed
to the payor's or other third party's main office or home by registered or certified mail, return
receipt requested, or served upon the payor or other third party in the same manner as a
summons in a civil action. Upon receipt of written notice of a claimed forfeiture or revocation
under this section, a payor or other third party may pay any amount owed or transfer or
deposit any item of property held by it to or with the court having jurisdiction of the probate
proceedings relating to the decedent's estate, or if no proceedings have been commenced,
to or with the court having jurisdiction of probate proceedings relating to the decedent's
estates located in the county of the decedent's residence. The court shall hold the funds or
item of property and, upon its determination under this section, shall order disbursement in
accordance with the determination. Payments, transfers, or deposits made to or with the
court discharge the payor or other third party from all claims for the value of amounts paid to
or items of property transferred to or deposited with the court.
(9)
(a) A person who purchases property for value and without notice, or who receives a payment
or other item of property in partial or full satisfaction of a legally enforceable obligation, is
neither obligated under this section to return the payment, item of property, or benefit nor is
liable under this section for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property
or benefit. But a person who, not for value, receives a payment, item of property, or any
other benefit to which the person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return the
payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment
or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who is entitled to it under this
section.
(b) If this section or any part of this section is preempted by federal law with respect to a
payment, an item of property, or any other benefit covered by this section, a person who, not
for value, receives the payment, item of property, or any other benefit to which the person is
not entitled under this section is obligated to return the payment, item of property, or benefit,
or is personally liable for the amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or
benefit, to the person who would have been entitled to it were this section or part of this
section not preempted.
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(c) "Divorced individual" includes an individual whose marriage has been annulled.
(d) "Governing instrument" means a governing instrument executed by the divorced individual
before the divorce or annulment of the individual's marriage to the individual's former spouse.
(e) "Relative of the divorced individual's former spouse" means an individual who is related to the
divorced individual's former spouse by blood, adoption, or affinity and who, after the divorce
or annulment, is not related to the divorced individual by blood, adoption, or affinity.
(f) "Revocable," with respect to a disposition, appointment, provision, or nomination, means
one under which the divorced individual, at the time of the divorce or annulment, was alone
empowered, by law or under the governing instrument, to cancel the designation in favor
of the individual's former spouse or former spouse's relative, whether or not the divorced
individual was then empowered to designate another in place of the individual's former
spouse or in place of the individual's former spouse's relative and whether or not the divorced
individual then had the capacity to exercise the power.
(2) Except as provided by the express terms of a governing instrument, a court order, or a contract
relating to the division of the marital estate made between the divorced individuals before or
after the marriage, divorce, or annulment, the divorce or annulment of a marriage:
(a) revokes any revocable:
(i) disposition or appointment of property made by a divorced individual to the individual's
former spouse in a governing instrument and any disposition or appointment created by law
or in a governing instrument to a relative of the divorced individual's former spouse;
(ii) provision in a governing instrument conferring a general or nongeneral power of
appointment on the divorced individual's former spouse or on a relative of the divorced
individual's former spouse; and
(iii) nomination in a governing instrument, which nominates a divorced individual's former
spouse or a relative of the divorced individual's former spouse to serve in any fiduciary or
representative capacity, including a personal representative, executor, trustee, conservator,
agent, or guardian; and
(b) severs the interests of the former spouses in property held by them at the time of the divorce
or annulment as joint tenants with the right of survivorship, transforming the interests of the
former spouses into tenancies in common.
(3) A severance under Subsection (2)(b) does not affect any third-party interest in property
acquired for value and in good faith reliance on an apparent title by survivorship in the survivor
of the former spouses unless a writing declaring the severance has been noted, registered,
filed, or recorded in records appropriate to the kind and location of the property, which are
relied upon, in the ordinary course of transactions involving such property, as evidence of
ownership.
(4) Provisions of a governing instrument are given effect as if the former spouse and relatives of
the former spouse disclaimed all provisions revoked by this section or, in the case of a revoked
nomination in a fiduciary or representative capacity, as if the former spouse and relatives of the
former spouse died immediately before the divorce or annulment.
(5) Provisions revoked solely by this section are revived by the divorced individual's remarriage to
the former spouse or by a nullification of the divorce or annulment.
(6) No change of circumstances other than as described in this section and in Section 75-2-803
effects a revocation.
(7)
(a) A payor or other third party is not liable for having made a payment or transferred an item of
property or any other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument affected
by a divorce, annulment, or remarriage, or for having taken any other action in good faith
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reliance on the validity of the governing instrument, before the payor or other third party
received written notice of the divorce, annulment, or remarriage. A payor or other third party
is liable for a payment made or other action taken after the payor or other third party received
written notice of a claimed forfeiture or revocation under this section.
(b) Written notice of the divorce, annulment, or remarriage under Subsection (7)(a) shall be
mailed to the payor's or other third party's main office or home by registered or certified mail,
return receipt requested, or served upon the payor or other third party in the same manner
as a summons in a civil action. Upon receipt of written notice of the divorce, annulment, or
remarriage, a payor or other third party may pay any amount owed or transfer or deposit any
item of property held by it to or with the court having jurisdiction of the probate proceedings
relating to the decedent's estate or, if no proceedings have been commenced, to or with the
court having jurisdiction of probate proceedings relating to the decedent's estates located in
the county of the decedent's residence. The court shall hold the funds or item of property
and, upon its determination under this section, shall order disbursement or transfer in
accordance with the determination. Payments, transfers, or deposits made to or with the
court discharge the payor or other third party from all claims for the value of amounts paid to
or items of property transferred to or deposited with the court.
(8)
(a) A person who purchases property from a former spouse, relative of a former spouse, or any
other person for value and without notice, or who receives from a former spouse, relative
of a former spouse, or any other person a payment or other item of property in partial or full
satisfaction of a legally enforceable obligation, is neither obligated under this section to return
the payment, item of property, or benefit, nor is liable under this section for the amount of the
payment or the value of the item of property or benefit. But a former spouse, relative of a
former spouse, or other person who, not for value, received a payment, item of property, or
any other benefit to which that person is not entitled under this section is obligated to return
the payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the amount of the payment
or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who is entitled to it under this
section.
(b) If this section or any part of this section is preempted by federal law with respect to a
payment, an item of property, or any other benefit covered by this section, a former spouse,
relative of the former spouse, or any other person who, not for value, received a payment,
item of property, or any other benefit to which that person is not entitled under this section
is obligated to return that payment, item of property, or benefit, or is personally liable for the
amount of the payment or the value of the item of property or benefit, to the person who
would have been entitled to it were this section or part of this section not preempted.
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To achieve the transferor's tax objectives, the court may modify the terms of a governing
instrument in a manner that is not contrary to the transferor's probable intention. The court may
provide that the modification has retroactive effect.
Part 9
Custody and Deposit of Wills
Part 10
Honorary Trusts
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(c) For the purposes of Section 75-2-707, the residuary clause is treated as creating a future
interest under the terms of a trust.
(d) The intended use of the principal or income can be enforced by an individual designated for
that purpose in the trust instrument or, if none, by an individual appointed by a court upon
application to it by an individual.
(e) Except as ordered by the court or required by the trust instrument, no filing, report,
registration, periodic accounting, separate maintenance of funds, appointment, or fee is
required by reason of the existence of the fiduciary relationship of the trustee.
(f) A court may reduce the amount of the property transferred, if it determines that that amount
substantially exceeds the amount required for the intended use. The amount of the reduction,
if any, passes as unexpended trust property under Subsection (3)(b).
(g) If no trustee is designated or no designated trustee is willing or able to serve, a court shall
name a trustee. A court may order the transfer of the property to another trustee, if required
to assure that the intended use is carried out and if no successor trustee is designated in the
trust instrument or if no designated successor trustee agrees to serve or is able to serve. A
court may also make such other orders and determinations as shall be advisable to carry out
the intent of the transferor and the purpose of this section.
Part 12
Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities
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(4) The language in a governing instrument is inoperative to the extent it produces a period of time
that exceeds 1,000 years after if, in measuring a period from the creation of a trust or other
property arrangement, the language:
(a) seeks to disallow the vesting or termination of any interest or trust beyond;
(b) seeks to postpone the vesting or termination of any interest or trust until; or
(c) seeks to operate in effect in any similar fashion upon, the later of:
(i) the expiration of a period of time not exceeding 1,000 years; or
(ii) the expiration of a period of time that exceeds or might exceed 1,000 years.
(5) If a nongeneral power of appointment is exercised to create a new presently exercisable
general power of appointment, all property interests subject to that new presently exercisable
general power of appointment are invalid unless, within 1,000 years after the creation of the
new presently exercisable general power of appointment, the property interests that are subject
to the new presently exercisable general power of appointment vest or terminate.
(6) If a nongeneral power of appointment is exercised to create a new or successive nongeneral
power of appointment or a new or successive testamentary general power of appointment, all
property interests subject to the exercise of that new or successive nongeneral or testamentary
general power of appointment are invalid unless, within 1,000 years from the time of creation
of the original instrument or conveyance creating the original nongeneral power of appointment
that is exercised to create a new or successive nongeneral or testamentary general power of
appointment, the property interests that are subject to the new or successive nongeneral or
testamentary general power of appointment vest or terminate.
75-2-1205 Reformation.
Upon the petition of an interested person, a court shall reform a disposition in the manner that
most closely approximates the transferor's manifested plan of distribution and is within the 1,000
years allowed by Section 75-2-1203 if:
(1) a nonvested property interest or a power of appointment becomes invalid under Section
75-2-1203;
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(2) a class gift is not but might become invalid under Section 75-2-1203 and the time has arrived
when the share of any class member is to take effect in possession or enjoyment; or
(3) a nonvested property interest that is not validated by Section 75-2-1203 can vest but not within
1,000 years after its creation.
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(1) If the property interest is payable to one person, it shall be distributed to that person. If the
property interest is payable to more than one person, it shall be distributed to the persons to
whom the property interest is then payable:
(a) in the shares to which the persons are entitled; or
(b) equally among all persons who are entitled to shares if not specified.
(2) If the property interest is payable in the discretion of a trustee and is payable to one person, it
shall be distributed to that person. If the property interest is payable to more than one person, it
shall be distributed to the persons eligible to receive it:
(a) in the shares to which the persons are entitled; or
(b) equally among all persons who are entitled to shares if not specified.
(3) When there is no person then living to whom a property interest may be distributed under
Subsection (1) or (2), it shall be payable to one or more organizations described in 26 U.S.C.
2055(a) Internal Revenue Code, or successor provisions and in the shares or proportions that
the trustee or trustees then acting may determine.
75-2-1209 Real estate conveyed to a trust under the Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities.
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On or after the effective date, when title to real property is granted to the trustee of a trust
governed by Title 75, Chapter 2, Part 12, Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities, the terms of the
trust, provisions regarding the appointment of successor trustees, and the names and addresses of
successor trustees must be disclosed in accordance with Section 75-7-816.
Part 13
Transition Provisions
Chapter 2a
Advance Health Care Directive Act
75-2a-101 Title.
This chapter is known as the "Advance Health Care Directive Act."
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(ii) promote an advance health care directive system that can be administered effectively within
the health care system;
(d) surrogate decisions made on behalf of an adult who previously had capacity to make health
care decisions, but who has lost health care decision making capacity should be based on:
(i) input from the incapacitated adult, to the extent possible under the circumstances;
(ii) specific preferences expressed by the adult prior to the loss of health care decision making
capacity;
(iii) the surrogate's understanding of the adult's health care preferences; and
(iv) the surrogate's understanding of what the adult would have wanted under the
circumstances; and
(e) surrogate decisions made on behalf of an adult who has never had health care decision
making capacity should be made on the basis of the adult's best interest.
(2) In recognition of the dignity and privacy that each adult is entitled to expect, and to protect the
right of an adult to refuse to be treated without the adult's consent, the Legislature declares that
this state recognizes the right to make binding advance health care directives directing health
care providers to:
(a) provide life sustaining medically indicated health care;
(b) withhold or withdraw health care; or
(c) provide health care only to the extent set forth in an advance health care directive.
75-2a-103 Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Adult" means a person who is:
(a) at least 18 years of age; or
(b) an emancipated minor.
(2) "Advance health care directive":
(a) includes:
(i) a designation of an agent to make health care decisions for an adult when the adult cannot
make or communicate health care decisions; or
(ii) an expression of preferences about health care decisions;
(b) may take one of the following forms:
(i) a written document, voluntarily executed by an adult in accordance with the requirements of
this chapter; or
(ii) a witnessed oral statement, made in accordance with the requirements of this chapter; and
(c) does not include a life with dignity order.
(3) "Agent" means a person designated in an advance health care directive to make health care
decisions for the declarant.
(4) "APRN" means a person who is:
(a) certified or licensed as an advance practice registered nurse under Subsection 58-31b-301(2)
(d);
(b) an independent practitioner;
(c) acting under a consultation and referral plan with a physician; and
(d) acting within the scope of practice for that person, as provided by law, rule, and specialized
certification and training in that person's area of practice.
(5) "Best interest" means that the benefits to the person resulting from a treatment outweigh the
burdens to the person resulting from the treatment, taking into account:
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(a) the effect of the treatment on the physical, emotional, and cognitive functions of the person;
(b) the degree of physical pain or discomfort caused to the person by the treatment or the
withholding or withdrawal of treatment;
(c) the degree to which the person's medical condition, the treatment, or the withholding or
withdrawal of treatment, result in a severe and continuing impairment of the dignity of the
person by subjecting the person to humiliation and dependency;
(d) the effect of the treatment on the life expectancy of the person;
(e) the prognosis of the person for recovery with and without the treatment;
(f) the risks, side effects, and benefits of the treatment, or the withholding or withdrawal of
treatment; and
(g) the religious beliefs and basic values of the person receiving treatment, to the extent these
may assist the decision maker in determining the best interest.
(6) "Capacity to appoint an agent" means that the adult understands the consequences of
appointing a particular person as agent.
(7) "Declarant" means an adult who has completed and signed or directed the signing of an
advance health care directive.
(8) "Default surrogate" means the adult who may make decisions for an individual when either:
(a) an agent or guardian has not been appointed; or
(b) an agent is not able, available, or willing to make decisions for an adult.
(9) "Emergency medical services provider" means a person who is licensed, designated, or
certified under Title 26, Chapter 8a, Utah Emergency Medical Services System Act.
(10) "Generally accepted health care standards":
(a) is defined only for the purpose of:
(i) this chapter and does not define the standard of care for any other purpose under Utah law;
and
(ii) enabling health care providers to interpret the statutory form set forth in Section 75-2a-117;
and
(b) means the standard of care that justifies a provider in declining to provide life sustaining care
because the proposed life sustaining care:
(i) will not prevent or reduce the deterioration in the health or functional status of a person;
(ii) will not prevent the impending death of a person; or
(iii) will impose more burden on the person than any expected benefit to the person.
(11) "Health care" means any care, treatment, service, or procedure to improve, maintain,
diagnose, or otherwise affect a person's physical or mental condition.
(12) "Health care decision":
(a) means a decision about an adult's health care made by, or on behalf of, an adult, that is
communicated to a health care provider;
(b) includes:
(i) selection and discharge of a health care provider and a health care facility;
(ii) approval or disapproval of diagnostic tests, procedures, programs of medication, and orders
not to resuscitate; and
(iii) directions to provide, withhold, or withdraw artificial nutrition and hydration and all other
forms of health care; and
(c) does not include decisions about an adult's financial affairs or social interactions other than as
indirectly affected by the health care decision.
(13) "Health care decision making capacity" means an adult's ability to make an informed decision
about receiving or refusing health care, including:
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(a) the ability to understand the nature, extent, or probable consequences of health status and
health care alternatives;
(b) the ability to make a rational evaluation of the burdens, risks, benefits, and alternatives of
accepting or rejecting health care; and
(c) the ability to communicate a decision.
(14) "Health care facility" means:
(a) a health care facility as defined in Title 26, Chapter 21, Health Care Facility Licensing and
Inspection Act; and
(b) private offices of physicians, dentists, and other health care providers licensed to provide
health care under Title 58, Occupations and Professions.
(15) "Health care provider" is as defined in Section 78B-3-403, except that it does not include an
emergency medical services provider.
(16)
(a) "Life sustaining care" means any medical intervention, including procedures, administration
of medication, or use of a medical device, that maintains life by sustaining, restoring, or
supplanting a vital function.
(b) "Life sustaining care" does not include care provided for the purpose of keeping a person
comfortable.
(17) "Life with dignity order" means an order, designated by the Department of Health under
Section 75-2a-106(5)(a), that gives direction to health care providers, health care facilities,
and emergency medical services providers regarding the specific health care decisions of the
person to whom the order relates.
(18) "Minor" means a person who:
(a) is under 18 years of age; and
(b) is not an emancipated minor.
(19) "Physician" means a physician and surgeon or osteopathic surgeon licensed under Title 58,
Chapter 67, Utah Medical Practice Act or Chapter 68, Utah Osteopathic Medical Practice Act.
(20) "Physician assistant" means a person licensed as a physician assistant under Title 58,
Chapter 70a, Physician Assistant Act.
(21) "Reasonably available" means:
(a) readily able to be contacted without undue effort; and
(b) willing and able to act in a timely manner considering the urgency of the circumstances.
(22) "Substituted judgment" means the standard to be applied by a surrogate when making
a health care decision for an adult who previously had the capacity to make health care
decisions, which requires the surrogate to consider:
(a) specific preferences expressed by the adult:
(i) when the adult had the capacity to make health care decisions; and
(ii) at the time the decision is being made;
(b) the surrogate's understanding of the adult's health care preferences;
(c) the surrogate's understanding of what the adult would have wanted under the circumstances;
and
(d) to the extent that the preferences described in Subsections (22)(a) through (c) are unknown,
the best interest of the adult.
(23) "Surrogate" means a health care decision maker who is:
(a) an appointed agent;
(b) a default surrogate under the provisions of Section 75-2a-108; or
(c) a guardian.
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(B) the majority of the class of surrogates with the highest priority under Section 75-2a-111; or
(C) a person directed to sign the order by, and on behalf of, the persons described in
Subsection (3)(b)(ii)(A) or (B); or
(iii) if the person to whom the life with dignity order relates is a minor, by a parent or guardian of
the minor.
(4) If a life with dignity order relates to a minor and directs that life sustaining treatment be withheld
or withdrawn from the minor, the order shall include a certification by two physicians that, in
their clinical judgment, an order to withhold or withdraw life sustaining treatment is in the best
interest of the minor.
(5) A life with dignity order:
(a) shall be in writing, on a form approved by the Department of Health;
(b) shall state the date on which the order was made;
(c) may specify the level of life sustaining care to be provided to the person to whom the order
relates; and
(d) may direct that life sustaining care be withheld or withdrawn from the person to whom the
order relates.
(6) A health care provider or emergency medical service provider, licensed or certified under Title
26, Chapter 8a, Utah Emergency Medical Services System Act, is immune from civil or criminal
liability, and is not subject to discipline for unprofessional conduct, for:
(a) complying with a life with dignity order in good faith; or
(b) providing life sustaining treatment to a person when a life with dignity order directs that the life
sustaining treatment be withheld or withdrawn.
(7) To the extent that the provisions of a life with dignity order described in this section conflict
with the provisions of an advance health care directive made under Section 75-2a-107, the
provisions of the life with dignity order take precedence.
(8) An adult, or a parent or guardian of a minor, may revoke a life with dignity order by:
(a) orally informing emergency service personnel;
(b) writing "void" across the form;
(c) burning, tearing, or otherwise destroying or defacing:
(i) the form; or
(ii) a bracelet or other evidence of the life with dignity order;
(d) asking another adult to take the action described in this Subsection (8) on the person's behalf;
(e) signing or directing another adult to sign a written revocation on the person's behalf;
(f) stating, in the presence of an adult witness, that the person wishes to revoke the order; or
(g) completing a new life with dignity order.
(9)
(a) Except as provided in Subsection (9)(c), a surrogate for an adult who lacks health care
decision making capacity may only revoke a life with dignity order if the revocation is
consistent with the substituted judgment standard.
(b) Except as provided in Subsection (9)(c), a surrogate who has authority under this section
to sign a life with dignity order may revoke a life with dignity order, in accordance with
Subsection (9)(a), by:
(i) signing a written revocation of the life with dignity order; or
(ii) completing and signing a new life with dignity order.
(c) A surrogate may not revoke a life with dignity order during the period of time beginning when
an emergency service provider is contacted for assistance, and ending when the emergency
ends.
(10)
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(a) The Department of Health shall adopt rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah
Administrative Rulemaking Act, to:
(i) create the forms and systems described in this section; and
(ii) develop uniform instructions for the form established in Section 75-2a-117.
(b) The Department of Health may adopt rules, in accordance with Title 63G, Chapter 3, Utah
Administrative Rulemaking Act, to designate health care professionals, in addition to those
described in Subsection (2)(b)(ii), who may prepare a life with dignity order.
(c) The Department of Health may assist others with training of health care professionals
regarding this chapter.
(11) A physician assistant may not prepare or sign a life with dignity order, unless the physician
assistant is permitted to prepare or sign the life with dignity order under the physician
assistant's delegation of services agreement, as defined in Section 58-70a-102.
75-2a-107 Advance health care directive -- Appointment of agent -- Powers of agent -- Health
care directions.
(1)
(a) An adult may make an advance health care directive in which the adult may:
(i) appoint a health care agent or choose not to appoint a health care agent;
(ii) give directions for the care of the adult after the adult loses health care decision making
capacity;
(iii) choose not to give directions;
(iv) state conditions that must be met before life sustaining treatment may be withheld or
withdrawn;
(v) authorize an agent to consent to the adult's participation in medical research;
(vi) nominate a guardian;
(vii) authorize an agent to consent to organ donation;
(viii) expand or limit the powers of a health care agent; and
(ix) designate the agent's access to the adult's medical records.
(b) An advance health care directive may be oral or written.
(c) An advance health care directive shall be witnessed by a disinterested adult. The witness
may not be:
(i) the person who signed the directive on behalf of the declarant;
(ii) related to the declarant by blood or marriage;
(iii) entitled to any portion of the declarant's estate according to the laws of intestate succession
of this state or under any will or codicil of the declarant;
(iv) the beneficiary of any of the following that are held, owned, made, or established by, or on
behalf of, the declarant:
(A) a life insurance policy;
(B) a trust;
(C) a qualified plan;
(D) a pay on death account; or
(E) a transfer on death deed;
(v) entitled to benefit financially upon the death of the declarant;
(vi) entitled to a right to, or interest in, real or personal property upon the death of the declarant;
(vii) directly financially responsible for the declarant's medical care;
(viii) a health care provider who is:
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75-2a-109 Effect of current health care preferences -- When a surrogate may act.
(1) An adult with health care decision making capacity retains the right to make health care
decisions as long as the adult has health care decision making capacity as defined in Section
75-2a-103. For purposes of this chapter, the inability to communicate through speech does not
mean that the adult lacks health care decision making capacity.
(2) An adult's current health care decisions, however expressed or indicated, always supersede an
adult's prior decisions or health care directives.
(3) Unless otherwise directed in an advance health care directive, an advance health care directive
or the authority of a surrogate to make health care decisions on behalf of an adult:
(a) is effective only after a physician, physician assistant, or APRN makes a determination of
incapacity as provided in Section 75-2a-104;
(b) remains in effect during any period of time in which the declarant lacks capacity to make
health care decisions; and
(c) ceases to be effective when:
(i) a declarant disqualifies a surrogate or revokes the advance health care directive;
(ii) a health care provider finds that the declarant has health care decision making capacity;
(iii) a court issues an order invalidating a health care directive; or
(iv) the declarant has challenged the finding of incapacity under the provisions of Subsection
75-2a-104(3).
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(3) An advance health care directive that conflicts with an earlier advance health care directive
revokes the earlier directive to the extent of the conflict.
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(4)
(a) Health care providers and health care facilities shall:
(i) cooperate with a person authorized under this chapter to make written directives concerning
health care;
(ii) unless the provisions of Subsection (4)(b) apply, comply with:
(A) a health care decision of an adult; and
(B) a health care decision made by the highest ranking surrogate then authorized to make
health care decisions for an adult, to the same extent as if the decision had been made by
the adult;
(iii) before implementing a health care decision made by a surrogate, make a reasonable
attempt to communicate to the adult on whose behalf the decision is made:
(A) the decision made; and
(B) the identity of the surrogate making the decision.
(b) A health care provider or health care facility may decline to comply with a health care decision
if:
(i) in the opinion of the health care provider:
(A) the adult who made the decision lacks health care decision making capacity;
(B) the surrogate who made the decision lacks health care decision making capacity;
(C) the health care provider has evidence that the surrogate's instructions are inconsistent
with the adult's health care instructions, or, for a person who has always lacked health
care decision making capacity, that the surrogate's instructions are inconsistent with the
best interest of the adult; or
(D) there is reasonable doubt regarding the status of a person claiming the right to act as a
default surrogate, in which case the health care provider shall comply with Subsection
75-2a-108(6); or
(ii) the health care provider declines to comply for reasons of conscience.
(c) A health care provider or health care facility that declines to comply with a health care
decision in accordance with Subsection (4)(b) must:
(i) promptly inform the adult and any acting surrogate of the reason for refusing to comply with
the health care decision;
(ii) make a good faith attempt to resolve the conflict; and
(iii) provide continuing care to the patient until the issue is resolved or until a transfer can be
made to a health care provider or health care facility that will implement the requested
instruction or decision.
(d) A health care provider or health care facility that declines to comply with a health care
instruction, after meeting the obligations set forth in Subsection (4)(c) may transfer the adult
to a health care provider or health care facility that will carry out the requested health care
decisions.
(e) A health care facility may decline to follow a health care decision for reasons of conscience
under Subsection (4)(b)(ii) if:
(i) the health care decision is contrary to a policy of the facility that is expressly based on
reasons of conscience;
(ii) the policy was timely communicated to the adult and an adult's surrogate;
(iii) the facility promptly informs the adult, if possible, and any surrogate then authorized to
make decisions for the adult;
(iv) the facility provides continuing care to the adult until a transfer can be made to a health care
facility that will implement the requested instruction or decision; and
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(v) unless an adult or surrogate then authorized to make health care decisions for the adult
refuses assistance, immediately make all reasonable efforts to assist in the transfer of the
adult to another health care facility that will carry out the instructions or decisions.
(5) A health care provider and health care facility:
(a) may not require or prohibit the creation or revocation of an advance health care directive as a
condition for providing health care; and
(b) shall comply with all state and federal laws and regulations governing advance health care
directives.
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Agent's Name:
______________________________________________________________
Street Address:
______________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip Code:
______________________________________________________________
Home Phone: ( ) _________ Cell Phone: ( ) _________ Work Phone: ( ) __________
C. My Alternate Agent
This person will serve as your agent if your agent, named above, is unable or unwilling to serve.
Alternate Agent's Name:
______________________________________________________
Street Address:
______________________________________________________________
City, State, Zip Code:
______________________________________________________________
Home Phone: ( ) _________ Cell Phone: ( ) _________ Work Phone: ( ) __________
D. Agent's Authority
If I cannot make decisions or speak for myself (in other words, after my physician or another
authorized provider finds that I lack health care decision making capacity under Section
75-2a-104 of the Advance Health Care Directive Act), my agent has the power to make any
health care decision I could have made such as, but not limited to:
• Consent to, refuse, or withdraw any health care. This may include care to prolong my life
such as food and fluids by tube, use of antibiotics, CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), and
dialysis, and mental health care, such as convulsive therapy and psychoactive medications.
This authority is subject to any limits in paragraph F of Part I or in Part II of this directive.
• Hire and fire health care providers.
• Ask questions and get answers from health care providers.
• Consent to admission or transfer to a health care provider or health care facility, including a
mental health facility, subject to any limits in paragraphs E and F of Part I.
• Get copies of my medical records.
• Ask for consultations or second opinions.
My agent cannot force health care against my will, even if a physician has found that I lack
health care decision making capacity.
E. Other Authority
My agent has the powers below ONLY IF I initial the "yes" option that precedes the statement.
I authorize my agent to:
YES _____ NO _____ Get copies of my medical records at any time, even when I can
speak for myself.
YES _____ NO _____ Admit me to a licensed health care facility, such as a hospital,
nursing home, assisted living, or other facility for long-term placement other than convalescent
or recuperative care.
F. Limits/Expansion of Authority
I wish to limit or expand the powers of my health care agent as follows:
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
G. Nomination of Guardian
Even though appointing an agent should help you avoid a guardianship, a guardianship may
still be necessary. Initial the "YES" option if you want the court to appoint your agent or, if
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your agent is unable or unwilling to serve, your alternate agent, to serve as your guardian, if a
guardianship is ever necessary.
YES _____ NO _____ I, being of sound mind and not acting under duress, fraud, or other
undue influence, do hereby nominate my agent, or if my agent is unable or unwilling to serve, I
hereby nominate my alternate agent, to serve as my guardian in the event that, after the date of
this instrument, I become incapacitated.
H. Consent to Participate in Medical Research
YES _____ NO _____ I authorize my agent to consent to my participation in medical
research or clinical trials, even if I may not benefit from the results.
I. Organ Donation
YES _____ NO _____ If I have not otherwise agreed to organ donation, my agent may
consent to the donation of my organs for the purpose of organ transplantation.
____________________________________________________________________________
Part II: My Health Care Wishes (Living Will)
I want my health care providers to follow the instructions I give them when I am being treated,
even if my instructions conflict with these or other advance directives. My health care providers
should always provide health care to keep me as comfortable and functional as possible.
Choose only one of the following options, numbered Option 1 through Option 4, by placing your
initials before the numbered statement. Do not initial more than one option. If you do not wish
to document end-of-life wishes, initial Option 4. You may choose to draw a line through the
options that you are not choosing.
Option 1
________ Initial
I choose to let my agent decide. I have chosen my agent carefully. I have talked with my agent
about my health care wishes. I trust my agent to make the health care decisions for me that I
would make under the circumstances.
Additional Comments:
_____________________________________________________________________
Option 2
________ Initial
I choose to prolong life. Regardless of my condition or prognosis, I want my health care team
to try to prolong my life as long as possible within the limits of generally accepted health care
standards.
Other:
_____________________________________________________________________
Option 3
________ Initial
I choose not to receive care for the purpose of prolonging life, including food and fluids by tube,
antibiotics, CPR, or dialysis being used to prolong my life. I always want comfort care and
routine medical care that will keep me as comfortable and functional as possible, even if that
care may prolong my life.
If you choose this option, you must also choose either (a) or (b), below.
______ Initial
(a) I put no limit on the ability of my health care provider or agent to withhold or withdraw life-
sustaining care.
If you selected (a), above, do not choose any options under (b).
______ Initial
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(b) My health care provider should withhold or withdraw life-sustaining care if at least one of
the following initialed conditions is met:
_____ I have a progressive illness that will cause death.
_____ I am close to death and am unlikely to recover.
_____ I cannot communicate and it is unlikely that my condition will improve.
_____ I do not recognize my friends or family and it is unlikely that my condition will improve.
_____ I am in a persistent vegetative state.
Other:
_____________________________________________________________________
Option 4
________ Initial
I do not wish to express preferences about health care wishes in this directive.
Other:
_____________________________________________________________________
Additional instructions about your health care wishes:
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
If you do not want emergency medical service providers to provide CPR or other life sustaining
measures, you must work with a physician or APRN to complete an order that reflects your
wishes on a form approved by the Utah Department of Health.
Part III: Revoking or Changing a Directive
I may revoke or change this directive by:
1. Writing "void" across the form, or burning, tearing, or otherwise destroying or defacing this
document or directing another person to do the same on my behalf;
2. Signing a written revocation of the directive, or directing another person to sign a revocation
on my behalf;
3. Stating that I wish to revoke the directive in the presence of a witness who: is 18 years
of age or older; will not be appointed as my agent in a substitute directive; will not become a
default surrogate if the directive is revoked; and signs and dates a written document confirming
my statement; or
4. Signing a new directive. (If you sign more than one Advance Health Care Directive, the
most recent one applies.)
Part IV: Making My Directive Legal
I sign this directive voluntarily. I understand the choices I have made and declare that I am
emotionally and mentally competent to make this directive. My signature on this form revokes
any living will or power of attorney form, naming a health care agent, that I have completed in
the past.
____________________________________
Date
________________________________________________
Signature
____________________________________________________________________________
City, County, and State of Residence
I have witnessed the signing of this directive, I am 18 years of age or older, and I am not:
1. related to the declarant by blood or marriage;
2. entitled to any portion of the declarant's estate according to the laws of intestate succession
of any state or jurisdiction or under any will or codicil of the declarant;
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3. a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, trust, qualified plan, pay on death account, or transfer
on death deed that is held, owned, made, or established by, or on behalf of, the declarant;
4. entitled to benefit financially upon the death of the declarant;
5. entitled to a right to, or interest in, real or personal property upon the death of the declarant;
6. directly financially responsible for the declarant's medical care;
7. a health care provider who is providing care to the declarant or an administrator at a health
care facility in which the declarant is receiving care; or
8. the appointed agent or alternate agent.
_____________________________________ __________________________________
Signature of Witness Printed Name of Witness
_____________________________________ ___________ _________
_________
Street Address City State Zip Code
If the witness is signing to confirm an oral directive, describe below the circumstances under
which the directive was made.
______________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
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(b) executed prior to January 1, 2008, in this state under the provisions of Chapter 2, Part 11,
Personal Choice and Living Will Act;
(2) a health care directive executed under the provisions of this chapter shall be governed pursuant
to the provisions of this chapter that were in effect at that time, unless it appears from the
directive that the declarant intended the current provisions of this chapter to apply; and
(3) the health care directive described in Subsection (1) is presumed to comply with the
requirements of this chapter.
75-2a-123 Pregnancy.
(1) A health care directive that provides for the withholding or withdrawal of life sustaining
procedures has no force during the course of a declarant's pregnancy.
(2) Subsection (1) does not negate the appointment of a health care agent during the course of a
declarant's pregnancy.
75-2a-125 Severability.
If any one or more provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of
this chapter, or the application of this chapter to any person or circumstance, is found to be
unconstitutional, the same is hereby declared to be severable and the balance of this chapter
shall remain effective notwithstanding such unconstitutionality. The Legislature hereby declares
that it would have passed this chapter, and each provision, section, subsection, sentence, clause,
phrase, or word of this chapter, irrespective of the fact that any one or more provision, section,
subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word be declared unconstitutional.
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Chapter 2b
Uniform Disposition of Community Property Rights At Death Act
75-2b-101 Title.
This chapter is known as the "Uniform Disposition of Community Property Rights at Death Act."
75-2b-102 Application.
This chapter applies to the disposition at death of the following property acquired by a married
person:
(1) all personal property, wherever situated:
(a) which was acquired as or became, and remained, community property under the laws of
another jurisdiction;
(b) all or the proportionate part of that property acquired with the rents, issues, or income of, or
the proceeds from, or in exchange for, that community property; or
(c) traceable to that community property; and
(2) all or the proportionate part of any real property situated in this state which was acquired with
the rents, issues or income of, the proceeds from, or in exchange for, property acquired as or
which became, and remained, community property under the laws of another jurisdiction, or
property traceable to that community property.
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This chapter does not prevent married persons from severing or altering their interests in
property to which this chapter applies.
Chapter 3
Probate of Wills and Administration
Part 1
General Provisions
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or claimed by anyone by virtue of the decedent's title during the time period for testacy
proceedings.
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proceedings to construe a duly probated will of a decedent, whether or not the estate of the
decedent is being, or previously has been, administered or distributed.
75-3-107 Probate and testacy proceedings -- Ultimate time limit -- Presumption and order of
intestacy.
(1) An informal probate proceeding or formal testacy proceeding, other than a proceeding to
probate a will previously probated at the testator's domicile, may not be commenced more than
three years after the decedent's death, except:
(a) if a previous proceeding was dismissed because of doubt about the fact of the decedent's
death, appropriate probate or testacy proceedings may be maintained at any time thereafter
upon a finding that the decedent's death occurred prior to the initiation of the previous
proceeding and the applicant or petitioner has not delayed unduly in initiating the subsequent
proceeding;
(b) appropriate probate or testacy proceedings may be maintained in relation to the estate of an
absent, disappeared, or missing person for whose estate a conservator has been appointed,
at any time within three years after the conservator becomes able to establish the death of the
protected person; or
(c) a proceeding to contest an informally probated will and to secure appointment of the person
with legal priority for appointment in the event the contest is successful, may be commenced
within the later of 12 months from the informal probate or three years from the decedent's
death.
(2) The limitations provided in Subsection (1) do not apply to proceedings to construe probated
wills or determine heirs of an intestate. In cases under Subsection (1)(a) or (b), the date on
which a testacy proceeding is properly commenced shall be considered to be the date of the
decedent's death for purposes of other limitations provisions of this title which relate to the date
of death.
(3) If no will is probated within three years from death, the presumption of intestacy is final and the
court shall upon filing a proper petition enter an order to that effect.
(4) Notwithstanding the time restriction in Subsection (1), the court has continuing jurisdiction to:
(a) determine what property was owned by the decedent at the time of death; and
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Part 2
Venue for Probate and Administration - Priority to Administer - Demand for Notice
75-3-201 Venue for first and subsequent estate proceedings -- Location of property.
(1) Venue for the first informal or formal testacy or appointment proceedings after a decedent's
death is:
(a) In the county where the decedent had his domicile at the time of his death.
(b) If the decedent was not domiciled in this state, in any county where property of the decedent
was located at the time of his death.
(2) Venue for all subsequent proceedings involving administration and distribution of decedent's
estates is in the place where the initial proceeding occurred, unless the initial proceeding has
been transferred as provided in Subsection (3) of this section or in Section 75-1-303.
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(3) If the first proceeding was informal, on application of an interested person and after notice to
the proponent in the first proceeding, the court, upon finding that venue is elsewhere, may
transfer the proceeding and the file to the other court.
(4) For the purpose of aiding determinations concerning location of assets which may be relevant
in cases involving nondomiciliaries, a debt, other than one evidenced by investment or
commercial paper or other instrument in favor of a nondomiciliary, is located where the debtor
resides, or if the debtor is a person other than an individual, at the place where it has its
principal office. Commercial paper, investment paper, and other instruments are located where
the instrument is. An interest in property held in trust is located where the trustee may be sued.
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priority, those of them who do not renounce must concur in nominating another to act for them
or in applying for appointment in informal proceedings. When two or more persons share a
priority, any one or more of them who do not renounce may nominate another to act or apply
for appointment in formal proceedings. Before appointing fewer than all persons who share a
priority and who have not renounced or nominated another, the court must determine that those
sharing the priority, although given notice of the formal proceedings, have failed to request
appointment or to nominate another for appointment, and that administration is necessary.
(4) Conservators of the estates of protected persons, or if there is no conservator, any guardian,
except a guardian ad litem of a minor or incapacitated person, may exercise the same right to
nominate, to object to another's appointment, or to participate in determining the preference of
a majority in interest of the heirs and devisees that the protected person or ward would have if
qualified for appointment.
(5) Appointment of one who does not have priority under Subsection (1) or priority resulting from
renunciation or nomination determined pursuant to this section may be made only in formal
proceedings. Before appointing one without priority, the court must determine that those having
priority, although given notice of the proceedings, have failed to request appointment or to
nominate another for appointment, and that administration is necessary.
(6) No person is qualified to serve as a personal representative who is:
(a) under the age of 21;
(b) a person whom the court finds unsuitable in formal proceedings.
(7) A personal representative appointed by a court of the decedent's domicile has priority
over all other persons except where the decedent's will nominates different persons to be
personal representative in this state and in the state of domicile. The domiciliary personal
representative may nominate another, who shall have the same priority as the domiciliary
personal representative.
(8) This section governs priority for appointment of a successor personal representative but does
not apply to the selection of a special administrator.
Part 3
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(5) An application for informal appointment of an administrator in intestacy shall state in addition to
the statements required by Subsection (2):
(a) That after the exercise of reasonable diligence, the applicant is unaware of any unrevoked
testamentary instrument relating to property having a situs in this state under Section
75-1-301, or, a statement why any such instrument of which he may be aware is not being
probated;
(b) The priority of the person whose appointment is sought and the names of any other persons
having a prior or equal right to the appointment under Section 75-3-203;
(c) If bond is required, the estimated value of the personal and real estate of the decedent and of
the income expected from the personal and real estate during the next year.
(6) An application for appointment of a personal representative to succeed a personal
representative appointed under a different testacy status shall refer to the order in the most
recent testacy proceeding, state the name and address of the person whose appointment is
sought and of the person whose appointment will be terminated if the application is granted,
and describe the priority of the applicant.
(7) An application for appointment of a personal representative to succeed a personal
representative who has tendered a resignation as provided in Subsection 75-3-610(3), or
whose appointment has been terminated by death or removal, shall adopt the statements in
the application or petition which led to the appointment of the person being succeeded, except
as specifically changed or corrected, state the name and address of the person who seeks
appointment as successor, and describe the priority of the applicant.
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(g) it appears from the application that the time limit for original probate has not expired.
(2) The application shall be denied if it indicates that a personal representative has been appointed
in another county of this state or except as provided in Subsection (4), if it appears that this or
another will of the decedent has been the subject of a previous probate order.
(3) A will which appears to have the required signatures and which contains an attestation clause
showing that requirements of execution under Section 75-2-502, 75-2-503, or 75-2-506 have
been met shall be probated without further proof. In other cases, the registrar may assume
execution if the will appears to have been properly executed, or he may accept a sworn
statement or affidavit of any person having knowledge of the circumstances of execution,
whether or not the person was a witness to the will.
(4) Informal probate of a will which has been previously probated elsewhere may be granted
at any time upon written application by any interested person, together with deposit of an
authenticated copy of the will and of the statement probating it from the office or court where it
was first probated.
(5) A will from a place which does not provide for probate of a will after death and which is not
eligible for probate under Subsection (1) above may be probated in this state upon receipt by
the registrar of a duly authenticated copy of the will and a duly authenticated certificate of its
legal custodian that the copy filed is a true copy and that the will has become operative under
the law of the other place.
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at his address as shown on the application. The failure of an heir or devisee to object to the
granting of the probate within the prescribed period of time shall not affect his right to petition
the court to set the probate aside under Section 75-3-401.
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Part 4
Formal Testacy and Appointment Proceedings
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(3) During the pendency of a formal testacy proceeding, the registrar shall not act upon any
application for informal probate of any will of the decedent or any application for informal
appointment of a personal representative of the decedent.
(4) Unless a petition in a formal testacy proceeding also requests confirmation of the previous
informal appointment, a previously appointed personal representative, after receipt of notice
of the commencement of a formal probate proceeding, must refrain from exercising his power
to make any further distribution of the estate during the pendency of the formal proceeding.
A petitioner who seeks the appointment of a different personal representative in a formal
proceeding also may request an order restraining the acting personal representative from
exercising any of the powers of his office and requesting the appointment of a special
administrator. In the absence of a request, or if the request is denied, the commencement of a
formal proceeding has no effect on the powers and duties of a previously appointed personal
representative other than those relating to distribution.
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children, and other heirs of the decedent, the devisees and executors named in any will that
is being, or has been, probated, or offered for informal or formal probate in the county, or that
is known by the petitioner to have been probated, or offered for informal or formal probate
elsewhere, and any personal representative of the decedent whose appointment has not been
terminated. Notice may be given to other persons. In addition, the petitioner shall give notice
by publication to all unknown persons and to all known persons whose addresses are unknown
who have any interest in the matters being litigated.
(2) If it appears by the petition or otherwise that the fact of the death of the alleged decedent may
be in doubt, or on the written demand of any interested person, a copy of the notice of the
hearing on the petition shall be sent by registered mail to the alleged decedent at his last known
address. The court shall direct the petitioner to report the results of, or make and report back
concerning, a reasonably diligent search for the alleged decedent in any manner that may
seem advisable, including any or all of the following methods:
(a) By inserting in one or more suitable periodicals a notice requesting information from any
person having knowledge of the whereabouts of the alleged decedent;
(b) By notifying law enforcement officials and public welfare agencies in appropriate locations of
the disappearance of the alleged decedent;
(c) By engaging the services of an investigator. The costs of any search so directed shall be paid
by the petitioner if there is no administration or by the estate of the decedent in case there is
administration.
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or attached thereto, unless there is proof of fraud or forgery affecting the acknowledgment or
affidavit.
75-3-408 Formal testacy proceedings -- Will construction -- Effect of final order in another
jurisdiction.
A final order of a court of another state determining testacy, the validity, or construction of a will,
made in a proceeding involving notice to and an opportunity for contest by all interested persons
must be accepted as determinative by the courts of this state if it includes, or is based upon, a
finding that the decedent was domiciled at his death in the state where the order was made.
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the other or contains provisions which work a total revocation by implication. If more than one
instrument is probated, the order shall indicate what provisions control in respect to the nomination
of an executor, if any. The order may, but need not, indicate how any provisions of a particular
instrument are affected by the other instrument. After a final order in a testacy proceeding has
been entered, no petition for probate of any other instrument of the decedent may be entertained,
except incident to a petition to vacate or modify a previous probate order and subject to the time
limits of Section 75-3-412.
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(a) If a personal representative has been appointed for the estate, the time of entry of any order
approving final distribution of the estate, or, if the estate is closed by statement, six months
after the filing of the closing statement.
(b) Whether or not a personal representative has been appointed for the estate of the decedent,
the time prescribed by Section 75-3-107 when it is no longer possible to initiate an original
proceeding to probate a will of the decedent.
(c) Twelve months after the entry of the order sought to be vacated.
Part 5
Supervised Administration
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other restriction on the power of a personal representative which may be ordered by the court must
be endorsed on his letters of appointment and, unless so endorsed, is ineffective as to persons
dealing in good faith with the personal representative.
Part 6
Personal Representative - Appointment, Control, and Termination of Authority
75-3-601 Qualification.
Prior to receiving letters, a personal representative shall qualify by filing with the appointing
court any required bond and a statement of acceptance of the duties of the office.
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(d) On petition of a successor personal representative, any other personal representative of the
same decedent, or any interested person, a proceeding in the court may be initiated against a
surety for breach of the obligation of the bond of the personal representative.
(e) The bond of the personal representative is not void after the first recovery but may be
proceeded against from time to time until the whole penalty is exhausted.
(2) No action or proceeding may be commenced against the surety on any matter as to which an
action or proceeding against the primary obligor is barred by adjudication or limitation.
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The death of a personal representative or the appointment of a conservator for the estate of
a personal representative, terminates his appointment. Until appointment and qualification of
a successor or special representative to replace the deceased or protected representative, the
representative of the estate of the deceased or protected personal representative, if any, has the
duty to protect the estate possessed and being administered by his decedent or ward at the time
his appointment terminates, has the power to perform acts necessary for protection, and shall
account for and deliver the estate assets to a successor or special personal representative upon
his appointment and qualification.
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appoint someone else to be special administrator, or it may otherwise act to protect the estate
and interested persons.
(2) In other cases, any proper person may be appointed special administrator.
Part 7
Duties and Powers of Personal Representatives
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A person to whom general letters are issued first has exclusive authority under the letters until
his appointment is terminated or modified. If, through error, general letters are afterwards issued
to another, the first appointed representative may recover any property of the estate in the hands
of the representative subsequently appointed, but the acts of the latter done in good faith before
notice of the first letters are not void for want of validity of appointment.
75-3-703 General duties -- Relation and liability to persons interested in estate -- Standing to
sue.
(1) A personal representative is a fiduciary who shall observe the standard of care applicable to
trustees as described by Section 75-7-902. A personal representative is under a duty to settle
and distribute the estate of the decedent in accordance with the terms of any probated and
effective will and this code and as expeditiously and efficiently as is consistent with the best
interests of the estate. He shall use the authority conferred upon him by this code, the terms
of the will, if any, and any order in proceedings to which he is party for the best interests of
successors to the estate.
(2) A personal representative shall not be surcharged for acts of administration or distribution if the
conduct in question was authorized at the time. Subject to other obligations of administration,
an informally probated will is authority to administer and distribute the estate according to
its terms. An order of appointment of a personal representative, whether issued in informal
or formal proceedings, is authority to distribute apparently intestate assets to the heirs of
the decedent if, at the time of distribution, the personal representative is not aware of a
pending testacy proceeding, a proceeding to vacate an order entered in an earlier testacy
proceeding, a formal proceeding questioning his appointment or fitness to continue, or a
supervised administration proceeding. Nothing in this section affects the duty of the personal
representative to administer and distribute the estate in accordance with the rights of claimants,
the surviving spouse, any minor and dependent children, and any pretermitted child of the
decedent as described elsewhere in this code.
(3) Except as to proceedings which do not survive the death of the decedent, a personal
representative of a decedent domiciled in this state at his death has the same standing to sue
and be sued in the courts of this state and courts of any other jurisdiction as his decedent had
immediately prior to death.
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shall prepare an inventory of property owned by the decedent at the time of his death, listing it with
reasonable detail, and indicating as to each listed item, its fair market value as of the date of the
decedent's death, and the type and amount of any encumbrance that may exist with reference to
any item. The personal representative shall send a copy of the inventory to interested persons who
request it. He may also file the original of the inventory with the court.
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representative is not required to institute such an action unless requested by creditors who must
pay or secure the cost and expenses of litigation.
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(15) insure the assets of the estate against damage, loss, and liability and himself against liability
as to third persons;
(16) borrow money with or without security to be repaid from the estate assets or otherwise; and
advance money for the protection of the estate;
(17) effect a fair and reasonable compromise with any debtor or obligor, or extend, renew, or in any
manner modify the terms of any obligation owing to the estate. If the personal representative
holds a mortgage, pledge, or other lien upon property of another person, he may, in lieu of
foreclosure, accept a conveyance or transfer of encumbered assets from the owner thereof in
satisfaction of the indebtedness secured by lien;
(18) pay taxes, assessments, compensation of the personal representative, and other expenses
incident to the administration of the estate;
(19) sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights; and consent, directly or through
a committee or other agent, to the reorganization, consolidation, merger, dissolution, or
liquidation of a corporation or other business enterprise;
(20) allocate items of income or expense to either estate income or principal, as permitted or
provided by law;
(21) employ persons, including attorneys, auditors, investment advisers, or agents, even if they are
associated with the personal representative, to advise or assist the personal representative in
the performance of his administrative duties; act without independent investigation upon their
recommendations; and instead of acting personally, employ one or more agents to perform any
act of administration, whether or not discretionary;
(22) prosecute or defend claims or proceedings in any jurisdiction for the protection of the estate
and of the personal representative in the performance of his duties;
(23) sell, mortgage, or lease any real or personal property of the estate or any interest in it for
cash, credit, or for part cash and part credit, and with or without security for unpaid balances;
(24) continue any unincorporated business or venture in which the decedent was engaged at the
time of his death:
(a) in the same business form for a period of not more than four months from the date of
appointment of a general personal representative if continuation is a reasonable means of
preserving the value of the business including good will;
(b) in the same business form for any additional period of time that may be approved by order of
the court in a formal proceeding to which the persons interested in the estate are parties; or
(c) throughout the period of administration if the business is incorporated by the personal
representative and if none of the probable distributees of the business who are competent
adults object to its incorporation and retention in the estate;
(25) incorporate any business or venture in which the decedent was engaged at the time of his
death;
(26) provide for exoneration of the personal representative from personal liability in any contract
entered into on behalf of the estate;
(27) satisfy and settle claims and distribute the estate as provided in this code.
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Part 8
Creditors' Claims
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(5) If a personal representative has not been timely appointed in accordance with this chapter, one
may be appointed for the limited purposes of Subsection (4)(b) for any claim timely brought
against the decedent.
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(a) the payment was made before the expiration of the time limit stated in Subsection (1) and the
personal representative failed to require the payee to give adequate security for the refund of
any of the payment necessary to pay other claimants; or
(b) the payment was made, due to the negligence or willful fault of the personal representative, in
such manner as to deprive the injured claimant of his priority.
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(a) If the claimant consents, he may be paid the present or agreed value of the claim, taking any
uncertainty into account;
(b) Arrangement for future payment, or possible payment, on the happening of the contingency
or on liquidation may be made by creating a trust, giving a mortgage, obtaining a bond or
security from a distributee, or otherwise.
75-3-811 Counterclaims.
In allowing a claim the personal representative may deduct any counterclaim which the estate
has against the claimant. In determining a claim against an estate a court shall reduce the
amount allowed by the amount of any counterclaims and, if the counterclaims exceed the claim,
render a judgment against the claimant in the amount of the excess. A counterclaim, liquidated
or unliquidated, may arise from a transaction other than that upon which the claim is based. A
counterclaim may give rise to relief exceeding in amount or different in kind from that sought in the
claim.
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(2) If the estate either in this state or as a whole is insufficient to cover all family exemptions and
allowances determined by the law of the decedent's domicile, prior charges and claims, after
satisfaction of the exemptions, allowances and charges, each claimant whose claim has been
allowed either in this state or elsewhere in administrations of which the personal representative
is aware, is entitled to receive payment of an equal proportion of his claim. If a preference or
security in regard to a claim is allowed in another jurisdiction but not in this state, the creditor
so benefited is to receive dividends from local assets only upon the balance of his claim after
deducting the amount of the benefit.
(3) In case the family exemptions and allowances, prior charges and claims of the entire estate
exceed the total value of the portions of the estate being administered separately and this
state is not the state of the decedent's last domicile, the claims allowed in this state shall be
paid their proportion if local assets are adequate for the purpose, and the balance of local
assets shall be transferred to the domiciliary personal representative. If local assets are not
sufficient to pay all claims allowed in this state the amount to which they are entitled, local
assets shall be marshalled so that each claim allowed in this state is paid its proportion as far
as possible, after taking into account all dividends on claims allowed in this state from assets in
other jurisdictions.
Part 9
Special Provisions Relating to Distribution
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administration, including the claims of creditors and allowances of surviving spouse and dependent
children, and subject to the rights of others resulting from abatement, retainer, advancement, and
ademption.
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Proof that a distributee has received an instrument or deed of distribution of assets in kind, or
payment in distribution, from a personal representative, is conclusive evidence that the distributee
has succeeded to the interest of the estate in the distributed assets, as against all persons
interested in the estate, except that the personal representative may recover the assets or their
value if the distribution was improper.
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Subject to the rights of creditors and taxing authorities, competent successors may agree
among themselves to alter the interests, shares, or amounts to which they are entitled under
the will of the decedent, or under the laws of intestacy, in any way that they provide in a written
contract executed by all who are affected by its provisions. The personal representative shall
abide by the terms of the agreement, subject to his obligation to administer the estate for the
benefit of creditors, to pay all taxes and costs of administration, and to carry out the responsibilities
of his office for the benefit of any successors of the decedent who are not parties. Personal
representatives of decedents' estates are not required to see to the performance of trusts if the
trustee thereof is another person who is willing to accept the trust. Accordingly, trustees of a
testamentary trust are successors for the purposes of this section. Nothing contained in this
section relieves trustees of any duties owed to beneficiaries of trusts.
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person, the fiduciary or other person required to pay the tax may recover the deficiency from
the person interested in the estate. If the property is not in the possession of the fiduciary or
other person required to pay the tax, the fiduciary or the other person required to pay the tax
may recover from any person interested in the estate the amount of the tax apportioned to the
person in accordance with this section.
(b) If property held by the fiduciary or other person required to pay the tax is distributed
prior to final apportionment of the tax, the fiduciary or other person may require the
distributee to provide a bond or other security for the apportionment liability in the form and
amount prescribed by the fiduciary, with the approval of the court having jurisdiction of the
administration of the estate.
(5)
(a) In making an apportionment, allowances shall be made for any exemptions granted, any
classification made of persons interested in the estate, and any deductions and credits
allowed by the law imposing the tax.
(b) Any exemption or deduction allowed by reason of the relationship of any person to the
decedent or by reason of the purposes of the gift inures to the benefit of the person bearing
that relationship or receiving the gift. When an interest is subject to a prior present interest
which is not allowable as a deduction, the tax apportionable against the present interest shall
be paid from principal.
(c) Any deduction for property previously taxed and any credit for gift taxes or death taxes of a
foreign country paid by the decedent or his estate inures to the proportionate benefit of all
persons liable to apportionment.
(d) Any credit for inheritance, succession, or estate taxes or taxes of this nature in respect to
property or interests includable in the estate inures to the benefit of the persons or interests
chargeable with the payment of the tax to the extent that, or in proportion as, the credit
reduces the tax.
(e) To the extent that property passing to or in trust for a surviving spouse or child or any
charitable, public, or similar gift or bequest does not constitute an allowable deduction for
purposes of the tax solely by reason of an inheritance tax or other death tax imposed upon
and deductible from the property, the property shall not be included in the computation
provided for in Subsection (2), and to that extent no apportionment shall be made against the
property. This does not apply in any instance where the result will be to deprive the estate
of a deduction otherwise allowable under Section 2053(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1954 of the United States, relating to deduction for state death taxes on transfers for public,
charitable, or religious uses.
(6) No interest in income and no estate for years or for life or other temporary interest in any
property or fund is subject to apportionment as between the temporary interest and the
remainder. The tax on the temporary interest and the tax, if any, on the remainder is chargeable
against the corpus of the property or funds subject to the temporary interest and remainder.
(7) Neither the fiduciary nor other person required to pay the tax is under any duty to institute
any suit or proceeding to recover from any person interested in the estate the amount of
the tax apportioned to the person until the expiration of the three months next following final
determination of the tax. A fiduciary or other person required to pay the tax who institutes the
suit or proceeding within a reasonable time after the three months' period is not subject to any
liability or surcharge because any portion of the tax apportioned to any person interested in
the estate was collectible at a time following the death of the decedent but thereafter became
uncollectible. If the fiduciary or other person required to pay the tax cannot collect from any
person interested in the estate the amount of the tax apportioned to the person, the amount not
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recoverable shall be paid from the residuary estate. To the extent that the residuary estate is
not adequate, the balance shall be equitably apportioned among the other persons interested in
the estate who are subject to apportionment.
(8) Subject to this section, a fiduciary acting in another state or a person required to pay the tax
who is domiciled in another state may institute an action in the courts of this state and may
recover a proportionate amount of the federal estate tax, of an estate tax payable to another
state, or of a death duty due by a decedent's estate to another state, from a person interested
in the estate who is either domiciled in this state or who owns property in this state subject to
attachment or execution. For the purposes of the action the determination of apportionment
by the court having jurisdiction of the administration of the decedent's estate in the other
state is prima facie correct. The provisions of this section apply only if the state in which the
determination of apportionment was made affords a substantially similar remedy.
(9) This section does not apply to the apportionment of expenses incurred in connection with the
determination of the amount and apportionment of the taxes due on account of the death of
decedents dying prior to July 1, 1983.
75-3-917 Certain formula clauses to be construed to refer to federal estate and generation-
skipping transfer tax rules applicable to estates of decedents dying after December 31,
2009.
(1) A will or trust of a decedent who dies after December 31, 2009 and before January 1, 2011,
that contains a formula referring to the "unified credit," "estate tax exemption," "applicable
exemption amount," "generation-skipping transfer tax exemption" or "GST exemption," or that
measures a share of an estate or trust based on the amount that can pass free of federal estate
or generation-skipping transfer taxes, or that is otherwise based on a similar provision of federal
estate tax or generation-skipping transfer tax law, shall be considered to refer to the federal
estate and generation-skipping transfer tax laws as they applied with respect to estates of
decedents dying on December 31, 2009.
(a) This provision may not apply with respect to a will or trust executed or amended after
December 31, 2009, or that manifests an intent that a contrary rule shall apply if the decedent
dies on a date on which there is no then-applicable federal estate or generation-skipping
transfer tax.
(b) The reference to January 1, 2011 in Subsection (1) shall, if the federal estate and generation-
skipping transfer tax becomes effective before that date, refer instead to the first date on
which the tax becomes legally effective.
(2) A proceeding to determine whether the decedent intended that the references under
Subsection (1) be construed with respect to the law as it existed after December 31, 2009, shall
be filed within 12 months of the date of death of the testator or grantor. It may be filed by the
personal representative or any affected beneficiary under the will or other instrument.
Part 10
Closing Estates
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Part 11
Compromise of Controversies
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if approved in a formal proceeding in the court for that purpose, is binding on all the parties thereto,
including those unborn, unascertained, or who could not be located. An approved compromise is
binding even though it may affect a trust or an inalienable interest. A compromise does not impair
the rights of creditors or of taxing authorities who are not parties to it.
Part 12
Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit and
Summary Administration Procedure for Small Estates
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(2) A transfer agent of any security shall change the registered ownership on the books of a
corporation from the decedent to the successor or successors upon the presentation of an
affidavit and the security as provided in Subsection (1).
(3) The Motor Vehicle Division of the State Tax Commission shall transfer title of not more than
four boats, motor vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers, registered under Title 41, Motor Vehicles,
or Title 73, Water and Irrigation, from the decedent to the successor or successors upon
presentation of an affidavit as provided in Subsection (1) and upon payment of the necessary
fees, except that in lieu of that language in Subsection (1)(a) the affidavit shall state that the
value of the entire estate subject to administration, wherever located, other than those motor
vehicles, trailers, or semitrailers, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $100,000.
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family allowance, costs and expenses of administration, reasonable funeral expenses, and
reasonable, necessary medical and hospital expenses of the last illness of the decedent;
(c) that the personal representative has fully administered the estate by disbursing and
distributing it to the persons entitled thereto; and
(d) that the personal representative has sent a copy of the closing statement to all distributees
of the estate and to all creditors or other claimants of whom the personal representative is
aware whose claims are neither paid nor barred and has furnished a full account in writing of
administration to the distributees whose interests are affected.
(2) If no actions or proceedings involving the personal representative are pending in the court
one year after the closing statement is filed, the appointment of the personal representative
terminates.
(3) A closing statement filed under this section has the same effect as one filed under Section
75-3-1003.
Chapter 4
Foreign Personal Representatives - Ancillary Administration
Part 1
Definitions
75-4-101 Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Local administration" means administration by a personal representative appointed in this
state pursuant to appointment proceedings described in Chapter 3, Probate of Wills and
Administration.
(2) "Local personal representative" includes any personal representative appointed in this
state pursuant to appointment proceedings described in Chapter 3, Probate of Wills and
Administration, and excludes foreign personal representatives who acquire the power of a local
personal representative under Section 75-4-205.
(3) "Resident creditor" means a person domiciled in, or doing business in this state, who is, or
could be, a claimant against an estate of a nonresident decedent.
Part 2
Powers of Foreign Personal Representatives
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belonging to the estate of the nonresident decedent may pay the debt, deliver the personal
property, or the instrument evidencing the debt, obligation, stock, or chose in action, to the
domiciliary foreign personal representative of the nonresident decedent upon being presented with
proof of his appointment and an affidavit made by or on behalf of the representative stating:
(1) the date of the death of the nonresident decedent;
(2) that no local administration, or application or petition therefor, is pending in this state;
(3) that the domiciliary foreign personal representative is entitled to payment or delivery.
75-4-205 Powers.
A domiciliary foreign personal representative who has complied with Section 75-4-204 may
exercise as to assets in this state all powers of a local personal representative and may maintain
actions and proceedings in this state subject to any conditions imposed upon nonresident parties
generally. The provisions of this section shall not apply to persons other than individuals acting
as foreign personal representatives unless the state of the principal place of business of such
foreign personal representative provides substantially similar provisions applicable to personal
representatives from this state.
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personal representative to act under Section 75-4-205, but the local court may allow the foreign
personal representative to exercise limited powers to preserve the estate. No person who, before
receiving actual notice of a pending local administration, has changed his position in reliance upon
the powers of a foreign personal representative shall be prejudiced by reason of the application
or petition for, or grant of, local administration. The local personal representative is subject to all
duties and obligations which have accrued by virtue of the exercise of the powers by the foreign
personal representative and may be substituted for him in any action or proceedings in this state.
Part 3
Jurisdiction Over Foreign Representatives
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personal representative in the manner in which service could have been made under other laws
of this state on either the foreign personal representative or his decedent immediately prior to
death.
(2) If service is made upon a foreign personal representative as provided in Subsection (1) above
he shall be allowed at least 30 days within which to appear or respond.
Part 4
Judgments and Personal Representative
Chapter 5
Protection of Persons Under Disability and Their Property
Part 1
General Provisions
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the minor's support. Any excess sums shall be preserved for future support of the minor. Any
balance not so used and any property received for the minor must be turned over to the minor
when he attains majority.
(4) Persons receiving money under this section on behalf of a minor shall have the power to settle
and release in whole or in part the claims belonging to the minor giving rise to the duty to pay
money to the minor.
(5) Persons who pay or deliver in accordance with provisions of this section are not responsible for
the proper application thereof.
Part 2
Guardians of Minors
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(a) A document issued by other than a court of law which purports to award guardianship to a
person who is not a legal resident of the jurisdiction in which the guardianship is awarded is
not valid in the state of Utah until reviewed and approved by a Utah court.
(b) The procedure for obtaining approval of a guardianship under Subsection (2)(a) shall be
identical to the procedure required under this part for obtaining a court appointment of a
guardian.
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(4) For purposes of this chapter, "instrumental" refers to a written instrument as described in this
section.
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that jurisdiction and given a copy of the certificate to the superintendent of the school district
in which the minor would attend school in Utah; or
(ii) a release has not been given by or on behalf of the minor to the superintendent of the
school district in which the minor would attend school in Utah within a reasonable time prior
to the guardianship hearing, allowing the superintendent full access to all criminal records
of the minor in those jurisdictions outside the state where the minor has resided during the
previous two years, which release remains part of the minor's school records together with
verification of residence for the previous two years, except that information disclosed in the
criminal records may not be made a part of the minor's school record;
(b) the school district has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that the primary purpose
for the guardianship is to avoid the payment of tuition, which a school district may assess
against a nonresident for attendance at a Utah public school; or
(c) after consideration of relevant evidence, including any presented by the school district in
which the petitioner resides, the minor's behavior indicates an ongoing unwillingness to abide
by applicable law or school rules.
(4) If a school district files an objection for reasons described in Subsection (3)(b), and the court
does not find in favor of the school district, the court may award the petitioner attorney fees and
costs if the court finds that the school district's arguments lack a reasonable basis in law or fact.
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75-5-209 Powers and duties of guardian of minor -- Residual parental rights and duties --
Adoption of a ward.
(1) For purposes of this section, "residual parental rights and duties" is as defined in Section
78A-6-105.
(2) Except as provided in Subsection (4)(a), a guardian of a minor has the powers and
responsibilities of a parent who has not been deprived of custody of the parent's
unemancipated minor, including the powers and responsibilities described in Subsection (3).
(3) A guardian of a minor:
(a) must take reasonable care of the personal effects of the guardian's ward;
(b) must commence protective proceedings if necessary to protect other property of the
guardian's ward;
(c) subject to Subsection (4)(b), may receive money payable for the support of the ward to the
ward's parent, guardian, or custodian under the terms of a:
(i) statutory benefit or insurance system;
(ii) private contract;
(iii) devise;
(iv) trust;
(v) conservatorship; or
(vi) custodianship;
(d) subject to Subsection (4)(b), may receive money or property of the ward paid or delivered by
virtue of Section 75-5-102;
(e) except as provided in Subsection (4)(c), must exercise due care to conserve any excess
money or property described in Subsection (3)(d) for the ward's future needs;
(f) unless otherwise provided by statute, may institute proceedings to compel the performance by
any person of a duty to:
(i) support the ward; or
(ii) pay sums for the welfare of the ward;
(g) is empowered to:
(i) facilitate the ward's education, social, or other activities; and
(ii) subject to Subsection (4)(d), authorize medical or other professional care, treatment, or
advice;
(h) may consent to the:
(i) marriage of the guardian's ward, if specifically authorized by a court to give this consent; or
(ii) adoption of the guardian's ward if the:
(A) guardian of the ward is specifically authorized by a court to give this consent; and
(B) parental rights of the ward's parents have been terminated; and
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(i) must report the condition of the minor and of the minor's estate that has been subject to the
guardian's possession or control:
(i) as ordered by court on petition of any person interested in the minor's welfare; or
(ii) as required by court rule.
(4)
(a) Notwithstanding Subsection (2), a guardian of a minor is not:
(i) legally obligated to provide from the guardian's own funds for the ward; and
(ii) liable to third persons by reason of the guardian's relationship for acts of the ward.
(b) Sums received under Subsection (3)(c) or (d):
(i) may not be used for compensation for the services of a guardian, except as:
(A) approved by court order; or
(B) determined by a duly appointed conservator other than the guardian; and
(ii) shall be applied to the ward's current needs for support, care, and education.
(c) Notwithstanding Subsection (3)(e), if a conservator is appointed for the estate of the ward, the
excess shall be paid over at least annually to the conservator.
(d) A guardian of a minor is not, by reason of giving the authorization described in Subsection
(3)(g)(ii), liable for injury to the minor resulting from the negligence or acts of third persons,
unless it would have been illegal for a parent to have given the authorization.
(5) A parent of a minor for whom a guardian is appointed retains residual parental rights and
duties.
(6) If a parent of a minor for whom a guardian is appointed consents to the adoption of the minor,
the guardian is entitled to:
(a) receive notice of the adoption proceeding pursuant to Section 78B-6-110;
(b) intervene in the adoption; and
(c) present evidence to the court relevant to the best interest of the child pursuant to Subsection
78B-6-110(11).
(7) If a minor for whom a guardian is appointed is adopted subsequent to the appointment, the
guardianship shall terminate when the adoption is finalized.
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that court determine whether to retain jurisdiction or transfer the proceedings to the other court,
whichever is in the best interest of the ward. A copy of any order accepting a resignation or
removing a guardian shall be sent to the court in which acceptance of appointment is filed.
Part 3
Guardians of Incapacitated Persons
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(3) This state shall recognize a testamentary appointment effected by filing acceptance under a will
probated at the testator's domicile in another state.
(4) On the filing with the court in which the will was probated or the written instrument was filed,
of written objection to the appointment by the person for whom a testamentary or instrumental
appointment of guardian has been made, the appointment is terminated. An objection does
not prevent appointment by the court in a proper proceeding of the nominee named by
will or written instrument or any other suitable person upon an adjudication of incapacity in
proceedings under the succeeding sections of this part.
75-5-302 Venue.
The venue for guardianship proceedings for an incapacitated person is in the place where the
incapacitated person resides or is present. If the incapacitated person is admitted to an institution
pursuant to order of a court of competent jurisdiction, venue is also in the county in which that court
sits.
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investigations or observations as directed by the court, and submit a report in writing to the
court.
(5)
(a) The person alleged to be incapacitated shall be present at the hearing in person and see or
hear all evidence bearing upon the person's condition. If the person seeking the guardianship
requests a waiver of presence of the person alleged to be incapacitated, the court shall order
an investigation by a court visitor, the costs of which shall be paid by the person seeking the
guardianship.
(b) The investigation by a court visitor is not required if there is clear and convincing evidence
from a physician that the person alleged to be incapacitated has:
(i) fourth stage Alzheimer's Disease;
(ii) extended comatosis; or
(iii)
(A) an intellectual disability; and
(B) an intelligence quotient score under 25.
(c) The person alleged to be incapacitated is entitled to be represented by counsel, to present
evidence, to cross-examine witnesses, including the court-appointed physician and the visitor,
and to trial by jury. The issue may be determined at a closed hearing without a jury if the
person alleged to be incapacitated or the person's counsel so requests.
(d) Counsel for the person alleged to be incapacitated, as defined in Subsection 75-1-201(22), is
not required if:
(i) the person is the biological or adopted child of the petitioner;
(ii) the value of the person's entire estate does not exceed $20,000 as established by an
affidavit of the petitioner in accordance with Section 75-3-1201;
(iii) the person appears in court with the petitioner;
(iv) the person is given the opportunity to communicate, to the extent possible, the person's
acceptance of the appointment of petitioner;
(v) no attorney from the state court's list of attorneys who have volunteered to represent
respondents in guardianship proceedings is able to provide counsel to the person within 60
days of the date of the appointment described in Subsection (2);
(vi) the court is satisfied that counsel is not necessary in order to protect the interests of the
person; and
(vii) the court appoints a visitor under Subsection (4).
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(3) A guardian appointed by will or written instrument, under Section 75-5-301, whose appointment
has not been prevented or nullified under Subsection 75-5-301(4), has priority over any
guardian who may be appointed by the court, but the court may proceed with an appointment
upon a finding that the testamentary or instrumental guardian has failed to accept the
appointment within 30 days after notice of the guardianship proceeding. Alternatively, the court
may dismiss the proceeding or enter any other appropriate order.
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the nomination was executed and, in the opinion of the court, that person acted with sufficient
mental capacity to make the nomination;
(b) the spouse of the incapacitated person;
(c) an adult child of the incapacitated person;
(d) a parent of the incapacitated person, including a person nominated by will, written instrument,
or other writing signed by a deceased parent;
(e) any relative of the incapacitated person with whom he has resided for more than six months
prior to the filing of the petition;
(f) a person nominated by the person who is caring for him or paying benefits to him;
(g) a specialized care professional, so long as the specialized care professional does not:
(i) profit financially or otherwise from or receive compensation for acting in that capacity, except
for the direct costs of providing guardianship or conservatorship services; or
(ii) otherwise have a conflict of interest in providing those services;
(h) any competent person or suitable institution; or
(i) the Office of Public Guardian under Title 62A, Chapter 14, Office of Public Guardian Act.
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a charge for the service is approved by order of the court made upon notice to at least one
adult relative in the nearest degree of kinship to the ward in which there is an adult; and
(B) the guardian shall exercise care to conserve any excess for the ward's needs.
(f)
(i) A guardian is required to report the condition of the ward and of the estate that has been
subject to the guardian's possession or control, as required by the court or court rule.
(ii) A guardian is required to immediately notify all interested persons if the guardian reasonably
believes that the ward's death is likely to occur within the next 30 days, based on:
(A) the guardian's own observations; or
(B) information from the ward's physician or other medical care providers.
(iii) A guardian is required to immediately notify persons who request notification and are not
restricted in associating with the ward pursuant to Section 75-5-312.5 of:
(A) the ward's admission to a hospital for three or more days or to a hospice program;
(B) the ward's death; and
(C) the arrangements for the disposition of the ward's remains .
(iv) Unless emergency conditions exist, a guardian is required to file with the court a notice of
the guardian's intent to move the ward and to serve the notice on all interested persons
at least 10 days before the move. The guardian shall take reasonable steps to notify all
interested persons and to file the notice with the court as soon as practicable following the
earlier of the move or the date when the guardian's intention to move the ward is made
known to the ward, the ward's care giver, or any other third party.
(v)
(A) If no conservator for the estate of the ward has been appointed, the guardian shall, for all
estates in excess of $50,000, excluding the residence owned by the ward, send a report
with a full accounting to the court on an annual basis.
(B) For estates less than $50,000, excluding the residence owned by the ward, the guardian
shall fill out an informal annual report and mail the report to the court.
(C) A report under Subsection (3)(f)(v)(A) or (B) shall include a statement of assets at the
beginning and end of the reporting year, income received during the year, disbursements
for the support of the ward, and other expenses incurred by the estate. The guardian shall
also report the physical conditions of the ward, the place of residence, and a list of others
living in the same household. The court may require additional information.
(D) The forms for both the informal report for estates under $50,000, excluding the residence
owned by the ward, and the full accounting report for larger estates shall be approved by
the Judicial Council.
(E) An annual report shall be examined and approved by the court.
(F) If the ward's income is limited to a federal or state program requiring an annual accounting
report, a copy of that report may be submitted to the court in lieu of the required annual
report.
(vi) Corporate fiduciaries are not required to petition the court, but shall submit their internal
report annually to the court. The report shall be examined and approved by the court.
(vii) The guardian shall also render an annual accounting of the status of the person to the court
that shall be included in the petition or the informal annual report as required under this
Subsection (3)(f). If a fee is paid for an accounting of an estate, a fee may not be charged
for an accounting of the status of a person.
(viii) If a guardian:
(A) makes a substantial misstatement on filings of annual reports;
(B) is guilty of gross impropriety in handling the property of the ward; or
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(C) willfully fails to file the report required by this Subsection (3)(f), after receiving written
notice from the court of the failure to file and after a grace period of two months has
elapsed, the court may impose a penalty in an amount not to exceed $5,000.
(ix) The court may also order restitution of funds misappropriated from the estate of a ward.
The penalty shall be paid by the guardian and may not be paid by the estate.
(x) The provisions and penalties in this Subsection (3)(f) governing annual reports do not apply
if the guardian or a coguardian is the parent of the ward.
(xi) For the purposes of Subsections (3)(f)(i), (ii), (iii), and (iv), "interested persons" means
those persons required to receive notice in guardianship proceedings as set forth in Section
75-5-309.
(g) If a conservator has been appointed:
(i) all of the ward's estate received by the guardian in excess of those funds expended to
meet current expenses for support, care, and education of the ward shall be paid to the
conservator for management as provided in this code; and
(ii) the guardian shall account to the conservator for funds expended.
(4)
(a) A court may, in the order of appointment, place specific limitations on the guardian's power.
(b) A guardian may not prohibit or place restrictions on association with a relative or qualified
acquaintance of an adult ward, unless permitted by court order under Section 75-5-312.5.
(c) A guardian is not liable to a third person for acts of the guardian's ward solely by reason of the
relationship described in Subsection (2).
(5) Any guardian of one for whom a conservator also has been appointed shall control the custody
and care of the ward and is entitled to receive reasonable sums for services and for room and
board furnished to the ward as agreed upon between the guardian and the conservator, if the
amounts agreed upon are reasonable under the circumstances. The guardian may request
the conservator to expend the ward's estate by payment to third persons or institutions for the
ward's care and maintenance.
(6) A person who refuses to accept the authority of a guardian with authority over financial
decisions to transact business with the assets of the protected person after receiving a certified
copy of letters of guardianship is liable for costs, expenses, attorney fees, and damages if the
court determines that the person did not act in good faith in refusing to accept the authority of
the guardian.
(7) A guardian shall, to the extent practicable, encourage the ward to participate in decisions,
exercise self-determination, act on the ward's own behalf, and develop or regain the capacity to
manage the ward's personal affairs. To the extent known, a guardian, in making decisions, shall
consider the expressed desires and personal values of the ward.
75-5-312.5 Association between an adult ward and a relative of the adult ward.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Associate" or "association" means:
(i) visitation of an adult ward by a relative or qualified acquaintance; or
(ii) communication between an adult ward and a relative or qualified acquaintance in any form,
including by telephone, mail, or electronic communication.
(b) "Qualified acquaintance" means an individual, other than a relative of the adult ward, who:
(i) has established a significant, mutual friendship with the adult ward; or
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(b) "Joint legal decision-making" means parents or two individuals, regardless of whether they
are married, sharing legal decision-making and no individual's rights or responsibilities being
superior except with respect to specified decisions set forth by the court or the individuals in a
final judgment or order.
(c) "Legal decision-making" means the legal right and responsibility to make all nonemergency
legal decisions for a minor including those regarding education, health care, religious training,
and personal care decisions.
(d) "Minor" means the same as that term is defined in Section 75-1-201.
(e) "Physician" means an individual:
(i) licensed as a physician under Title 58, Chapter 67, Utah Medical Practice Act; or
(ii) licensed as a physician under Title 58, Chapter 68, Utah Osteopathic Medical Practice Act.
(f) "Psychologist" means a person licensed under Title 58, Chapter 61, Psychologist Licensing
Act, to engage in the practice of psychology as defined in Section 58-61-102.
(g) "Sole legal decision-making" means one parent or one individual having the legal right and
responsibility to make major decisions for the minor child.
(2)
(a) Notwithstanding the other provisions of this part, a person who may be a guardian of an
incapacitated person under Section 75-5-301 may initiate guardianship proceedings pursuant
to this Subsection (2) for a minor who is at least 17 years, six months of age and who is
alleged to be incapacitated and request that a guardianship order take effect immediately on
the day the minor turns 18 years of age.
(b) The petitioner shall provide with the petition a written report of an evaluation of the minor by a
physician or psychologist that meets the requirements of Subsection (2)(c). If the evaluation
is conducted within six months after the date the petition is filed with the court, the petitioner
may ask in the petition that the court accept this report in lieu of ordering any additional
evaluation and the court may grant the request.
(c) A written report filed pursuant to this section by a physician or psychologist acting within that
person's scope of practice shall include the following information:
(i) a specific description of the physical, psychiatric, or psychological diagnosis of the person;
(ii) a comprehensive assessment listing any functional impairments of the alleged incapacitated
person and an explanation of how and to what extent these functional impairments may
prevent that person from receiving or evaluating information in making decisions or in
communicating informed decisions, with or without assistance, regarding that person;
(iii) an analysis of the tasks of daily living the alleged incapacitated person is capable of
performing independently or with assistance;
(iv) a list of the medications the alleged incapacitated person is receiving, the dosage of the
medications, and a description of the effects each medication has on the person's behavior
to the best of the declarant's knowledge;
(v) a prognosis for improvement in the alleged incapacitated person's condition and a
recommendation for the most appropriate rehabilitation plan or care plan; and
(vi) other information the physician or psychologist considers appropriate.
(3)
(a) Notwithstanding the priorities in Section 75-5-311, if the petition for appointment of a guardian
for the incapacitated person is filed pursuant to Subsection (2) or within two years after the
day the incapacitated person turns 18 years of age, unless the court finds the appointment to
be contrary to the incapacitated person's best interest:
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(i) the court shall appoint as the incapacitated person's guardian any person who, by court
order, had sole legal decision-making of the incapacitated person when the incapacitated
person attained 17 years, six months of age; or
(ii) if two individuals had joint legal decision-making of the incapacitated person when the
incapacitated person attained 17 years, six months of age, the court shall appoint both
individuals as the incapacitated person's coguardians.
(b) If under Subsection (3)(a) the court finds the appointment of an individual described in
Subsection (3)(a) is contrary to the incapacitated person's best interest or if the individual is
unwilling to be appointed or serve as a guardian, the court may apply the priorities in Section
75-5-311 in appointing a guardian.
(4) The court may appoint more than one person as the incapacitated person's coguardians if
the appointment is required by Subsection (3) or the court finds that the appointment is in the
incapacitated person's best interest. If the court appoints coguardians, the coguardians shall
share legal decision-making for the incapacitated person and neither coguardian's rights or
responsibilities are superior except as otherwise ordered by the court.
Part 4
Protection of Property of Persons Under Disability and Minors
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75-5-403 Venue.
Venue for proceedings under this part is:
(1) In the county in this state where the person to be protected resides, whether or not a guardian
has been appointed in another place; or
(2) If the person to be protected does not reside in this state, in any county where he has property.
75-5-405 Notice.
(1) On a petition for appointment of a conservator or other protective order, the person to be
protected and his spouse or, if none, his parents, must be served personally with notice of
the proceeding at least 10 days before the date of the hearing if they can be found within the
state, or, if they cannot be found within the state, they must be given notice in accordance with
Section 75-1-401. Waiver by the person to be protected is not effective unless he attends the
hearing or, unless minority is the reason for the proceeding, waiver is confirmed in an interview
with the visitor.
(2) Notice of a petition for appointment of a conservator or other initial protective order, and of
any subsequent hearing, must be given to any person who has filed a request for notice under
Section 75-5-406 and to interested persons and other persons as the court may direct. Except
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as otherwise provided in Subsection (1) above, notice shall be given in accordance with Section
75-1-401.
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(a) While a petition for appointment of a conservator or other protective order is pending and after
preliminary hearing and without notice to others, the court has power to preserve and apply
the property of the person to be protected as may be required for the person's benefit or the
benefit of the person's dependents.
(b) After hearing and upon determining that a basis for an appointment or other protective order
exists with respect to a minor without other disability, the court has all those powers over the
estate and affairs of the minor which are or might be necessary for the best interests of the
minor, the minor's family, and the members of the minor's household.
(c) After hearing and upon determining that a basis for an appointment or other protective order
exists with respect to a person for reasons other than minority, the court has, for the benefit of
the person and members of the person's household, all the powers over the person's estate
and affairs that the person could exercise if present and not under disability, except the power
to make a will. These powers include the power to:
(i) make gifts;
(ii) convey or release the person's contingent and expectant interests in property including
marital property rights and any right of survivorship incident to joint tenancy or tenancy by
the entirety;
(iii) exercise or release the person's powers as personal representative, custodian for minors,
conservator, or donee of a power of appointment;
(iv) enter into contracts;
(v) create revocable or irrevocable trusts of property of the estate that may extend beyond the
person's disability or life;
(vi) exercise options of the person with a disability to purchase securities or other property;
(vii) exercise the person's rights to elect options and change beneficiaries under insurance and
annuity policies and to surrender the policies for their cash value;
(viii) exercise the person's right to an elective share in the estate of the person's deceased
spouse; and
(ix) renounce any interest by testate or intestate succession or by inter vivos transfer.
(d) The court may exercise, or direct the exercise of, its authority to exercise or release powers
of appointment of which the protected person is donee, to renounce interests, to make
gifts in trust or otherwise exceeding 20% of any year's income of the estate, or to change
beneficiaries under insurance and annuity policies, only if satisfied, after notice and hearing,
that it is in the best interests of the protected person, and that the person either is incapable
of consenting or has consented to the proposed exercise of power.
(2) An order made pursuant to this section determining that a basis for appointment of a
conservator or other protective order exists has no effect on the capacity of the protected
person.
(3) If the court elects to appoint a conservator under Subsection (1), the court may appoint a
temporary conservator to serve until further order of the court. A temporary conservator, if
appointed, has all of the powers and duties of a conservator as set forth in Sections 75-5-417,
75-5-418, 75-5-419, and 75-5-424.
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service, or care arrangement meeting the foreseeable needs of the protected person.
Protective arrangements include, but are not limited to, payment, delivery, deposit, or retention
of funds or property, sale, mortgage, lease, or other transfer of property, entry into an annuity
contract, a contract for life care, a deposit contract, a contract for training and education, or
addition to or establishment of a suitable trust.
(2) When it has been established in a proper proceeding that a basis exists as described in Section
75-5-401 for affecting the property and affairs of a person, the court, without appointing a
conservator, may authorize, direct, or ratify any contract, trust, or other transaction relating to
the protected person's financial affairs or involving his estate if the court determines that the
transaction is in the best interests of the protected person.
(3) Before approving a protective arrangement or other transaction under this section, the court
shall consider the interests of creditors and dependents of the protected person and, in view of
his disability, whether the protected person needs the continuing protection of a conservator.
The court may appoint a special conservator to assist in the accomplishment of any protective
arrangement or other transaction authorized under this section who shall have the authority
conferred by the order and serve until discharged by order after report to the court of all matters
done pursuant to the order of appointment.
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(g) a parent of the protected person, or a person nominated by the will of a deceased parent;
(h) any relative of the protected person with whom he has resided for more than six months prior
to the filing of the petition;
(i) a person nominated by the person who is caring for him or paying benefits to him.
(2) A person in the priorities described in Subsection (1)(a), (e), (f), (g), or (h) may nominate in
writing a person to serve in his stead. With respect to persons having equal priority, the court is
to select the one who is best qualified of those willing to serve. The court, for good cause, may
pass over a person having priority and appoint a person having less priority or no priority.
75-5-411 Bond.
Subject to the provisions of Title 7, Financial Institutions Act, relating to the bonding
requirements for corporate fiduciaries, the court shall require a conservator to furnish a bond
conditioned upon faithful discharge of all duties of the trust according to law, with sureties as it
shall specify, unless the court dispenses with such bond for good cause shown. Unless otherwise
directed, the bond shall be in the amount of the aggregate capital value of the property of the
estate in his control plus one year's estimated income minus the value of securities and cash
deposited under arrangements requiring an order of the court for their removal and the value of
any land which the fiduciary, by express limitation of power, lacks power to sell or convey without
court authorization. The court, in lieu of sureties on a bond, may accept other security for the
performance of the bond, including a pledge of securities or a mortgage of land.
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his address as listed in the petition for appointment, or as thereafter reported to the court, and to
his address as then known to the petitioner.
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(1) A conservator shall act as a fiduciary and shall observe the standards of care as set forth in
Section 75-7-902.
(2) The conservator shall, for all estates in excess of $50,000, excluding the residence owned
by the ward, send a report with a full accounting to the court on an annual basis. For estates
less than $50,000, excluding the residence owned by the ward, the conservator shall fill out an
informal annual report and mail the report to the court. The report shall include the following:
a statement of assets at the beginning and end of the reporting year, income received during
the year, disbursements for the support of the ward, and other expenses incurred by the estate.
The court may require additional information. The forms for both the informal report for estates
under $50,000, excluding the residence owned by the ward, and the full accounting report for
larger estates shall be approved by the judicial council. This annual report shall be examined
and approved by the court.
(3) Corporate fiduciaries are not required to fully petition the court, but shall submit their internal
report annually to the court. The report shall be examined and approved by the court.
(4)
(a) The court may impose a fine in an amount not to exceed $5,000, if, after receiving written
notice of the failure to file and after a grace period of two months have elapsed, a conservator
or corporate fiduciary:
(i) makes a substantial misstatement on filings of any required annual reports;
(ii) is guilty of gross impropriety in handling the property of the ward; or
(iii) willfully fails to file the report required by this section.
(b) The court may also order restitution of funds misappropriated from the estate of a ward.
(c) The penalty shall be paid by the conservator or corporate fiduciary and may not be paid by
the estate.
(5) These provisions and penalties governing annual reports do not apply if the conservator is the
parent of the ward.
75-5-419 Accounts.
(1) Every conservator must account to the court for the administration of the estate upon
resignation or removal and at any other times the court may direct.
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(2) On termination of the protected person's minority or disability, a conservator may account to the
court, the former protected person, or the personal representative of the protected person.
(3) Subject to appeal or vacation within the time permitted, an order, made upon notice and
hearing, allowing an intermediate account of a conservator, adjudicates as to any liabilities
concerning the matters considered in connection with the protected person's account, and an
order, made upon notice and hearing, allowing a final account adjudicates as to all previously
unsettled liabilities of the conservator to the protected person or the protected person's
successors relating to the conservatorship.
(4) In connection with any account, the court may require a conservator to submit to a physical
check of the estate in the conservator's control, to be made in any manner the court may
specify.
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Any sale or encumbrance to a conservator, his spouse, agent, or attorney, or any corporation
or trust in which he has a substantial beneficial interest, or any transaction which is affected by
a substantial conflict of interest, is voidable unless the transaction is approved by the court after
notice to interested persons and others as directed by the court.
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(f) deposit estate funds in a bank including a bank operated by the conservator;
(g) acquire or dispose of an estate asset, including land in another state, for cash or on credit,
at public or private sale; and to manage, develop, improve, exchange, partition, change the
character of, or abandon an estate asset;
(h) make ordinary or extraordinary repairs or alterations in buildings or other structures, demolish
any improvements, and raze existing or erect new party walls or buildings;
(i)
(i) subdivide, develop, or dedicate land to public use;
(ii) make or obtain the vacation of plats and adjust boundaries;
(iii) adjust differences in valuation on exchange or partition by giving or receiving
considerations; and
(iv) dedicate easements to public use without consideration;
(j) enter for any purpose into a lease as lessor or lessee with or without option to purchase or
renew for a term within or extending beyond the term of the conservatorship;
(k) enter into a lease or arrangement for exploration and removal of minerals or other natural
resources or enter into a pooling or unitization agreement;
(l) grant an option involving disposition of an estate asset or take an option for the acquisition of
any asset;
(m) vote a security, in person or by general or limited proxy;
(n) pay calls, assessments, and any other sums chargeable or accruing against or on account of
securities;
(o)
(i) sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights; and
(ii) consent, directly or through a committee or other agent, to the reorganization, consolidation,
merger, dissolution, or liquidation of a corporation or other business enterprise;
(p) hold a security in the name of a nominee or in other form without disclosure of the
conservatorship so that title to the security may pass by delivery, but the conservator is liable
for any act of the nominee in connection with the stock so held;
(q) insure the assets of the estate against damage or loss and the conservator against liability
with respect to third persons;
(r)
(i) borrow money to be repaid from estate assets or otherwise; and
(ii) advance money for the protection of the estate or the protected person, and for all
expenses, losses, and liabilities sustained in the administration of the estate or because of
the holding or ownership of any estate assets, and the conservator has a lien on the estate
as against the protected person for advances so made;
(s)
(i) pay or contest any claim;
(ii) settle a claim by or against the estate or the protected person by compromise, arbitration, or
otherwise; and
(iii) release, in whole or in part, any claim belonging to the estate to the extent that the claim is
uncollectible;
(t) pay taxes, assessments, compensation of the conservator, and other expenses incurred in the
collection, care, administration, and protection of the estate;
(u) allocate items of income or expense to either estate income or principal, as provided by law,
including creation of reserves out of income for depreciation, obsolescence, or amortization,
or for depletion in mineral or timber properties;
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(v) pay any sum distributable to a protected person or dependent without liability to the
conservator, by paying the sum to the distributee or by paying the sum for the use of the
distributee either to the distributee's guardian, or if none, to a relative or other person with
custody of the person;
(w)
(i) employ persons, including attorneys, auditors, investment advisors, or agents, even
though they are associated with the conservator, to advise or assist in the performance of
administrative duties;
(ii) act upon a recommendation made by a person listed in Subsection (4)(w)(i) without
independent investigation; and
(iii) instead of acting personally, employ one or more agents to perform any act of
administration, whether or not discretionary;
(x) prosecute or defend actions, claims, or proceedings in any jurisdiction for the protection of
estate assets and of the conservator in the performance of the conservator's duties;
(y) act as a qualified beneficiary of any trust in which the protected person is a qualified
beneficiary; and
(z) execute and deliver the instruments that will accomplish or facilitate the exercise of the
powers vested in the conservator.
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reasonable to expect that they will be performed and where advance payments are customary
or reasonably necessary under the circumstances.
(2) If the estate is ample to provide for the purposes implicit in the distributions authorized by
Subsection (1), a conservator for a protected person other than a minor has power to make
gifts to charity and other objects as the protected person might have been expected to make, in
amounts which do not exceed in total for any year 20% of the income from the estate.
(3) When a person who is a minor and who has not been adjudged to have a disability under
Subsection 75-5-401(2)(a) attains the age of majority, the person's conservator, after meeting
all prior claims and expenses of administration, shall pay over and distribute all funds and
properties to the former protected person as soon as possible.
(4) When the conservator is satisfied that a protected person's disability, other than minority, has
ceased, the conservator, after meeting all prior claims and expenses of administration, shall
pay over and distribute all funds and properties to the former protected person as soon as
possible.
(5) If a protected person dies, the conservator:
(a) shall:
(i) deliver to the court for safekeeping any will of the deceased protected person that may have
come into the conservator's possession;
(ii) inform the personal representative or a beneficiary named in the will that the conservator
has done so; and
(iii) retain the estate for delivery to a duly appointed personal representative of the decedent or
other persons entitled to it;
(b) may continue to pay the obligations lawfully due against the estate and to protect the estate
from waste, injury, or damages that might reasonably be foreseeable; and
(c) may apply to exercise the powers and duties of a personal representative so that the
conservator may proceed to administer and distribute the decedent's estate without additional
or further appointment, provided that at least 40 days from the death of the protected person
no other person has been appointed personal representative and no application or petition for
appointment is before the court.
(6) Upon application for an order granting the powers of a personal representative to a conservator
as provided in Subsection (5)(c) and after notice as provided in Section 75-3-310, the court
may order the conferral of the power upon determining that there is no objection and endorse
the letters of the conservator to note that the formerly protected person is deceased and that
the conservator has acquired all of the powers and duties of a personal representative. The
making and entry of an order under this section shall have the effect of an order of appointment
of a personal representative as provided in Section 75-3-308 and Chapter 3, Part 6, Personal
Representative - Appointment, Control, and Termination of Authority, Part 7, Duties and
Powers of Personal Representatives, Part 8, Creditors' Claims, Part 9, Special Provisions
Relating to Distribution, and Part 10, Closing Estates, except that the estate in the name of the
conservator, after administration, may be distributed to the decedent's successors without prior
retransfer to the conservator as personal representative.
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75-5-408(1)(b) and 75-5-408(1)(c). The court may, at the time of appointment or later, limit the
powers of a conservator otherwise conferred by Sections 75-5-424 and 75-5-425, or previously
conferred by the court, and may at any time relieve him of any limitation. If the court limits any
power conferred on the conservator by Section 75-5-424 or 75-5-425, the limitation shall be
endorsed upon his letters of appointment.
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(2) The conservator is individually liable for obligations arising from ownership or control of
property of the estate or for torts committed in the course of administration of the estate only if
he is personally at fault.
(3) Claims based on contracts entered into by a conservator in his fiduciary capacity, on obligations
arising from ownership or control of the estate, or on torts committed in the course of
administration of the estate may be asserted against the estate by proceeding against the
conservator in his fiduciary capacity, whether or not the conservator is individually liable
therefor.
(4) Any question of liability between the estate and the conservator individually may be determined
in a proceeding for accounting, surcharge, indemnification, or other appropriate proceeding or
action.
75-5-431 Payment of debt and delivery of property to foreign conservator without local
proceedings.
(1) Any person indebted to a protected person, or having possession of property or of an
instrument evidencing a debt, stock, or chose in action belonging to a protected person, may
pay or deliver to a conservator, guardian of the estate, or other like fiduciary appointed by a
court of the state of residence of the protected person, upon being presented with proof of his
appointment and an affidavit made by him or on his behalf stating:
(a) That no protective proceeding relating to the protected person is pending in this state; and
(b) That the foreign conservator is entitled to payment or to receive delivery.
(2) If the person to whom the affidavit is presented is not aware of any protective proceeding
pending in this state, payment or delivery in response to the demand and affidavit discharges
the debtor or possessor.
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Chapter 5a
Uniform Transfers to Minors Act
75-5a-102 Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Adult" means an individual who is 21 years of age or older.
(2) "Benefit plan" means an employer's plan for the benefit of an employee or partner.
(3) "Broker" means a person lawfully engaged in the business of effecting transactions in securities
or commodities for the person's own account or for the accounts of others.
(4) "Conservator" means a person appointed or qualified by a court to act as general, limited, or
temporary guardian of a minor's property or a person legally authorized to perform substantially
the same functions.
(5) "Court" means the probate division of the district court for the county in which the custodian
resides.
(6) "Custodial property" means:
(a) any interest in property transferred to a custodian under this part; and
(b) the income from and proceeds of that interest in property.
(7) "Custodian" means a person so designated under Section 75-5a-110 or a successor or
substitute custodian designated under Section 75-5a-119.
(8) "Financial institution" means a bank, trust company, savings institution, or credit union,
chartered and supervised under state or federal law.
(9) "Legal representative" means an individual's personal representative or conservator.
(10) "Member of the minor's family" means the minor's parent, stepparent, spouse, grandparent,
brother, sister, uncle, or aunt, whether of the whole or half blood or by adoption.
(11) "Minor" means an individual who is not yet 21 years of age.
(12) "Person" means an individual, corporation, organization, or other legal entity.
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(3) The nomination of a custodian under this section does not create custodial property until
the nominating instrument becomes irrevocable or a transfer to the nominated custodian is
completed under Section 75-5a-110. Unless the nomination of a custodian has been revoked,
upon the occurrence of the future event the custodianship becomes effective and the custodian
shall enforce a transfer of the custodial property under Section 75-5a-110.
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(2) If a person having the right under Section 75-5a-104 has nominated a custodian under that
section to receive the custodial property, the transfer must be made to that person.
(3) If no custodian has been nominated under Section 75-5a-104, or all persons nominated as
custodian die before the transfer or are unable, decline, or are ineligible to serve, a transfer
under this section may be made to an adult member of the minor's family or to a trust company
unless the property exceeds $10,000 in value.
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(i) issued in the name of the transferor, an adult other than the transferor, or a trust company,
followed in substance by the words: "as custodian for ............... (name of minor) under the
Uniform Transfers to Minors Act"; or
(ii) delivered to an adult other than the transferor or to a trust company, endorsed to that person
followed in substance by the words: "as custodian for ............... (name of minor) under the
Uniform Transfers to Minors Act";
(g) an interest in any property not described in Subsections (1)(a) through (f) is transferred to an
adult other than the transferor or to a trust company by a written instrument in substantially
the form set forth in Subsection (2); or
(h) contributions are made into a custodial account at the Utah Educational Savings Plan in
accordance with Title 53B, Chapter 8a, Utah Educational Savings Plan.
(2) An instrument in the following form satisfies the requirements of Subsections (1)(a)(ii) and (1)
(g): "Transfer Under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act
I, ............... (name of transferor or name and representative capacity if a fiduciary)
hereby transfer to ............... (name of custodian), as custodian for ............... (name of minor)
under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, the following: (insert a description of the custodial
property sufficient to identify it).
Dated: ............................................................
........................................................................
(Signature)
.................... (name of custodian) acknowledges receipt of the property described above
as custodian for the minor named above under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act.
Dated: ..........................
........................................................................
(Signature of Custodian)"
(3) A transferor shall place the custodian in control of the custodial property as soon as practicable.
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authority provided in this part. Neither the minor nor the minor's legal representative has any
right, power, duty, or authority regarding the custodial property except as provided in this part.
(3) By making a transfer, the transferor incorporates in the disposition all the provisions of this
part and grants to the custodian, and to any third person dealing with a person designated as
custodian, the respective powers, rights, and immunities provided in this part.
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(a) on a contract properly entered into in the custodial capacity unless the custodian fails to
reveal that capacity and to identify the custodianship in the contract; or
(b) for an obligation arising from control of custodial property or for a tort committed during the
custodianship unless the custodian is personally at fault.
(3) A minor is not personally liable for an obligation arising from ownership of custodial property or
for a tort committed during the custodianship unless the minor is personally at fault.
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a successor custodian other than a transferor under Section 75-5a-105 or to require the
custodian to give appropriate bond.
75-5a-122 Applicability.
This part applies to a transfer within the scope of Section 75-5a-103 made after its effective
date if:
(1) the transfer purports to have been made under the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act; or
(2) the instrument by which the transfer purports to have been made uses in substance the
designation "as custodian under the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act" or "as custodian under the
Uniform Transfers to Minors Act" of any other state, and the application of this part is necessary
to validate the transfer.
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for the coverage of custodial property of that kind or for a transfer from that source at the time
the transfer was made.
(2) This part applies to all transfers made before July 1, 1990, in a manner and form prescribed in
the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act, except as the application impairs constitutionally vested rights
or extends the duration of custodianships in existence on July 1, 1990.
(3) Sections 75-5a-102 and 75-5a-121 regarding the age of a minor for whom custodial property is
held under this part do not apply to custodial property held in a custodianship that terminated
because of the minor's attainment of the age of majority and before July 1, 1990.
Chapter 5b
Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act
Part 1
General Provisions
75-5b-101 Title.
This chapter is known as the "Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings
Jurisdiction Act."
75-5b-102 Definitions.
In this chapter:
(1) "Adult" means an individual who has attained 18 years of age.
(2) "Conservator" means a person appointed by the court to administer the property of an adult,
including a person appointed under Title 75, Chapter 5, Part 4, Protection of Property of
Persons Under Disability and Minors.
(3) "Emergency" means circumstances that likely will result in substantial harm to a respondent's
health, safety, or welfare, and in which the appointment of a guardian is necessary because no
other person has authority to and is willing to act on the respondent's behalf.
(4) "Guardian" means a person appointed by the court to make decisions regarding the person
of an adult, including a person appointed under Title 75, Chapter 5, Part 3, Guardians of
Incapacitated Persons.
(5) "Guardianship order" means an order appointing a guardian.
(6) "Guardianship proceeding" means a proceeding in which an order for the appointment of a
guardian is sought or has been issued.
(7) "Home state" means the state in which the respondent was physically present for at least six
consecutive months immediately before the filing of a petition for the appointment of a guardian
or protective order. A period of temporary absence counts as part of the six-month period.
(8) "Incapacitated person" means an adult for whom a guardian has been appointed.
(9) "Party" means the respondent, petitioner, guardian, conservator, or any other person allowed
by the court to participate in a guardianship or protective proceeding.
(10) "Person," except in the terms "incapacitated person" or "protected person," means an
individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company,
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Subsection (1)(b), and any evaluation or assessment prepared in compliance with an order
under Subsection (1)(c) or (d);
(f) issue any order necessary to assure the appearance in the proceeding of a person whose
presence is necessary for the court to make a determination, including the respondent or the
incapacitated or protected person; and
(g) issue an order authorizing the release of medical, financial, criminal, or other relevant
information in that state, including protected health information as defined in 45 Code of
Federal Regulations Section 164.504.
(2) If a court of another state in which a guardianship or protective proceeding is pending requests
assistance of the kind provided in Subsection (1), a court of this state has jurisdiction for the
limited purpose of granting the request or making reasonable efforts to comply with the request.
Part 2
Jurisdiction
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75-5b-202 Jurisdiction.
A court of this state has jurisdiction to appoint a guardian or issue a protective order for a
respondent if:
(1) this state is the respondent's home state;
(2) on the date the petition is filed, this state is a significant-connection state and:
(a) the respondent does not have a home state or a court of the respondent's home state has
declined to exercise jurisdiction because this state is a more appropriate forum; or
(b) the respondent has a home state, a petition for an appointment or order is not pending in a
court of that state or another significant-connection state, and, before the court makes the
appointment or issues the order:
(i) a petition for an appointment or order is not filed in the respondent's home state;
(ii) an objection to the court's jurisdiction is not filed by a person required to be notified of the
proceeding; and
(iii) the court in this state concludes that it is an appropriate forum under the factors set forth in
Section 75-5b-205;
(3) this state does not have jurisdiction under either Subsection (1) or (2), the respondent's home
state and all significant-connection states have declined to exercise jurisdiction because
this state is the more appropriate forum, and jurisdiction in this state is consistent with the
constitutions of this state and the United States; or
(4) the requirements for special jurisdiction under Section 75-5b-204 are met.
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attorney fees, investigative fees, court costs, communication expenses, witness fees and
expenses, and travel expenses. The court may not assess fees, costs, or expenses of any kind
against the state or a governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of the state unless
authorized by law other than this chapter.
Part 3
Transfer of Jurisdiction
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(4) The court shall issue an order provisionally granting a petition to transfer a guardianship and
shall direct the guardian to petition for guardianship in the other state if the court is satisfied that
the guardianship will be accepted by the court in the other state and the court finds that:
(a) the incapacitated person is physically present in or is reasonably expected to move
permanently to the other state;
(b) an objection to the transfer has not been made or, if an objection has been made, the objector
has not established that the transfer would be contrary to the interests of the incapacitated
person; and
(c) plans for care and services for the incapacitated person in the other state are reasonable and
sufficient.
(5) The court shall issue a provisional order granting a petition to transfer a conservatorship and
shall direct the conservator to petition for conservatorship in the other state if the court is
satisfied that the conservatorship will be accepted by the court of the other state and the court
finds that:
(a) the protected person is physically present in or is reasonably expected to move permanently
to the other state, or the protected person has a significant connection to the other state
considering the factors in Subsection 75-5b-201(2);
(b) an objection to the transfer has not been made or, if an objection has been made, the objector
has not established that the transfer would be contrary to the interests of the protected
person; and
(c) adequate arrangements will be made for management of the protected person's property.
(6) The court shall issue a final order confirming the transfer and terminating the guardianship or
conservatorship upon its receipt of:
(a) a provisional order accepting the proceeding from the court to which the proceeding is to be
transferred which is issued under provisions similar to Section 75-5b-302; and
(b) the documents required to terminate a guardianship or conservatorship in this state.
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the proceeding is being transferred of a final order issued under provisions similar to Section
75-5b-301 transferring the proceeding to this state.
(6) Not later than 90 days after issuance of a final order accepting transfer of a guardianship or
conservatorship, the court shall determine whether the guardianship or conservatorship needs
to be modified to conform to the law of this state.
(7) In granting a petition under this section, the court shall recognize a guardianship or
conservatorship order from the other state, including the determination of the incapacitated or
protected person's incapacity and the appointment of the guardian or conservator.
(8) The denial by a court of this state of a petition to accept a guardianship or conservatorship
transferred from another state does not affect the ability of the guardian or conservator to
seek appointment as guardian or conservator in this state under Title 75, Chapter 5, Part 3,
Guardians of Incapacitated Persons, if the court has jurisdiction to make an appointment other
than by reason of the provisional order of transfer.
Part 4
Registration and Recognition of Orders from Other States
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Part 5
Miscellaneous Provisions
Chapter 6
Nonprobate Transfers
Part 1
Multiple-Party Accounts
75-6-101 Definitions.
As used in this part:
(1) "Account" means a contract of deposit of funds between a depositor and a financial institution
and includes:
(a) a checking account;
(b) a savings account;
(c) a certificate of deposit;
(d) a share account; and
(e) other like arrangement.
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(2) "Beneficiary" means a person named in a trust account as one for whom a party to the account
is named as trustee.
(3) "Financial institution" means any organization authorized to do business under state or federal
laws relating to financial institutions, including, without limitation:
(a) banks;
(b) trust companies;
(c) industrial banks;
(d) savings banks;
(e) building and loan associations;
(f) savings and loan companies or associations; and
(g) credit unions.
(4) "Joint account" means an account payable on request to one or more of two or more parties
whether or not mention is made of any right of survivorship.
(5)
(a) "Multiple-party account" means any of the following types of account:
(i) a joint account;
(ii) a P.O.D. account; or
(iii) a trust account.
(b) "Multiple-party account" does not include:
(i) accounts established for deposit of funds of a partnership, joint venture, or other association
for business purposes; or
(ii) accounts controlled by one or more persons as the duly authorized agent or trustee for
a corporation, unincorporated association, charitable or civic organization, or a regular
fiduciary or trust account where the relationship is established other than by deposit
agreement.
(6)
(a) "Net contribution" of a party to a joint account as of any given time is the sum of all deposits
to it made by or for the party, less all withdrawals made by or for the party which have not
been paid to or applied to the use of any other party, plus a pro rata share of any interest or
dividends included in the current balance.
(b) "Net contribution" includes, in addition, any proceeds of deposit life insurance added to the
account by reason of the death of the party whose net contribution is in question.
(7)
(a) "Party" means a person, including a minor, who, by the terms of the account, has a present
right, subject to request, to payment from a multiple-party account.
(b) A P.O.D. payee or beneficiary of a trust account is a party only after the account becomes
payable to him by reason of his surviving the original payee or trustee and includes a
guardian, conservator, personal representative, or assignee, including an attaching creditor,
of a party.
(c) "Party" includes a person identified as a trustee of an account for another whether or not a
beneficiary is named.
(d) "Party" does not include any named beneficiary unless the named beneficiary has a present
right of withdrawal.
(8) "Payment" of sums on deposit includes withdrawal, payment on check or other directive of
a party, and any pledge of sums on deposit by a party and any setoff, reduction, or other
disposition of all or part of an account pursuant to a pledge.
(9) "Proof of death" includes a death certificate or record or report which is prima facie proof of
death under Section 75-1-107.
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(10) "P.O.D. account" means an account payable on request to one person during lifetime and on
that person's death to:
(a) one or more P.O.D. payees; or
(b) one or more persons during their lifetimes and on the death of all of them to one or more
P.O.D. payees.
(11) "P.O.D. payee" means a person designated on a P.O.D. account as one to whom the account
is payable on request after the death of one or more persons.
(12) "Request" means a proper request for withdrawal, or a check or order for payment, which
complies with all conditions of the account, including special requirements concerning
necessary signatures and regulations of the financial institution; but if the financial institution
conditions withdrawal or payment on advance notice, for purposes of this part the request for
withdrawal or payment is treated as immediately effective and a notice of intent to withdraw is
treated as a request for withdrawal.
(13) "Sums on deposit" means the balance payable on a multiple-party account, including interest,
dividends, and in addition any deposit life insurance proceeds added to the account by reason
of the death of a party.
(14)
(a) "Trust account" means an account in the name of one or more parties as trustee for one or
more beneficiaries where the relationship is established by the form of the account and the
deposit agreement with the financial institution and there is no subject of the trust other than
the sums on deposit in the account; and it is not essential that payment to the beneficiary be
mentioned in the deposit agreement.
(b) A trust account does not include a regular trust account under a testamentary trust or a trust
agreement which has significance apart from the account, or a fiduciary account arising from
a fiduciary relation such as attorney-client.
(15) "Withdrawal" includes payment to a third person pursuant to check or other directive of a
party.
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(3) Unless a contrary intent is manifested by the terms of the account or the deposit agreement
or there is other clear and convincing evidence of an irrevocable trust, a trust account belongs
beneficially to the trustee during his lifetime, and if two or more parties are named as trustee
on the account, during their lifetimes beneficial rights as between them are governed by
Subsection (1) of this section. If there is an irrevocable trust, the account belongs beneficially to
the beneficiary.
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during the party's lifetime, and not countermanded by other written order of the same party during
his lifetime.
75-6-109 Financial institution protection -- Payment after death or disability -- Joint account.
Any sums in a joint account may be paid, on request, to any party without regard to whether any
other party is incapacitated or deceased at the time the payment is demanded; but payment may
not be made to the personal representative or heirs of a deceased party unless proofs of death
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are presented to the financial institution showing that the decedent was the last surviving party or
unless there is no right of survivorship under Section 75-6-104.
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institution has a right to setoff against the balance in any account in which the party has or had
immediately before his death a present right of withdrawal.
(2) Without regard to the ownership of funds in any multiple-party account and without incurring
liability for wrongful dishonor, conversion, or other liability or damage to any person, a financial
institution may refuse to permit any withdrawals from the account after service on the financial
institution of an attachment, garnishment, execution, or other legal process against the account.
The financial institution shall not be required to pay out any part of the credit balance in the
account pursuant to an attachment, garnishment, judgment, or other legal process issued in
any proceeding against any one or more but less than all of the persons to whom the account
is payable until the institution has been furnished with a certified copy of an order of the court
determining which of the persons owned the credit balance at the time the process was served
on the institution. Payment pursuant to the process in the amount specified in the court order
shall be valid and release the financial institution as to any persons claiming an interest in the
account.
Part 2
Provisions Relating to Effect on Death
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or a separate writing, including a will, executed at the same time as the instrument or
subsequently;
(b) that any money due or to become due under the instrument shall cease to be payable in
event of the death of the promisee or the promisor before payment or demand; or
(c) that any property which is the subject of the instrument shall pass to a person designated by
the decedent in either the instrument or a separate writing, including a will, executed at the
same time as the instrument or subsequently.
(2) Nothing in this section limits the rights of creditors under other laws of this state.
(3) Any provision in a lease of a safety deposit repository to the effect that two or more persons
shall have access to the repository, that purports to create a joint tenancy in the repository
or in the contents of the repository, or that purports to vest ownership of the contents of the
repository in the surviving lessee is ineffective to create joint ownership of the contents of the
repository or to transfer ownership at death of one of the lessees to the survivor. Ownership of
the contents of the repository and devolution of title to these contents is determined according
to rules of law without regard to the lease provisions. The contents of the repository may be
delivered on request to any person who has access to the repository by the terms of the lease
agreement without liability on the part of the financial institution or other person where the
repository is located.
(4) Any motor vehicle, trailer, semitrailer, or boat registration in the names of two or more
individuals shall be deemed to be held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship unless
otherwise indicated.
Part 3
Uniform Transfer on Death Security Registration Act
75-6-301 Title.
This part shall be known as the "Uniform Transfer on Death Security Registration Act."
75-6-302 Definitions.
In this part, unless the context otherwise requires:
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(1) "Beneficiary form" means a registration of a security which indicates the present owner of the
security and the intention of the owner regarding the person who will become the owner of the
security upon the death of the owner.
(2) "Devisee" means any person designated in a will to receive a disposition of real or personal
property.
(3) "Heirs" means those persons, including the surviving spouse, who are entitled under the
statutes of intestate succession to the property of a decedent.
(4) "Person" means an individual, a corporation, an organization, or other legal entity.
(5) "Personal representative" includes executor, administrator, successor personal representative,
special administrator, and persons who perform substantially the same function under the law
governing their status.
(6) "Property" includes both real and personal property or any interest therein and means anything
that may be the subject of ownership.
(7) "Register," including its derivatives, means to issue a certificate showing the ownership of a
certificated security or, in the case of an uncertificated security, to initiate or transfer an account
showing ownership of securities.
(8) "Registering entity" means a person who originates or transfers a security title by registration,
and includes a broker maintaining security accounts for customers and a transfer agent or other
person acting for or as an issuer of securities.
(9) "Security" means a share, participation, or other interest in property, in a business, or in an
obligation of an enterprise or other issuer, and includes a certificated security, an uncertificated
security, and a security account.
(10) "Security account" means:
(a) a reinvestment account associated with a security, a securities account with a broker, a cash
balance in a brokerage account, cash, interest, earnings, or dividends earned or declared
on a security in an account, a reinvestment account, or a brokerage account, whether or not
credited to the account before the owner's death; or
(b) a cash balance or other property held for or due to the owner of a security as a replacement
for or product of an account security, whether or not credited to the account before the
owner's death.
(11) "State" includes any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession subject to the legislative authority of the United
States.
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entity's principal office, the office of its transfer agent or its office making the registration, or by this
or similar statute of the law of the state listed as the owner's address at the time of registration. A
registration governed by the law of a jurisdiction in which this or similar legislation is not in force or
was not in force when a registration in beneficiary form was made is nevertheless presumed to be
valid and authorized as a matter of contract law.
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(2) By accepting a request for registration of a security in beneficiary form, the registering entity
agrees that the registration will be implemented on death of the deceased owner as provided in
this part.
(3) A registering entity is discharged from all claims to a security by the estate, creditors, heirs,
or devisees of a deceased owner if it registers a transfer of the security in accordance with
Section 75-6-307 and does so in good faith reliance on:
(a) the registration;
(b) this part; and
(c) information provided to it by affidavit of the personal representative of the deceased owner,
or by the surviving beneficiary or by the surviving beneficiary's representatives, or other
information available to the registering entity. The protections of this part do not extend to
a reregistration or payment made after a registering entity has received written notice from
any claimant to any interest in the security objecting to implementation of a registration in
beneficiary form. No other notice or other information available to the registering entity affects
its right to protection under this part.
(4) The protection provided by this part to the registering entity of a security does not affect the
rights of beneficiaries in disputes between themselves and other claimants to ownership of the
security transferred or its value or proceeds.
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Part 4
Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act
75-6-401 Title.
This chapter is known as the "Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act."
75-6-402 Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Beneficiary" means a person who receives property under a transfer on death deed.
(2) "Class gift" means a transfer to a group of persons who are classified by their relationship to
one another or the transferor, and who are not individually named in the transferring document.
(3) "Designated beneficiary" means a person designated to receive property in a transfer on death
deed.
(4) "Individual" means a natural person.
(5)
(a) "Joint owner" means an individual who owns property concurrently with one or more other
individuals with a right of survivorship.
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(b) "Joint owner" includes a joint tenant, owner of community property with a right of survivorship,
and tenant by the entirety.
(c) "Joint owner" does not include a tenant in common or owner of community property without a
right of survivorship.
(6) "Natural person" means a human being.
(7) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited
liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.
(8) "Property" means an interest in real property located in this state that is transferable on the
death of the owner.
(9) "Transfer on death deed" means a deed authorized under this chapter.
(10) "Transferor" means an individual, in their individual capacity, who makes a transfer on death
deed.
75-6-403 Applicability.
This chapter applies to a transfer on death deed made before, on, or after May 8, 2018, by a
transferor dying on or after May 8, 2018.
75-6-404 Nonexclusivity.
This chapter does not affect any method of transferring property otherwise permitted under the
law of this state.
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The capacity required to make or revoke a transfer on death deed is the same as that required
to make a will.
75-6-409 Requirements.
A transfer on death deed shall:
(1) contain the essential elements and formalities of a properly recordable inter vivos deed;
(2) state that the transfer to the designated beneficiary is to occur at the transferor's death; and
(3) be recorded before the transferor's death in the public records in the county recorder's office of
the county where the property is located.
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(1) affect an interest or right of the transferor or any other owner, including the right to transfer or
encumber the property;
(2) affect an interest or right of a transferee, even if the transferee has actual or constructive notice
of the deed;
(3) affect an interest or right of the transferor's secured or unsecured creditors or future creditors,
even if they have actual or constructive notice of the deed;
(4) affect the transferor's or designated beneficiary's eligibility for any form of public assistance;
(5) create a legal or equitable interest in favor of the designated beneficiary; or
(6) subject the property to claims or process of the designated beneficiary's creditors.
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75-6-414 Disclaimer.
A beneficiary may disclaim all or part of the beneficiary's interest.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENT
(insert acknowledgment for deed here)
(back of form)
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THE USE OF THIS FORM Q. What does
the Transfer on Death (TOD) deed do? A. When you die, this deed transfers the described
property, subject to any liens or mortgages (or other encumbrances) on the property at your death.
Probate is not required. The TOD deed has no effect until you die. You can revoke it at any time.
You are also free to transfer the property to someone else during your lifetime. If you do not own
any interest in the property when you die, this deed will have no effect. Q. How do I make
a TOD deed? A. Complete this form. Have it acknowledged before a notary public or other
individual authorized by law to take acknowledgments. Record the form in each county where any
part of the property is located. The form has no effect unless it is acknowledged and recorded
before your death. Q. Is the "legal description" of the property necessary? A. Yes.
Q. How do I find the "legal description" of the property? A. This information may be on
the deed you received when you became an owner of the property. This information may also be
available in the office of the county recorder for the county where the property is located. If you
are not absolutely sure, consult a lawyer. Q. Can I change my mind before I record the TOD
deed? A. Yes. If you have not yet recorded the deed and want to change your mind, simply
tear up or otherwise destroy the deed. Q. How do I "record" the TOD deed? A. Take
the completed and acknowledged form to the office of the county recorder of the county where the
property is located. Follow the instructions given by the county recorder to make the form part of
the official property records. If the property is in more than one county, you should record the deed
in each county. Q. Can I later revoke the TOD deed if I change my mind? A. Yes. The
TOD deed is revocable. No one, including the beneficiaries, can prevent you from revoking the
deed. Q. How do I revoke the TOD deed after it is recorded? A. There are three ways
to revoke a recorded TOD deed: (1) Complete and acknowledge a revocation form, and record it
in each county where the property is located. (2) Complete and acknowledge a new TOD deed
that disposes of the same property, and record it in each county where the property is located.
(3) Transfer the property to someone else during your lifetime by a recorded deed that expressly
revokes the TOD deed. You may not revoke the TOD deed by will. Q. I am being pressured
to complete this form. What should I do? A. Do not complete this form under pressure. Seek
help from a trusted family member, a friend, or a lawyer. Q. Do I need to tell the beneficiaries
about the TOD deed? A. No, but it is recommended. Secrecy can cause later complications
and might make it easier for others to commit fraud. Q. If I sign a TOD deed and designate
my two children as beneficiaries, and one of them dies before me, does the interest of my child
that dies before me pass to his or her children? A. No. Everything will go to your surviving
child unless you record a new transfer on death deed to state otherwise. If you have questions
regarding how to word a new transfer on death deed, you are encouraged to consult a lawyer.
Q. I have other questions about this form. What should I do? A. This form is designed to fit
some but not all situations. If you have other questions, you are encouraged to consult a lawyer.
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NOTICE TO OWNER This revocation must be recorded before you die or it will not be
effective. This revocation is effective only as to the interests in the property of owners who sign
this revocation.
IDENTIFYING INFORMATION Owner or Owners of Property Making This Revocation:
___________________________ ______________________________ Printed
name Mailing address ___________________________
______________________________ Printed name
Mailing address Legal description of the property:
___________________________________________________________
REVOCATION I revoke all my previous transfers of this property by transfer on death deed.
SIGNATURE OF OWNER OR OWNERS MAKING THIS REVOCATION
_______________________________ [(SEAL)]_________________ Signature
Date _______________________________
[(SEAL)]_________________ Signature Date
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
(insert acknowledgment here)
(back of form)
COMMON QUESTIONS ABOUT THE USE OF THIS FORM Q. How do I
use this form to revoke a Transfer on Death (TOD) deed? A. Complete this form. Have it
acknowledged before a notary public or other individual authorized to take acknowledgments.
Record the form in the public records in the office of the county recorder of each county where the
property is located. The form must be acknowledged and recorded before your death or it has no
effect. Q. How do I find the "legal description" of the property? A. This information may
be on the TOD deed. It may also be available in the office of the county recorder for the county
where the property is located. If you are not absolutely sure, consult a lawyer. Q. How
do I "record" the form? A. Take the completed and acknowledged form to the office of the
county recorder of the county where the property is located. Follow the instructions given by the
county recorder to make the form part of the official property records. If the property is located in
more than one county, you should record the form in each of those counties. Q. I am being
pressured to complete this form. What should I do? A. Do not complete this form under
pressure. Seek help from a trusted family member, a friend, or a lawyer. Q. Can this form be
used for a partial revocation of a previously filed TOD deed? A. No. This form is to be used
for full revocation of a deed. In the case of a partial revocation, a new TOD deed must be filed.
Q. I have other questions about this form. What should I do? A. This form is designed to fit
some but not all situations. If you have other questions, consult a lawyer.
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Section 101(c) of that act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001(c), or authorize electronic delivery of any of the
notices described in Section 103(b) of that act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 7003(b).
Chapter 7
Utah Uniform Trust Code
Part 1
General Provisions
75-7-101 Title.
This chapter is known as the "Utah Uniform Trust Code."
75-7-102 Scope.
This chapter applies to trusts as defined in Section 75-1-201.
75-7-103 Definitions.
(1) In this chapter:
(a) "Action," with respect to an act of a trustee, includes a failure to act.
(b) "Beneficiary" means a person that:
(i) has a present or future beneficial interest in a trust, vested or contingent; or
(ii) in a capacity other than that of trustee, holds a power of appointment over trust property.
(c) "Charitable trust" means a trust, or portion of a trust, created for a charitable purpose
described in Subsection 75-7-405(1).
(d) "Environmental law" means a federal, state, or local law, rule, regulation, or ordinance relating
to protection of the environment.
(e) "Interests of the beneficiaries" means the beneficial interests provided in the terms of the
trust.
(f) "Jurisdiction," with respect to a geographic area, includes a state or country.
(g) "Power of withdrawal" means a presently exercisable general power of appointment other
than a power exercisable only upon consent of the trustee or a person holding an adverse
interest.
(h) "Qualified beneficiary" means a beneficiary who, on the date the beneficiary's qualification is
determined:
(i) is a current distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal; or
(ii) would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal if the trust
terminated on that date.
(i) "Resident estate" or "resident trust"means:
(i) an estate of a decedent who at death was domiciled in this state;
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(ii) a trust, or a portion of a trust, consisting of property transferred by will of a decedent who at
his death was domiciled in this state; or
(iii) a trust administered in this state.
(j) "Revocable," as applied to a trust, means revocable by the settlor without the consent of the
trustee or a person holding an adverse interest.
(k) "Settlor" means a person, including a testator, who creates, or contributes property to, a trust.
If more than one person creates or contributes property to a trust, each person is a settlor of
the portion of the trust property attributable to that person's contribution except to the extent
another person has the power to revoke or withdraw that portion.
(l) "Spendthrift provision" means a term of a trust which restrains both voluntary and involuntary
transfer or encumbrance of a beneficiary's interest.
(m) "Terms of a trust" means the manifestation of the settlor's intent regarding a trust's provisions
as expressed in the trust instrument or as may be established by other evidence that would
be admissible in a judicial proceeding.
(n) "Trust instrument" means an instrument executed by the settlor that contains terms of the
trust, including any amendments thereto.
(2) Terms not specifically defined in this section have the meanings provided in Section 75-1-201.
75-7-104 Knowledge.
(1) Subject to Subsection (2), a person has knowledge of a fact if the person:
(a) has actual knowledge of it;
(b) has received a notice or notification of it; or
(c) from all the facts and circumstances known to the person at the time in question, has reason
to know it.
(2) An organization that conducts activities through employees has notice or knowledge of a
fact involving a trust only from the time the information was received by an employee having
responsibility to act for the trust, or would have been brought to the employee's attention if
the organization had exercised reasonable diligence. An organization exercises reasonable
diligence if it maintains reasonable routines for communicating significant information to the
employee having responsibility to act for the trust and there is reasonable compliance with
the routines. Reasonable diligence does not require an employee of the organization to
communicate information unless the communication is part of the individual's regular duties or
the individual knows a matter involving the trust would be materially affected by the information.
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(e) the effect of a spendthrift provision, Section 25-6-502, and the rights of certain creditors
and assignees to reach a trust as provided in Part 5, Creditor's Claims - Spendthrift and
Discretionary Trusts;
(f) the power of the court under Section 75-7-702 to require, dispense with, or modify or terminate
a bond;
(g) the effect of an exculpatory term under Section 75-7-1008;
(h) the rights under Sections 75-7-1010 through 75-7-1013 of a person other than a trustee or
beneficiary;
(i) periods of limitation for commencing a judicial proceeding; and
(j) the subject-matter jurisdiction of the court and venue for commencing a proceeding as
provided in Sections 75-7-203 and 75-7-205.
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(1) 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.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in Subsection (3), interested persons may enter into a binding
nonjudicial settlement agreement with respect to any matter involving a trust.
(3) A nonjudicial settlement agreement is valid only to the extent it does not violate a material
purpose of the trust and includes terms and conditions that could be properly approved by the
court under this chapter or other applicable law.
(4) Matters that may be resolved by a nonjudicial settlement agreement include:
(a) the interpretation or construction of the terms of the trust;
(b) the approval of a trustee's report or accounting;
(c) direction to a trustee to refrain from performing a particular act or the grant to a trustee of any
necessary or desirable power;
(d) the resignation or appointment of a trustee and the determination of a trustee's compensation;
(e) transfer of a trust's principal place of administration; and
(f) liability of a trustee for an action relating to the trust.
(5) Any interested person may request the court to approve a nonjudicial settlement agreement,
to determine whether the representation as provided in Part 3, Representation, was adequate,
and to determine whether the agreement contains terms and conditions the court could have
properly approved.
Part 2
Jurisdiction of Court Concerning Trusts
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(b) Proceedings which may be maintained under this section are those concerning:
(i) the administration and distribution of trusts;
(ii) the declaration of rights; and
(iii) the determination of other matters involving trustees and beneficiaries of trusts.
(c) These include, but are not limited to proceedings to:
(i) appoint or remove a trustee;
(ii) review a trustee's fees;
(iii) review and settle interim or final accounts;
(iv) ascertain beneficiaries;
(v) determine any question arising in the administration or distribution of any trust, including
questions of construction of trust instruments;
(vi) instruct trustees;
(vii) determine the existence or nonexistence of any immunity, power, privilege, duty, or right;
and
(viii) order transfer of administration of the trust to another state upon appropriate conditions as
may be determined by the court or accept transfer of administration of a trust from another
state to this state upon such conditions as may be imposed by the supervising court of the
other state, unless the court in this state determines that these conditions are incompatible
with its own rules and procedures.
(2)
(a) A proceeding under this section does not result in continuing supervision by the court over the
administration of the trust.
(b) The management and distribution of a trust estate, submission of accounts and reports to
beneficiaries, payment of trustee's fees and other obligations of a trust, acceptance and
change of trusteeship, and other aspects of the administration of a trust shall proceed
expeditiously consistent with the terms of the trust, free of judicial intervention and without
order, approval or other action of any court, subject to the jurisdiction of the court as invoked
by interested parties or as otherwise exercised as provided by law.
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(1) The district court has exclusive jurisdiction of proceedings in this state brought by a trustee or
beneficiary concerning the administration of a trust.
(2) The district court has concurrent jurisdiction with other courts of this state of other proceedings
involving a trust.
(3) This section does not preclude judicial or nonjudicial alternative dispute resolution.
75-7-205 Venue.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in Subsection (2), venue for a judicial proceeding involving a trust
is in the county 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, in the county in which the decedent's
estate is being administered.
(2) If a trust has no trustee, venue for a judicial proceeding for the appointment of a trustee is in
any county of this state in which a beneficiary resides, in any county in which any trust property
is located, and if the trust is created by will, in the county in which the decedent's estate was or
is being administered.
Part 3
Representation
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(3) Except as otherwise provided in Sections 75-7-411 and 25-6-502, a person who under this part
may represent a settlor who lacks capacity may receive notice and give a binding consent on
the settlor's behalf.
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(2) A guardian ad litem or other representative may act on behalf of the individual represented
with respect to any matter arising under this chapter, whether or not a judicial proceeding
concerning the trust is pending.
(3) In making decisions, a guardian ad litem or other representative may consider general benefit
accruing to the living members of the individual's family.
Part 4
Creation, Validity, Modification, and Termination of Trust
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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 the trustee as
provided in Section 75-2-1001.
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75-7-413 Cy pres.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in Subsection (2), if a particular charitable purpose becomes
unlawful, impracticable, impossible to achieve, or wasteful:
(a) the trust does not fail, in whole or in part;
(b) the trust property does not revert to the settlor or the settlor's successors in interest; and
(c) the court may apply cy pres to modify or terminate the trust by directing that the trust
property be applied or distributed, in whole or in part, in a manner consistent with the settlor's
charitable purposes.
(2) A provision in the terms of a charitable trust that would result in distribution of the trust property
to a noncharitable beneficiary prevails over the power of the court under Subsection (1) to apply
cy pres to modify or terminate the trust only if, when the provision takes effect:
(a) the trust property is to revert to the settlor and the settlor is still living; or
(b) fewer than 21 years have elapsed since the date of the trust's creation.
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Part 5
Creditor's Claims - Spendthrift and Discretionary Trusts
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(c) "Victim" means the same as that term is defined in Section 77-38a-102.
(2) Even if a trust contains a spendthrift provision, the following may obtain from a court an order
attaching present or future distributions to the beneficiary:
(a) a beneficiary's child who has a judgment or court order against the beneficiary for support or
maintenance;
(b) a judgment creditor who has provided services for the protection of a beneficiary's interest in
the trust; or
(c) a victim who has a judgment requiring the beneficiary to pay restitution in accordance with
Title 77, Chapter 38a, Crime Victims Restitution Act, or similar provision in another state.
(3) A spendthrift provision is unenforceable against a claim of this state or the United States to the
extent a statute of this state or federal law so provides.
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(3) After the death of a settlor, and subject to the settlor's right to direct the source from which
liabilities will be paid, the property of a trust that was revocable at the settlor's death, but not
property received by the trust as a result of the death of the settlor which is otherwise exempt
from the claims of the settlor's creditors, is subject to claims of the settlor's creditors, costs
of administration of the settlor's estate, the expenses of the settlor's funeral and disposal of
remains, and statutory allowances to a surviving spouse and children to the extent the settlor's
probate estate is inadequate to satisfy those claims, costs, expenses, and allowances.
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on behalf of the Department of Health, to present any claim under Section 26-19-405 within
60 days from the mailing or other delivery of notice, whichever is later, or be forever barred.
(b) If the trustee does not mail notice to the director of the Office of Recovery Services on behalf
of the department in accordance with Subsection (3)(a), the department shall have one year
from the death of the settlor to present its claim.
(4) The trustee is not liable to any creditor or to any successor of the deceased settlor for giving or
failing to give notice under this section.
(5) The notice to creditors shall be valid against any creditor of the trust and also against any
creditor of the estate of the deceased settlor.
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(1) Claims against a deceased settlor's estate or inter vivos revocable trust shall be presented as
follows:
(a) The claimant may deliver or mail to the trustee, or the trustee's attorney of record, a written
statement of the claim indicating its basis, the name and address of the claimant, and the
amount claimed. The claim is considered presented upon the receipt of the written statement
of claim by the trustee or the trustee's attorney of record. If a claim is not yet due, the date
when it will become due shall be stated. If the claim is contingent or unliquidated, the nature
of the uncertainty shall be stated. If the claim is secured, the security shall be described.
Failure to describe correctly the security, the nature of any uncertainty, and the due date of a
claim not yet due does not invalidate the presentation made.
(b) The claimant may commence a proceeding against the trustee in any court where the trustee
may be subjected to jurisdiction to obtain payment of the claim against the deceased settlor's
estate or the trust estate, but the commencement of the proceeding must occur within the
time limited for presenting the claim. No presentation of claim is required in regard to matters
claimed in proceedings against the deceased settlor which were pending at the time of the
deceased settlor's death.
(2) If a claim is presented under Subsection (1)(a), no proceeding thereon may be commenced
more than 60 days after the trustee has mailed a notice of disallowance; but, in the case of a
claim which is not presently due or which is contingent or unliquidated, the trustee may consent
to an extension of the 60-day period, or to avoid injustice, the court, on petition, may order an
extension of the 60-day period, but in no event may the extension run beyond the applicable
statute of limitations.
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barred. If the notice of disallowance warns the claimant of the impending bar, a claim which
is disallowed in whole or in part by the trustee is barred so far as not allowed, unless the
claimant seeks a court-ordered allowance by filing a petition for allowance in the court or by
commencing a proceeding against the trustee not later than 60 days after the mailing of the
notice of disallowance or partial allowance. If the trustee fails to mail notice to a claimant
of action on the claim within 60 days after the time for original presentation of the claim has
expired, this failure has the effect of a notice of allowance.
(2) Upon the petition of the trustee or a claimant in a proceeding for this purpose, the court may
order any claim presented to the trustee or trustee's attorney in a timely manner and not barred
by Subsection (1) to be allowed in whole or in part. Notice of this proceeding shall be given to
the claimant, the trustee, and those other persons interested in the trust estate as the court may
direct by order at the time the proceeding is commenced.
(3) A judgment in a proceeding in another court against the trustee to enforce a claim against a
deceased settlor's estate is a court-ordered allowance of the claim.
(4) Unless otherwise provided in any judgment in another court entered against a trustee, allowed
claims bear interest at the legal rate for the period commencing six months after the deceased
settlor's date of death unless based on a contract making a provision for interest, in which case
they bear interest in accordance with that provision.
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(2) if the creditor does not have the right to exhaust his security or has not done so, upon the
amount of the claim allowed less the value of the security determined by converting it into
money according to the terms of the agreement pursuant to which the security was delivered to
the creditor, or by the creditor and trustee by agreement, arbitration, compromise, or litigation.
75-7-516 Counterclaims.
(1) In allowing a claim, the trustee may deduct any counterclaim which the deceased settlor's
estate has against the claimant. In determining a claim against a deceased settlor's estate,
a court shall reduce the amount allowed by the amount of any counterclaims and, if the
counterclaims exceed the claim, render a judgment against the claimant in the amount of the
excess.
(2) A counterclaim, liquidated or unliquidated, may arise from a transaction other than that upon
which the claim is based.
(3) A counterclaim may give rise to relief exceeding in amount or different in kind from that sought
in the claim.
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Part 6
Revocable Trusts
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(5) A settlor's powers with respect to revocation, amendment, or distribution of trust property may
be exercised by an agent under a power of attorney only to the extent expressly authorized by
the terms of the trust or the power.
(6) A conservator of the settlor or, if no conservator has been appointed, a guardian of the settlor
may exercise a settlor's powers with respect to revocation, amendment, or distribution of trust
property only with the approval of the court supervising the conservatorship or guardianship.
(7) A trustee who does not know that a trust has been revoked or amended is not liable to the
settlor or settlor's successors in interest for distributions made and other actions taken on the
assumption that the trust had not been amended or revoked.
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(4) A beneficiary of a trust that is determined to have been invalid is liable to return any distribution
received.
Part 7
Office of Trustee
75-7-703 Cotrustees.
(1) Cotrustees who are unable to reach a unanimous decision may act by majority decision.
(2) If a vacancy occurs in a cotrusteeship, the remaining cotrustees may act for the trust.
(3) A cotrustee must participate in the performance of a trustee's function unless the cotrustee is
unavailable to perform the function because of absence, illness, disqualification under other
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law, or other temporary incapacity, or the cotrustee has properly delegated the performance of
the function to another trustee.
(4) If a cotrustee is unavailable to perform duties because of absence, illness, disqualification
under other law, or other temporary incapacity, or if a cotrustee fails or refuses to act after
reasonable notice, and prompt action is necessary to achieve the purposes of the trust or
to avoid injury to the trust property, the remaining cotrustee or a majority of the remaining
cotrustees may act for the trust.
(5) A trustee may not delegate to a cotrustee the performance of a function the settlor intended the
trustees to perform jointly as determined from the terms of the trust. If one of the cotrustees
is a regulated financial service institution qualified to do trust business in this state and the
remaining cotrustees are individuals, a delegation by the individual cotrustees to the regulated
financial service institution of the performance of trust investment functions shall be presumed
to be in accordance with the settlor's intent unless the terms of the trust specifically provide
otherwise. Unless a delegation was irrevocable, a trustee may revoke a delegation previously
made.
(6) Except as otherwise provided in Subsection (7), a trustee who does not join in an action of
another trustee is not liable for the action.
(7) Each trustee shall exercise reasonable care to:
(a) prevent a cotrustee from committing a serious breach of trust; and
(b) compel a cotrustee to redress a serious breach of trust.
(8) A dissenting trustee who joins in an action at the direction of the majority of the trustees and
who notified any cotrustee of the dissent at or before the time of the action is not liable for the
action unless the action is a serious breach of trust.
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(5) Whether or not a vacancy in a trusteeship exists or is required to be filled, the court may
appoint an additional trustee or special fiduciary whenever the court considers the appointment
necessary for the administration of the trust.
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Part 8
Duties and Powers of Trustee
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(c) an agent of the trustee, including but not limited to an attorney, accountant, or financial
advisor; or
(d) a corporation or other person or enterprise in which the trustee, or a person that owns a
significant interest in the trustee, has an interest that might affect the trustee's best judgment.
(4) A transaction between a trustee and a beneficiary that does not concern trust property but that
occurs during the existence of the trust or while the trustee retains significant influence over
the beneficiary and from which the trustee obtains an advantage is voidable by the beneficiary
unless the trustee establishes that the transaction was fair to the beneficiary.
(5) A transaction not concerning trust property in which the trustee engages in the trustee's
individual capacity involves a conflict between personal and fiduciary interests if the transaction
concerns an opportunity properly belonging to the trust.
(6) An investment by a trustee in securities of an investment company or investment trust to which
the trustee, or its affiliate, provides services in a capacity other than as trustee is not presumed
to be affected by a conflict between personal and fiduciary interests if the investment complies
with the prudent investor rule of Section 75-7-901. The trustee may be compensated by the
investment company or investment trust for providing those services out of fees charged to the
trust.
(7) In voting shares of stock or in exercising powers of control over similar interests in other
forms of enterprise, the trustee shall act in the best interests of the beneficiaries. If the trust
is the sole owner of a corporation or other form of enterprise, the trustee shall elect or appoint
directors or other managers who will manage the corporation or enterprise in the best interests
of the beneficiaries.
(8) This section does not preclude the following actions by the trustee:
(a) an agreement between the trustee and a beneficiary relating to the appointment or
compensation of the trustee;
(b) payment of reasonable compensation to the trustee;
(c) a transaction between a trust and another trust, decedent's estate, conservatorship, or
guardianship of which the trustee is a fiduciary or in which a beneficiary has an interest;
(d) a deposit of trust money in a regulated financial service institution operated by the trustee;
(e) an advance by the trustee of money for the protection of the trust;
(f) collecting, holding, and retaining trust assets received from a trustor until, in the judgment
of the trustee, disposition of the assets should be made, even though the assets include an
asset in which the trustee is personally interested;
(g) acquiring an undivided interest in a trust asset in which the trustee, in any trust capacity,
holds an undivided interest;
(h) borrowing money to be repaid from the trust assets or otherwise;
(i) advancing money to be repaid from the assets or otherwise;
(j) employing persons, including attorneys, auditors, investment advisers, or agents, even if they
are associated with the trustee:
(i) to advise or assist the trustee in the performance of the trustee's administrative duties or
perform any act of administration, whether or not discretionary; or
(ii) to act without independent investigation upon their recommendations;
(k) if a governing instrument or order requires or authorizes investment in United States
government obligations, investing in those obligations, either directly or in the form of
securities or other interests, in any open-end or closed-end management type investment
company or investment trust registered under the provisions of the Investment Company Act
of 1940, 15 U.S.C. Sections 80a-1 through 80a-64 if:
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(i) the portfolio of the investment company or investment trust is limited to United States
government obligations, and repurchase agreements are fully collateralized by United
States government obligations; and
(ii) the investment company or investment trust takes delivery of the collateral for any
repurchase agreement either directly or through an authorized custodian.
(9) The court may appoint a special fiduciary to make a decision with respect to any proposed
transaction that might violate this section if entered into by the trustee.
75-7-803 Impartiality.
If a trust has two or more beneficiaries, the trustee shall act impartially in investing, managing,
and distributing the trust property, giving due regard to the beneficiaries' respective interests.
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(b) acquire or sell property, for cash or on credit, at public or private sale;
(c) exchange, partition, or otherwise change the character of trust property;
(d) deposit trust money in an account in a regulated financial service institution;
(e) borrow money, with or without security from any financial institution, including a financial
institution that is serving as a trustee or one of its affiliates, and mortgage or pledge trust
property for a period within or extending beyond the duration of the trust;
(f) with respect to an interest in a proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company,
business trust, corporation, or other form of business or enterprise, continue the business
or other enterprise and take any action that may be taken by shareholders, members, or
property owners, including merging, dissolving, or otherwise changing the form of business
organization or contributing additional capital;
(g) with respect to stocks or other securities, exercise the rights of an absolute owner, including
the right to:
(i) vote, or give proxies to vote, with or without power of substitution, or enter into or continue a
voting trust agreement;
(ii) hold a security in the name of a nominee or in other form without disclosure of the trust so
that title may pass by delivery;
(iii) pay calls, assessments, and other sums chargeable or accruing against the securities, and
sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights; and
(iv) deposit the securities with a depositary or other regulated financial service institution;
(h) with respect to an interest in real property, construct, or make ordinary or extraordinary
repairs to, alterations to, or improvements in, buildings or other structures, demolish
improvements, raze existing or erect new party walls or buildings, subdivide or develop land,
dedicate land to public use or grant public or private easements, and make or vacate plats
and adjust boundaries;
(i) enter into a lease for any purpose as lessor or lessee, including a lease or other arrangement
for exploration and removal of natural resources, with or without the option to purchase or
renew, for a period within or extending beyond the duration of the trust;
(j) grant an option involving a sale, lease, or other disposition of trust property or acquire an
option for the acquisition of property, including an option exercisable beyond the duration of
the trust, and exercise an option so acquired;
(k) insure the property of the trust against damage or loss and insure the trustee, the trustee's
agents, and beneficiaries against liability arising from the administration of the trust;
(l) abandon or decline to administer property of no value or of insufficient value to justify its
collection or continued administration;
(m) with respect to possible liability for violation of environmental law:
(i) inspect or investigate property the trustee holds or has been asked to hold, or property
owned or operated by an organization in which the trustee holds or has been asked to hold
an interest, for the purpose of determining the application of environmental law with respect
to the property;
(ii) take action to prevent, abate, or otherwise remedy any actual or potential violation of any
environmental law affecting property held directly or indirectly by the trustee, whether taken
before or after the assertion of a claim or the initiation of governmental enforcement;
(iii) decline to accept property into trust or disclaim any power with respect to property that is or
may be burdened with liability for violation of environmental law;
(iv) compromise claims against the trust which may be asserted for an alleged violation of
environmental law; and
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(v) pay the expense of any inspection, review, abatement, or remedial action to comply with
environmental law;
(n) pay or contest any claim, settle a claim by or against the trust, and release, in whole or in
part, a claim belonging to the trust;
(o) pay taxes, assessments, compensation of the trustee and of employees and agents of the
trust, and other expenses incurred in the administration of the trust;
(p) exercise elections with respect to federal, state, and local taxes;
(q) select a mode of payment under any employee benefit or retirement plan, annuity, or life
insurance payable to the trustee, exercise rights thereunder, including exercise of the right to
indemnification for expenses and against liabilities, and take appropriate action to collect the
proceeds;
(r) make loans out of trust property, including loans to a beneficiary on terms and conditions the
trustee considers to be fair and reasonable under the circumstances, and the trustee has a
lien on future distributions for repayment of those loans;
(s) pledge trust property to guarantee loans made by others to the beneficiary;
(t) appoint a trustee to act in another jurisdiction with respect to trust property located in the
other jurisdiction, confer upon the appointed trustee all of the powers and duties of the
appointing trustee, require that the appointed trustee furnish security, and remove any trustee
so appointed;
(u) pay an amount distributable to a beneficiary who is under a legal disability or who the trustee
reasonably believes is incapacitated, by paying it directly to the beneficiary or applying it for
the beneficiary's benefit, or by:
(i) paying it to the beneficiary's conservator or, if the beneficiary does not have a conservator,
the beneficiary's guardian;
(ii) paying it to the beneficiary's custodian under Title 75, Chapter 5a, Uniform Transfers to
Minors Act;
(iii) if the trustee does not know of a conservator, guardian, custodian, or custodial trustee,
paying it to an adult relative or other person having legal or physical care or custody of the
beneficiary, to be expended on the beneficiary's behalf; or
(iv) managing it as a separate fund on the beneficiary's behalf, subject to the beneficiary's
continuing right to withdraw the distribution;
(v) on distribution of trust property or the division or termination of a trust, make distributions in
divided or undivided interests, allocate particular assets in proportionate or disproportionate
shares, value the trust property for those purposes, and adjust for resulting differences in
valuation;
(w) resolve a dispute concerning the interpretation of the trust or its administration by mediation,
arbitration, or other procedure for alternative dispute resolution;
(x) prosecute or defend an action, claim, or judicial proceeding in any jurisdiction to protect trust
property and the trustee in the performance of the trustee's duties;
(y) sign and deliver contracts and other instruments that are useful to achieve or facilitate the
exercise of the trustee's powers; and
(z) on termination of the trust, exercise the powers appropriate to finalize the administration of the
trust and distribute the trust property to the persons entitled to it.
(2) A trustee may delegate investment and management functions that a prudent trustee of
comparable skills could properly delegate under the circumstances.
(a) The trustee shall exercise reasonable care, skill, and caution in:
(i) selecting the agent;
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(ii) establishing the scope and terms of the delegation consistent with the purposes of the trust;
and
(iii) periodically reviewing the agent's actions to monitor the agent's performance and
compliance with the terms of the delegation.
(b) In performing a delegated function, an agent has a duty to the trust to exercise reasonable
care to comply with the terms of the delegation.
(c) A trustee who complies with the requirements of this Subsection (2) is not liable to the
beneficiaries or to the trust for the decisions or actions of the agent to whom the function was
delegated.
(3) The trustee may exercise the powers set forth in this section and in the trust either in the name
of the trust or in the name of the trustee as trustee, specifically including the right to take title, to
encumber or convey assets, including real property, in the name of the trust. This Subsection
(3) applies to a trustee's exercise of trust powers. After May 11, 2010, for recording purposes,
the name of the trustee, the address of the trustee, and the name and date of the trust, shall
be included on all recorded documents affecting real property to which the trust is a party in
interest.
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Part 9
Utah Uniform Prudent Investor Act
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(d) the role that each investment or course of action plays within the overall trust portfolio, which
may include financial assets, interests in closely held enterprises, tangible and intangible
personal property, and real property;
(e) the expected total return from income and the appreciation of capital;
(f) other resources of the beneficiaries;
(g) needs for liquidity, regularity of income, and preservation or appreciation of capital; and
(h) an asset's special relationship or special value, if any, to the purposes of the trust or to one or
more of the beneficiaries.
(4) A trustee shall make a reasonable effort to verify facts relevant to the investment and
management of trust assets.
(5) A trustee may invest in any kind of property or type of investment consistent with the standards
of this chapter.
75-7-903 Diversification.
A trustee shall diversify the investments of the trust unless the trustee reasonably determines
that, because of special circumstances, the purposes of the trust are better served without
diversifying.
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(2)
(a) During the time period that a trust is revocable, the trustee may follow any investment
direction of the settlor, including an investment direction that:
(i) is manifestly contrary to the terms of the trust; or
(ii) seriously breaches a fiduciary duty to the beneficiaries.
(b) The trustee is not liable for any loss resulting from following an investment direction described
in Subsection (2)(a).
(3) If the terms of a trust authorize a person to give investment direction to the trustee, the person
authorized to give investment direction:
(a) is presumptively a fiduciary only with respect to an investment direction that the person gives
to the trustee;
(b) is required to act in good faith with regard to:
(i) the purposes of the trust; and
(ii) the interests of the beneficiaries; and
(c) is liable for any loss that results from breach of the fiduciary duty only with respect to an
investment direction that the person gives to the trustee.
(4) Except in cases of willful misconduct or gross negligence, a trustee is not liable for any loss that
results from following an investment direction if:
(a) the terms of a trust authorizes a person to give the investment direction to the trustee; and
(b) the trustee acts in accordance with the investment direction given by a person described in
Subsection (4)(a).
(5) If the terms of a trust require another person's approval or consent to an investment decision of
the trustee:
(a) the person from whom approval or consent is required:
(i) is presumptively a fiduciary;
(ii) is required to act in good faith with regard to:
(A) the purposes of the trust; and
(B) the interests of the beneficiaries; and
(iii) is liable for any loss that results from breach of the fiduciary duty; and
(b) except in cases of willful misconduct or gross negligence, the trustee is not liable for any loss
resulting from any act not taken as a result of the person's failure to respond to a request for
approval or consent.
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Part 10
Liability of Trustees and Rights of Persons Dealing with Trustee
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(1) In a judicial proceeding involving the administration of a trust, the court may, as justice and
equity may require, award costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees, to any
party, to be paid by another party or from the trust that is the subject of the controversy.
(2) If a trustee defends or prosecutes any proceeding in good faith, whether successful or not,
the trustee is entitled to receive from the trust the necessary expenses and disbursements,
including reasonable attorney's fees, incurred.
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(3) The immunity provided by this section does not apply if an interest in the partnership is held by
the trustee in a capacity other than that of trustee or is held by the trustee's spouse or one or
more of the trustee's descendants, siblings, or parents, or the spouse of any of them.
(4) If the trustee of a revocable trust holds an interest as a general partner, the settlor is personally
liable for contracts and other obligations of the partnership as if the settlor were a general
partner.
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the terms of the trust may not be inferred solely from the fact that a copy of all or part of the
trust instrument is held by the person relying upon the certification.
(7) A person who in good faith enters into a transaction in reliance upon a certification of trust may
enforce the transaction against the trust property as if the representations contained in the
certification were correct.
(8) A person making a demand for the trust instrument in addition to a certification of trust or
excerpts is liable for costs, expenses, attorney fees, and damages if the court determines that
the person did not act in good faith in demanding the trust instrument.
(9) This section does not limit the right of a person to obtain a copy of the trust instrument in a
judicial proceeding concerning the trust.
Part 11
Miscellaneous Provisions
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(4) If a right is acquired, extinguished, or barred upon the expiration of a prescribed period that has
commenced to run under any other statute before July 1, 2004, that statute continues to apply
to the right even if it has been repealed or superseded.
Part 12
Foreign Trustees
Chapter 8
Effective Date
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(d) An act done before the effective date in any proceeding and any accrued right is not impaired
by this code. If a right is acquired, extinguished or barred upon the expiration of a prescribed
period of time which has commenced to run by the provisions of any statute before the
effective date, the provisions shall remain in force with respect to that right.
(e) Any rule of construction or presumption provided in this code applies to instruments executed
and multiple-party accounts opened before the effective date unless there is a clear indication
of a contrary intent.
Chapter 9
Uniform Power of Attorney Act
Part 1
General Provisions
75-9-101 Title.
This chapter is known as the "Uniform Power of Attorney Act."
75-9-102 Definitions.
In this chapter:
(1) "Agent" means a person granted authority to act for a principal under a power of attorney,
whether denominated an agent, attorney-in-fact, or otherwise. The term includes an original
agent, coagent, successor agent, and person to which an agent's authority is delegated.
(2) "Durable," with respect to a power of attorney, means not terminated by the principal's
incapacity.
(3) "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical,
electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
(4) "Good faith" means honesty in fact.
(5) "Incapacity" means the inability of an individual to manage property or business affairs because
the individual:
(a) has an impairment in the ability to receive and evaluate information or make or communicate
decisions even with the use of technological assistance; or
(b) is:
(i) missing;
(ii) detained, including incarcerated in a penal system; or
(iii) outside the United States and unable to return.
(6) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited
liability company, association, joint venture, public corporation, government or governmental
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality, or any other legal or commercial entity.
(7) "Power of attorney" means a writing or other record that grants authority to an agent to act in
the place of the principal, whether or not the term power of attorney is used.
(8) "Presently exercisable general power of appointment," with respect to property or a property
interest subject to a power of appointment, means power exercisable at the time in question
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to vest absolute ownership in the principal individually, the principal's estate, the principal's
creditors, or the creditors of the principal's estate. The term includes a power of appointment
not exercisable until the occurrence of a specified event, the satisfaction of an ascertainable
standard, or the passage of a specified period only after the occurrence of the specified event,
the satisfaction of the ascertainable standard, or the passage of the specified period. The term
does not include a power exercisable in a fiduciary capacity or only by will.
(9) "Principal" means an individual who grants authority to an agent in a power of attorney.
(10) "Property" means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, or
legal or equitable, or any interest or right therein.
(11) "Record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an
electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(12) "Sign" means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record:
(a) to execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
(b) to attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic sound, symbol, or process.
(13) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United
States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the
United States.
(14) "Stocks and bonds" means stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and all other types of securities and
financial instruments, whether held directly, indirectly, or in any other manner. The term does
not include commodity futures contracts and call or put options on stocks or stock indexes.
75-9-103 Applicability.
This chapter applies to all powers of attorney except:
(1) a power to the extent it is coupled with an interest in the subject of the power, including a power
given to or for the benefit of a creditor in connection with a credit transaction;
(2) a power to make health care decisions;
(3) a proxy or other delegation to exercise voting rights or management rights with respect to an
entity; and
(4) a power created on a form prescribed by a government or governmental subdivision, agency, or
instrumentality for a governmental purpose.
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(2) If the principal resides or is about to reside in a hospital, assisted living, skilled nursing, or
similar facility, at the time of execution of the power of attorney, the principal may not name any
agent that is the owner, operator, health care provider, or employee of the hospital, assisted
living facility, skilled nursing, or similar residential care facility unless the agent is the spouse,
legal guardian, or next of kin of the principal, or unless the agent's authority is strictly limited to
the purpose of assisting the principal to establish eligibility for Medicaid.
(3) A violation of Subsection (2) is a violation of Subsection 76-5-111(4)(a).
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(5) Incapacity of the principal of a power of attorney that is not durable does not revoke or
terminate the power of attorney as to an agent or other person that, without actual knowledge
of the incapacity, acts in good faith under the power of attorney. An act so performed, unless
otherwise invalid or unenforceable, binds the principal and the principal's successors in interest.
(6) The execution of a power of attorney does not revoke a power of attorney previously executed
by the principal unless the subsequent power of attorney provides that the previous power of
attorney is revoked or that all other powers of attorney are revoked.
(7) The principal may revoke or amend a power of attorney:
(a) by substantial compliance with a method provided in the terms of the power of attorney that
expressly excludes all other methods for amending or revoking the power of attorney; or
(b) if the terms of the power of attorney do not provide a method or the method provided in the
terms is not expressly made exclusive, by any other method manifesting clear and convincing
evidence of the principal's intent.
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of judgment, or default of that person if the agent exercises care, competence, and diligence in
selecting and monitoring the person.
(8) Except as otherwise provided in the power of attorney, an agent is not required to disclose
receipts, disbursements, or transactions conducted on behalf of the principal unless ordered
by a court or requested by the principal, a guardian, a conservator, another fiduciary acting for
the principal, a governmental agency having authority to protect the welfare of the principal,
an interested person as defined in Subsection 75-1-201(24) after the principal's incapacity, or
upon the death of the principal, by the personal representative or successor in interest of the
principal's estate. If so requested, within 30 days the agent shall comply with the request or
provide a writing or other record substantiating why additional time is needed and shall comply
with the request within an additional 30 days.
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(1) restore the value of the principal's property to what it would have been had the violation not
occurred; and
(2) reimburse the principal or the principal's successors in interest for the attorney fees and costs
paid on the agent's behalf.
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Part 2
Authority
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(1) demand, buy, lease, receive, accept as a gift or as security for an extension of credit, or
otherwise acquire or reject an interest in real property or a right incident to real property;
(2)
(a) sell;
(b) exchange;
(c) convey with or without covenants, representations, or warranties;
(d) quitclaim;
(e) release;
(f) surrender;
(g) retain title for security;
(h) encumber;
(i) partition;
(j) consent to partitioning;
(k) subject to an easement or covenant;
(l) subdivide;
(m) apply for zoning or other governmental permits;
(n) plat or consent to platting;
(o) develop;
(p) grant an option concerning;
(q) lease;
(r) sublease;
(s) contribute to an entity in exchange for an interest in that entity; or
(t) otherwise grant or dispose of an interest in real property or a right incident to real property;
(3) pledge or mortgage an interest in real property or right incident to real property as security to
borrow money or pay, renew, or extend the time of payment of a debt of the principal or a debt
guaranteed by the principal;
(4) release, assign, satisfy, or enforce by litigation or otherwise a mortgage, deed of trust,
conditional sale contract, encumbrance, lien, or other claim to real property that exists or is
asserted;
(5) manage or conserve an interest in real property or a right incident to real property owned or
claimed to be owned by the principal, including:
(a) insuring against liability or casualty or other loss;
(b) obtaining or regaining possession of or protecting the interest or right by litigation or
otherwise;
(c) paying, assessing, compromising, or contesting taxes or assessments or applying for and
receiving refunds in connection with taxes or assessments; and
(d) purchasing supplies, hiring assistance or labor, and making repairs or alterations to the real
property;
(6) use, develop, alter, replace, remove, erect, or install structures or other improvements upon
real property in or incident to which the principal has, or claims to have, an interest or right;
(7) participate in a reorganization with respect to real property or an entity that owns an interest in
or right incident to real property and receive, hold, and act with respect to stocks and bonds or
other property received in a plan of reorganization, including:
(a) selling or otherwise disposing of stocks and bonds;
(b) exercising or selling an option, right of conversion, or similar right with respect to stocks and
bonds; and
(c) exercising any voting rights in person or by proxy;
(8) change the form of title of an interest in or right incident to real property; and
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(9) dedicate to public use, with or without consideration, easements or other real property in which
the principal has, or claims to have, an interest.
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Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting
general authority with respect to commodities and options authorizes the agent to:
(1) buy, sell, exchange, assign, settle, and exercise commodity futures contracts and call or put
options on stocks or stock indexes traded on a regulated option exchange; and
(2) establish, continue, modify, and terminate option accounts.
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(2) procure new, different, and additional contracts of insurance and annuities for the principal
and the principal's spouse, children, and other dependents, and select the amount, type of
insurance or annuity, and mode of payment;
(3) pay the premium or make a contribution on, modify, exchange, rescind, release, or terminate a
contract of insurance or annuity procured by the agent;
(4) apply for and receive a loan secured by a contract of insurance or annuity;
(5) surrender and receive the cash surrender value on a contract of insurance or annuity;
(6) exercise an election;
(7) exercise investment powers available under a contract of insurance or annuity;
(8) change the manner of paying premiums on a contract of insurance or annuity;
(9) change or convert the type of insurance or annuity with respect to which the principal has or
claims to have authority described in this section;
(10) apply for and procure a benefit or assistance under a statute or regulation to guarantee or pay
premiums of a contract of insurance on the life of the principal;
(11) collect, sell, assign, hypothecate, borrow against, or pledge the interest of the principal in a
contract of insurance or annuity;
(12) select the form and timing of the payment of proceeds from a contract of insurance or annuity;
and
(13) pay, from proceeds or otherwise, compromise or contest, and apply for refunds in connection
with a tax or assessment levied by a taxing authority with respect to a contract of insurance or
annuity or its proceeds or liability accruing by reason of the tax or assessment.
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(b) make periodic payments of child support and other family maintenance required by a court or
governmental agency or an agreement to which the principal is a party;
(c) provide living quarters for the individuals described in Subsection (1)(a) by:
(i) purchase, lease, or other contract; or
(ii) paying the operating costs, including interest, amortization payments, repairs,
improvements, and taxes, for premises owned by the principal or occupied by those
individuals;
(d) provide normal domestic help, usual vacations and travel expenses, and funds for shelter,
clothing, food, appropriate education, including postsecondary and vocational education, and
other current living costs for the individuals described in Subsection (1)(a);
(e) pay expenses for necessary health care and custodial care on behalf of the individuals
described in Subsection (1)(a);
(f) act as the principal's personal representative pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act, Sections 1171 through 1179 of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. Sec.
1320d, and applicable regulations, in making decisions related to the past, present, or future
payment for the provision of health care consented to by the principal or anyone authorized
under the law of this state to consent to health care on behalf of the principal;
(g) continue any provision made by the principal for automobiles or other means of
transportation, including registering, licensing, insuring, and replacing them, for the individuals
described in Subsection (1)(a);
(h) maintain credit and debit accounts and open new accounts for the convenience of the
individuals described in Subsection (1)(a); and
(i) continue payments incidental to the membership or affiliation of the principal in a religious
institution, club, society, order, or other organization or to continue contributions to those
organizations.
(2) Authority with respect to personal and family maintenance is neither dependent upon, nor
limited by, authority that an agent may or may not have with respect to gifts under this chapter.
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(d) prepare, file, and maintain a claim of the principal for a benefit or assistance, financial or
otherwise, to which the principal may be entitled under a statute or regulation;
(e) initiate, participate in, submit to alternative dispute resolution, settle, oppose, or propose
or accept a compromise with respect to litigation concerning any benefit or assistance the
principal may be entitled to receive under a statute or regulation; and
(f) receive the financial proceeds of a claim described in Subsection (2)(d) and conserve, invest,
disburse, or use for a lawful purpose anything received.
75-9-216 Taxes.
Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting
general authority with respect to taxes authorizes the agent to:
(1) prepare, sign, and file federal, state, local, and foreign income, gift, payroll, property, Federal
Insurance Contributions Act, and other tax returns, claims for refunds, requests for extension of
time, petitions regarding tax matters, and any other tax-related documents, including receipts,
offers, waivers, consents, including consents and agreements under Section 2032A, Internal
Revenue Code, closing agreements, and any power of attorney required by the Internal
Revenue Service or other taxing authority with respect to a tax year upon which the statute of
limitations has not run and the following 25 tax years;
(2) pay taxes due, collect refunds, post bonds, receive confidential information, and contest
deficiencies determined by the Internal Revenue Service or other taxing authority;
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(3) exercise any election available to the principal under federal, state, local, or foreign tax law; and
(4) act for the principal in all tax matters for all periods before the Internal Revenue Service or other
taxing authority.
75-9-217 Gifts.
(1) In this section, a gift "for the benefit of" a person includes a gift to a trust, an account under the
Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (1983/1986), and a tuition savings account or prepaid tuition
plan as defined under Section 529, Internal Revenue Code.
(2) Unless the power of attorney otherwise provides, language in a power of attorney granting
general authority with respect to gifts authorizes the agent only to:
(a) make outright to, or for the benefit of, a person a gift of any of the principal's property,
including by the exercise of a presently exercisable general power of appointment held by
the principal, in an amount per donee not to exceed the annual dollar limits of the federal gift
tax exclusion under Section 2503(b), Internal Revenue Code, without regard to whether the
federal gift tax exclusion applies to the gift, or if the principal's spouse agrees to consent to
a split gift pursuant to Section 2513, Internal Revenue Code, in an amount per donee not to
exceed twice the annual federal gift tax exclusion limit; and
(b) consent, pursuant to Section 2513, Internal Revenue Code, to the splitting of a gift made by
the principal's spouse in an amount per donee not to exceed the aggregate annual gift tax
exclusions for both spouses.
(3) An agent may make a gift of the principal's property only as the agent determines is consistent
with the principal's objectives if actually known by the agent and, if unknown, as the agent
determines is consistent with the principal's best interest based on all relevant factors,
including:
(a) the value and nature of the principal's property;
(b) the principal's foreseeable obligations and need for maintenance;
(c) minimization of taxes, including income, estate, inheritance, generation-skipping transfer, and
gift taxes;
(d) eligibility for a benefit, program, or assistance under a statute or regulation; and
(e) the principal's personal history of making or joining in making gifts.
Part 3
Statutory Forms
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The meaning of authority over subjects listed on this form is explained in Title 75, Chapter 9,
Uniform Power of Attorney Act.
This power of attorney does not authorize the agent to make health care decisions for you.
You should select someone you trust to serve as your agent. Unless you specify otherwise,
generally the agent's authority will continue until you die or revoke the power of attorney, or the
agent resigns or is unable to act for you.
Your agent is entitled to reasonable compensation unless you state otherwise in the Special
Instructions.
This form provides for designation of one agent. If you wish to name more than one agent
you may name a coagent in the Special Instructions. Coagents are not required to act together
unless you include that requirement in the Special Instructions.
If your agent is unable or unwilling to act for you, your power of attorney will end unless you
have named a successor agent. You may also name a second successor agent.
This power of attorney becomes effective immediately unless you state otherwise in the
Special Instructions.
If you have questions about the power of attorney or the authority you are granting to your
agent, you should seek legal advice before signing this form.
DESIGNATION OF AGENT
I ________________________________________________________ name the following
(Name of Principal)
person as my agent:
Name of Agent:____________________________________________________________
Agent's Address:___________________________________________________________
Agent's Telephone Number:__________________________________________________
DESIGNATION OF SUCCESSOR AGENT(S) (OPTIONAL)
If my agent is unable or unwilling to act for me, I name as my successor agent:
Name of Successor Agent:____________________________________________
Successor Agent's Address: ________________________________________
Successor Agent's Telephone Number:___________________________________
If my successor agent is unable or unwilling to act for me, I name as my second successor agent:
Name of Second Successor Agent: _____________________________________
Second Successor Agent's Address: __________________________________
Second Successor Agent's Telephone Number: __________________________
GRANT OF GENERAL AUTHORITY
I grant my agent and any successor agent general authority to act for me with respect to the
following subjects as defined in Title 75, Chapter 9, Uniform Power of Attorney Act:
(INITIAL each subject you want to include in the agent's general authority. If you wish to grant
general authority over all of the subjects you may initial "All Preceding Subjects" instead of initialing
each subject.)
(___) Real Property
(___) Tangible Personal Property
(___) Stocks and Bonds
(___) Commodities and Options
(___) Banks and Other Financial Institutions
(___) Operation of Entity or Business
(___) Insurance and Annuities
(___) Estates, Trusts, and Other Beneficial Interests
(___) Claims and Litigation
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Any person, including my agent, may rely upon the validity of this power of attorney or a copy of it
unless that person knows it has terminated or is invalid.
SIGNATURE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
____________________________________________ _______________
Your Signature Date
____________________________________________
Your Name Printed
____________________________________________
____________________________________________
Your Address
____________________________________________
Your Telephone Number
State of ____________________________
County of___________________________
This document was acknowledged before me on __________________________,
(Date)
by______________________________________.
(Name of Principal)
____________________________________________ (Seal, if any)
Signature of Notary
My commission expires: ________________________
[This document prepared by:
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________]
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR AGENT
Agent's Duties
When you accept the authority granted under this power of attorney, a special legal relationship
is created between you and the principal. This relationship imposes upon you legal duties that
continue until you resign or the power of attorney is terminated or revoked. You shall:
(1) do what you know the principal reasonably expects you to do with the principal's property
or, if you do not know the principal's expectations, act in the principal's best interest;
(2) act in good faith;
(3) do nothing beyond the authority granted in this power of attorney; and
(4) disclose your identity as an agent whenever you act for the principal by writing or printing
the name of the principal and signing your own name as "agent" in the following manner:
(Principal's Name) by (Your Signature) as Agent
Unless the Special Instructions in this power of attorney state otherwise, you must also:
(1) act loyally for the principal's benefit;
(2) avoid conflicts that would impair your ability to act in the principal's best interest;
(3) act with care, competence, and diligence;
(4) keep a record of all receipts, disbursements, and transactions made on behalf of the
principal;
(5) cooperate with any person that has authority to make health care decisions for the
principal to do what you know the principal reasonably expects or, if you do not know the
principal's expectations, to act in the principal's best interest; and
(6) attempt to preserve the principal's estate plan if you know the plan and preserving the
plan is consistent with the principal's best interest.
Termination of Agent's Authority
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You must stop acting on behalf of the principal if you learn of any event that terminates this
power of attorney or your authority under this power of attorney. Events that terminate a power of
attorney or your authority to act under a power of attorney include:
(1) death of the principal;
(2) the principal's revocation of the power of attorney or your authority;
(3) the occurrence of a termination event stated in the power of attorney;
(4) the purpose of the power of attorney is fully accomplished; or
(5) if you are married to the principal, a legal action is filed with a court to end your marriage,
or for your legal separation, unless the Special Instructions in this power of attorney state that such
an action will not terminate your authority.
Liability of Agent
The meaning of the authority granted to you is defined in Title 75, Chapter 9, Uniform Power of
Attorney Act. If you violate Title 75, Chapter 9, Uniform Power of Attorney Act, or act outside the
authority granted, you may be liable for any damages caused by your violation.
If there is anything about this document or your duties that you do not understand, you should seek
legal advice.
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Agent's Address
____________________________________________
Agent's Telephone Number
This document was acknowledged before me on __________________________,
(Date)
by______________________________________.
(Name of Agent)
____________________________________________ (Seal, if any)
Signature of Notary
My commission expires: ________________________
This document prepared by:
_________________________________________________________________
Part 4
Miscellaneous Provisions
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Chapter 10
Uniform Powers of Appointment Act
Part 1
General Provisions
75-10-101 Title.
This chapter is known as the "Uniform Powers of Appointment Act."
75-10-102 Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Appointee" means a person to which a powerholder makes an appointment of appointive
property.
(2) "Appointive property" means the property or property interest subject to a power of
appointment.
(3) "Blanket-exercise clause" means a clause in an instrument that exercises a power of
appointment and is not a specific-exercise clause. The term includes a clause that:
(a) expressly uses the words "any power" in exercising any power of appointment the
powerholder has;
(b) expressly uses the words "any property" in appointing any property over which the
powerholder has a power of appointment; or
(c) disposes of all property subject to disposition by the powerholder.
(4) "Donor" means a person that creates a power of appointment.
(5) "Exclusionary power of appointment" means a power of appointment exercisable in favor of any
one or more of the permissible appointees to the exclusion of the other permissible appointees.
(6) "General power of appointment" means a power of appointment exercisable in favor of the
powerholder, the powerholder's estate, a creditor of the powerholder, or a creditor of the
powerholder's estate.
(7) "Gift-in-default clause" means a clause identifying a taker in default of appointment.
(8) "Impermissible appointee" means a person that is not a permissible appointee.
(9) "Instrument" means a record.
(10) "Nongeneral power of appointment" means a power of appointment that is not a general
power of appointment. The terms "special power of appointment," "limited power of
appointment," or similar terminology used in an instrument creating a power that does not grant
powers making it a general power of appointment as defined in this chapter mean the same as
and may be used interchangeably with the term nongeneral power of appointment.
(11) "Permissible appointee" means a person in whose favor a powerholder may exercise a power
of appointment.
(12) "Person" means an individual, estate, trust, business or nonprofit entity, public corporation,
government or governmental subdivision, agency, instrumentality, or other legal entity.
(13) "Powerholder" means a person in whom a donor creates a power of appointment.
(14) "Power of appointment" means a power that enables a powerholder acting in a nonfiduciary
capacity to designate a recipient of an interest in, or another power of appointment over, the
appointive property. The term does not include a power of attorney.
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Part 2
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75-10-202 Nontransferability.
A powerholder may not transfer a power of appointment. If a powerholder dies without
exercising or releasing a power, the power lapses.
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(3) If the permissible appointees of a power of appointment are not defined and limited, the power
is exclusionary.
Part 3
Exercise of Power of Appointment
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(2) if there is no gift-in-default clause or to the extent the clause is ineffective, the unappointed
property:
(a) passes to the permissible appointees if:
(i) the permissible appointees are defined and limited; and
(ii) the terms of the instrument creating the power do not manifest a contrary intent; or
(b) if there is no taker under Subsection (2)(a), passes under a reversionary interest to the donor
or the donor's transferee or successor in interest.
Part 4
Disclaimer or Release - Contract to Appoint or Not to Appoint
75-10-401 Disclaimer.
As provided by Section 75-2-801:
(1) A powerholder may disclaim all or part of a power of appointment.
(2) A permissible appointee, an appointee, or a taker in default of appointment may disclaim all or
part of an interest in appointive property.
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Part 5
Rights of Powerholder's Creditors in Appointive Property
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(2) On the lapse, release, or waiver of a power to withdraw property from a trust, the power is
treated as a presently exercisable general power of appointment only to the extent the value
of the property affected by the lapse, release, or waiver exceeds the greater of the amount
specified in 26 U.S.C. Sec. 2041(b)(2) and 26 U.S.C. Sec. 2514(e) or the amount specified in
26 U.S.C. Sec. 2503(b).
Part 6
Miscellaneous Provisions
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Chapter 11
Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act
75-11-101 Title.
This chapter may be cited as the "Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act."
75-11-102 Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(1) "Account" means an arrangement under a terms of service agreement in which a custodian
carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital asset of the user or provides goods
or services to the user.
(2) "Agent" means an attorney in fact granted authority under a durable or nondurable power of
attorney.
(3) "Carries" means engages in the transmission of an electronic communication.
(4) "Catalogue of electronic communications" means information that identifies each person with
which a user has had an electronic communication, the time and date of the communication,
and the electronic address of the person.
(5)
(a) "Conservator" means a person appointed by a court to manage the estate of a living
individual.
(b) "Conservator" includes a limited conservator.
(6) "Content of an electronic communication" means information concerning the substance or
meaning of the communication that:
(a) has been sent or received by a user;
(b) is in electronic storage by a custodian providing an electronic communication service to the
public or is carried or maintained by a custodian providing a remote computing service to the
public; and
(c) is not readily accessible to the public.
(7) "Court" means the district court.
(8) "Custodian" means a person that carries, maintains, processes, receives, or stores a digital
asset of a user.
(9) "Designated recipient" means a person chosen by a user using an online tool to administer
digital assets of the user.
(10)
(a) "Digital asset" means an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest.
(b) "Digital asset" does not include an underlying asset or liability unless the asset or liability is
itself an electronic record.
(11) "Electronic" means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical,
electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
(12) "Electronic communication" has the same meaning as the definition in 18 U.S.C. Sec.
2510(12).
(13) "Electronic communication service" means a custodian that provides to a user the ability to
send or receive an electronic communication.
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75-11-103 Applicability.
(1) This chapter applies to:
(a) a fiduciary or agent acting under a will or power of attorney executed before, on, or after May
9, 2017;
(b) a personal representative acting for a decedent who died before, on, or after May 9, 2017;
(c) a conservatorship or guardianship proceeding commenced before, on, or after May 9, 2017;
and
(d) a trustee acting under a trust created before, on, or after May 9, 2017.
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(2) This chapter applies to a custodian if the user resides in this state or resided in this state at the
time of the user's death.
(3) This chapter does not apply to a digital asset of an employer used by an employee in the
ordinary course of the employer's business.
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(4) If a user directs or a fiduciary requests a custodian to disclose under this chapter some, but not
all, of the user's digital assets, the custodian need not disclose the assets if segregation of the
assets would impose an undue burden on the custodian. If the custodian believes the direction
or request imposes an undue burden, the custodian or fiduciary may seek an order from the
court to disclose:
(a) a subset limited by date of the user's digital assets;
(b) all of the user's digital assets to the fiduciary or designated recipient;
(c) none of the user's digital assets; or
(d) all of the user's digital assets to the court for review in camera.
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(3) a certified copy of the letter of appointment of the representative, a small estate affidavit, or
court order; and
(4) if requested by the custodian:
(a) a number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account identifier assigned by
the custodian to identify the user's account;
(b) evidence linking the account to the user;
(c) an affidavit stating that disclosure of the user's digital assets is reasonably necessary for
administration of the estate; or
(d) a finding by the court that:
(i) the user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by the information specified in
Subsection (4)(a); or
(ii) disclosure of the user's digital assets is reasonably necessary for administration of the
estate.
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75-11-111 Disclosure of digital assets held in trust when trustee is original user.
Unless otherwise ordered by the court or provided in a trust, a custodian shall disclose to
a trustee that is an original user of an account any digital asset of the account held in trust,
including a catalogue of electronic communications of the trustee and the content of electronic
communications.
75-11-113 Disclosure of other digital assets held in trust when trustee not original user.
Unless otherwise ordered by the court, directed by the user, or provided in a trust, a custodian
shall disclose, to a trustee that is not an original user of an account, a catalogue of electronic
communications sent or received by an original or successor user and stored, carried, or
maintained by the custodian in an account of the trust and any digital assets, other than the
content of electronic communications, in which the trust has a right or interest if the trustee gives
the custodian:
(1) a written request for disclosure in physical or electronic form;
(2) a certified copy of the trust instrument or a certification of the trust under Section 75-7-1013;
(3) a certification by the trustee, under penalty of perjury, that the trust exists and the trustee is a
currently acting trustee of the trust; and
(4) if requested by the custodian:
(a) a number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account identifier assigned by
the custodian to identify the trust's account; or
(b) evidence linking the account to the trust.
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(1) After an opportunity for a hearing under Chapter 5, Protection of Persons Under Disability and
Their Property, the court may grant a conservator or guardian access to the digital assets of a
protected person.
(2) Unless otherwise ordered by the court or directed by the user, a custodian shall disclose to
a conservator or guardian the catalogue of electronic communications sent or received by a
protected person and any digital assets, other than the content of electronic communications,
in which the protected person has a right or interest if the conservator or guardian gives the
custodian:
(a) a written request for disclosure in physical or electronic form;
(b) a certified copy of the court order that gives the conservator or guardian authority over the
digital assets of the protected person; and
(c) if requested by the custodian:
(i) a number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account identifier assigned by
the custodian to identify the account of the protected person; or
(ii) evidence linking the account to the protected person.
(3) A conservator or guardian with general authority to manage the assets of a protected person
may request a custodian of the digital assets of the protected person to suspend or terminate
an account of the protected person for good cause. A request made under this section must be
accompanied by a certified copy of the court order giving the conservator or guardian authority
over the protected person's property.
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(6) A custodian may disclose information in an account to a fiduciary of the user when the
information is required to terminate an account used to access digital assets licensed to the
user.
(7) A fiduciary of a user may request a custodian to terminate the user's account. A request for
termination shall be in writing, in either physical or electronic form, and accompanied by:
(a) if the user is deceased, a certified copy of the death certificate of the user;
(b) a certified copy of the letter of appointment of the representative, a small estate affidavit, or
court order, power of attorney, or trust giving the fiduciary authority over the account; and
(c) if requested by the custodian:
(i) a number, username, address, or other unique subscriber or account identifier assigned by
the custodian to identify the user's account;
(ii) evidence linking the account to the user; or
(iii) a finding by the court that the user had a specific account with the custodian, identifiable by
the information specified in Subsection (7)(c)(i).
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This chapter modifies, limits, or supersedes the Electronic Signatures in Global and National
Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001 et seq., but does not modify, limit, or supersede Section
101(c) of that act or 15 U.S.C. Sec. 7001(c), or authorize electronic delivery of any of the notices
described in Section 103(b) of that act or 15 U.S.C. Sec. 7003(b).
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