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Title 4 Fiduciaries

Wyoming · 4 · statute

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Contents: 202 provisions

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202 provisions

4-7-101. Renumbered by Laws 1979, ch. 142, § 3.

Renumbered by Laws 1979, ch. 142, § 3.

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4-7-102. Renumbered by Laws 1979, ch. 142, § 3.

Renumbered by Laws 1979, ch. 142, § 3.

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4-7-103. Renumbered by Laws 1979, ch. 142, § 3.

Renumbered by Laws 1979, ch. 142, § 3.

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4-8-101. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-8-102. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-8-103. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-8-104. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-8-105. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-8-106. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-8-107. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-8-108. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-8-109. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-8-110. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-8-111. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-8-112. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-101. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-102. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-103. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-104. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-105. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-106. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-107. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-108. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-109. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-110. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-111. Repealed by Laws 2003, Chapter 124, § 3.

Repealed by Laws 2003, Chapter 124, § 3.

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4-9-112. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-9-113. Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

Repealed By Laws 2003, Ch. 124, § 3.

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4-10-101. Short title.

This act may be cited as the Uniform Trust Code.

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4-10-102. Scope.

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

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4-10-103. Definitions.

(a) As used in this act: (i) "Action," with respect to an act of a trustee, includes a failure to act; (ii) "Beneficiary" means a person that: (A) Has a present or future beneficial interest in a trust, vested or contingent; or (B) In a capacity other than that of trustee or trust protector, holds a power of appointment over trust property. (iii) "Charitable trust" means a trust, or portion of a trust, created for a charitable purpose described in W.S. 4-10-406(a); (iv) "Conservator" for the purposes of this act means as defined in W.S. 3-1-101(a)(iii); (v) "Environmental law" means a federal, state, or local law, rule, regulation, or ordinance relating to protection of the environment; (vi) "Excluded fiduciary" means any fiduciary excluded from exercising certain powers under the trust instrument or by court order which powers may be exercised by the settlor, trust advisor, trust protector or other persons designated by the instrument or court order; (vii) "Fiduciary" means a trustee under a testamentary or other trust, an executor, administrator, or personal representative of a decedent's estate, or any other party including a trust advisor or a trust protector, who is acting in a fiduciary capacity for any person, trust or estate; (viii) "Guardian" for the purposes of this act means as defined in W.S. 3-1-101(a)(v); (ix) "Incapacity" or "incompetency" or "incompetent person" means as defined in W.S. 3-1-101(a)(ix) unless otherwise defined by the terms of the trust; (x) "Interests of the beneficiaries" means the beneficial interests provided in the terms of the trust; (xi) "Jurisdiction," with respect to a geographic area, includes a state or country; (xii) "Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, public corporation or any other legal or commercial entity; (xiii) "Power of withdrawal" means a presently exercisable general power of appointment other than a power exercisable by a trustee which is limited by an ascertainable standard, or which is exercisable by another person only upon consent of the trustee or a person holding an adverse interest; (xiv) "Property" means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, legal or equitable, or any interest therein; (xv) "Qualified beneficiary" means: (A) A beneficiary who is currently entitled to mandatory distributions of income or principal from the trust or has a vested remainder interest in the residuary of the trust which is not subject to divestment; (B) If a trust has no qualified beneficiary under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, "qualified beneficiary" shall mean a beneficiary having a vested remainder interest in the residuary of the trust whose interest is subject to divestment only as a result of the beneficiary's death; (C) If a trust has no qualified beneficiary under subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph, "qualified beneficiary" shall mean a beneficiary currently eligible to receive discretionary distributions of income or principal from the trust, who has received one (1) or more distributions during the beneficiary's lifetime; (D) If a trust has no qualified beneficiary under subparagraph (A), (B) or (C) of this paragraph, "qualified beneficiary" shall mean a beneficiary currently eligible to receive discretionary distributions of income or principal from the trust; (E) The department of health is a qualified beneficiary as the vested remainder beneficiary of trusts established pursuant to W.S. 42-2-403(f)(i), (ii) and (iii) and 42 U.S.C. 1396p(d)(4)(A), (B) and (C). (xvi) "Regulated financial services institution" means a financial institution as defined in W.S. 13-1-101(a)(ix) and any other financial services provider regulated by the state of Wyoming or agency of the federal government; (xvii) "Revocable," as applied to a trust, means revocable by the settlor without the consent of the trustee or a person holding an adverse interest; (xviii) "Settlor" means a person, including a testator, grantor or trust maker, who creates, transfers or contributes property to, a trust. If more than one (1) person creates, or transfers or contributes property to, a trust, each person is a settlor of the portion of the trust property attributable to that person's contributions or transfers, except to the extent another person has the power to revoke that portion; (xix) "Spendthrift provision" means a term of a trust which restrains either a voluntary or an involuntary transfer, or both, of a beneficiary's interest and shall not include or prevent a disclaimer of an interest of a beneficiary; (xx) "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. The term includes an Indian tribe or band recognized by federal law or formally acknowledged by a state; (xxi) "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; (xxii) "Trust advisor" means the settlor of a trust instrument or another person whose appointment is provided in the trust instrument and whose powers are defined in W.S. 4-10-712; (xxiii) "Trust protector" means any disinterested party whose appointment is provided for in the trust instrument or who is appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction and whose powers are defined in W.S. 4-10-710; (xxiv) "Trust instrument" means an instrument executed by the settlor that contains terms of the trust, including any amendments thereto; (xxv) "Trustee" includes an original, additional and successor trustee and a cotrustee; (xxvi) "This act" means W.S. 4-10-101 through 4-10-1103; (xxvii) "Ascertainable standard" means a standard relating to an individual's health, education, support or maintenance within the meaning of Section 2041(b)(1)(A) or 2514(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as in effect on July 1, 2005; (xxviii) "Directed trust" means a trust where either through the terms of the trust, an agreement of the qualified beneficiaries or a court order, one (1) or more persons is given the authority to direct, consent to or disapprove a fiduciary's actual or proposed investment decision, distribution decision or any other noninvestment decision of the fiduciary; (xxix) "Discretionary distribution" means a distribution which the trustee is not directed to make, but is permitted to make in the trustee's discretion. For example, the language in a trust instrument providing for a discretionary distribution may contain the words "may" or "in the trustee's discretion". The language providing for a discretionary distribution may include a standard of distribution or other guidance as long as the language or other guidance does not require the trustee to make a distribution in accordance with the standard or guidance; (xxx) "Discretionary trust" means a trust in which the trustee is not directed to make any distributions, but is permitted to make discretionary distributions; (xxxi) "Mandatory distribution" means a distribution which a trustee is required to make under the trust instrument and the trustee has no discretion in determining whether the distribution shall be made. Trust instrument language providing for a mandatory distribution may include a standard of distribution accompanied by a direction requiring the trustee to make the distribution in accordance with the standard. For example, trust instrument language providing for a mandatory distribution may contain the words "shall" or "must" or "directed"; (xxxii) "Power of appointment" means an inter vivos or testamentary power to direct the disposition of trust property, other than a distribution decision by a trustee to a beneficiary. A holder of a power of appointment shall not be deemed a fiduciary unless otherwise provided for in the trust instrument; (xxxiii) "Qualified spendthrift trust" means a trust established in accordance with W.S. 4-10-510 et seq.; (xxxiv) "Qualified transfer" means as defined in W.S. 4-10-512; (xxxv) "Qualified trustee", as used in article 5 of this act, means: (A) A natural person who is a resident of this state; or (B) A person authorized by the law of this state to act as a trustee or a regulated financial institution that conducts one (1) or more of the following activities within this state: (I) Maintains or arranges for custody in this state of some or all of the trust property; (II) Maintains records for the trust on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis; (III) Prepares or arranges for the preparation of fiduciary income tax returns for the trust; or (IV) Otherwise materially participates in the administration of the trust. (C) Neither the settlor, either directly or indirectly through an entity, unless discretionary distributions by the entity require the consent or approval of one (1) or more disinterested persons who are not a related or subordinate party with respect to the settlor within the meaning of 26 U.S.C. § 672(c), nor any other natural person who is a nonresident of this state, nor an entity that is not authorized by the law of this state to act as a trustee or is not a regulated financial institution, may serve as a qualified trustee. (xxxvi) "Qualified trust property" means the property of a qualified spendthrift trust as defined in W.S. 4—10-511; (xxxvii) "Standard of distribution" means language in a trust instrument providing guidance or direction to a trustee regarding distributions of income or principal. Standards of distribution are not limited to ascertainable standards; (xxxviii) "Legitime" means that portion of a testator's free movable property that the testator's children are legally entitled to regardless of the terms of the will or trust.

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4-10-104. Knowledge.

(a) Subject to subsection (b) of this section, a person has knowledge of a fact if the person: (i) Has actual knowledge of it; (ii) Has received a notice or notification of it; or (iii) From all the facts and circumstances known to the person at the time in question, has reason to know it. (b) 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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4-10-105. Default and mandatory rules.

(a) Except as otherwise provided in the terms of the trust, this act governs the duties and powers of a trustee, relations among trustees and the rights and interests of a beneficiary. (b) The terms of a trust shall prevail over any provision of this act except: (i) The requirements for creating a trust; (ii) The duty of a trustee to act in good faith and in accordance with the purposes of the trust; (iii) The requirement that a trust and the terms of that trust be for the benefit of its beneficiaries as their interests are defined under the terms of that trust, and that the trust have a purpose that is lawful, not contrary to public policy, and possible to achieve; (iv) The power of the court to modify or terminate a trust under W.S. 4-10-411 through 4-10-417; (v) The effect of a spendthrift provision and the rights of certain creditors and assignees to reach a trust as provided in article 5 of this act; (vi) The power of the court under W.S. 4-10-702 to require, dispense with, or modify or terminate a bond; (vii) The power of the court under W.S. 4-10-708(b) to adjust a trustee's compensation specified in the terms of the trust which is unreasonably low or high; (viii) The effect of an exculpatory term under W.S. 4-10-1008; (ix) The rights under W.S. 4-10-1010 through 4-10-1013 of a person other than a trustee or beneficiary; (x) Periods of limitation for commencing a judicial proceeding; (xi) The power of the court to take such action and exercise such jurisdiction as may be necessary in the interests of justice; (xii) The subject-matter jurisdiction of the court and venue for commencing a proceeding as provided in W.S. 4-10-203 and 4-10-204; (xiii) Subject to W.S. 4-10-718, trust protectors as provided under W.S. 4-10-710 and trust advisors as provided under W.S. 4-10-712 shall be a fiduciary as to the powers, duties and discretions granted to the trust protector or trust advisor if the trustee is an excluded fiduciary as to the powers, duties and discretions granted to the trust protector or the trust advisor.

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4-10-106. Common law of trusts; principles of equity.

The common law of trusts and principles of equity supplement this act, except to the extent modified by this act or another statute of this state. When interpreting article 5 of this act, the court shall first use the law of this state, then general common law.

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4-10-107. Governing law.

(a) The meaning and effect of the terms of a trust are determined by: (i) The law of the jurisdiction designated in the terms of the trust; or (ii) In the absence of a controlling designation in the terms of the trust, the law of the jurisdiction having the most significant relationship to the matter at issue. In determining the most significant relationship, the principal place of administration as defined in W.S. 4-10-108 shall be the most heavily weighted factor and the location of trust property shall be the second most significant factor. The least significant factors shall be where the beneficiaries or settlor are domiciled. (b) The law of the jurisdiction designated in the terms of the trust may be changed to the principal place of administration by a court with subject matter jurisdiction. (c) If the law of this state governs the meaning and effect of the terms of a trust in accordance with paragraph (a)(i) or subsection (b) of this section, the trust and any transfer of property by a settlor to the trust, or any disposition made subject to the terms of the trust, shall not be void, voidable, set aside or deemed defective in any manner for any reason including: (i) That the law of a foreign jurisdiction prohibits or does not recognize the trust; (ii) That the trust, transfer of property by a settlor to the trust, or disposition made subject to the terms of the trust avoids or defeats any forced heirship or legitime right, claim or interest under the law of a foreign jurisdiction; or (iii) That the law or public policy of a foreign jurisdiction does not recognize or limits the validity or enforceability of any or all of the terms of the trust if the terms are valid and enforceable under the laws and public policy of this state.

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4-10-108. Principal place of administration; governing law for administering trusts.

(a) Without precluding other means for establishing a sufficient connection with the designated jurisdiction, terms of a trust designating the principal place of administration are valid and controlling if: (i) A trustee's principal place of business is located in, or a trustee is a resident of, the designated jurisdiction; (ii) All or part of the administration occurs in the designated jurisdiction; or (iii) The settlor was a resident of the designated jurisdiction at creation of the trust instrument. (b) A trustee is under a continuing duty to administer the trust at a place appropriate to its purposes, its administration and the interests of the beneficiaries unless otherwise provided in subsection (a) of this section or changed as provided in subsection (c) of this section. (c) Without precluding the right of the court to order, approve or disapprove a transfer, the trustee, in furtherance of the duty prescribed by subsection (b) of this section, may transfer the trust's principal place of administration to another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States. (d) The trustee shall notify the qualified beneficiaries in writing of a proposed transfer of a trust's principal place of administration to another jurisdiction not less than sixty (60) days before initiating the transfer, unless waived by written consent of all qualified beneficiaries. The notice of proposed transfer shall include: (i) The name of the jurisdiction to which the principal place of administration is to be transferred; (ii) The address and telephone number at the new location at which the trustee can be contacted; (iii) An explanation of the reasons for the proposed transfer; (iv) The date on which the proposed transfer is anticipated to occur; and (v) The date, not less than sixty (60) days after the giving of the notice, by which the qualified beneficiary is required to notify the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer. (e) The authority of a trustee under this section to transfer a trust's principal place of administration terminates if a qualified beneficiary notifies the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer on or before the date specified in the notice. (f) The laws of this state shall govern the administration of any trust: (i) For which the principal place of administration of the trust is Wyoming; (ii) Whose principal place of administration has been changed to Wyoming; (iii) Of which a trustee's principal place of business is located in, or a trustee is a resident of, Wyoming, provided that a majority of the trustees select the laws of this state to govern the administration of the trust through a signed, written instrument, unless the terms of the trust: (A) Specify that the law of the principal place of administration, which is a jurisdiction other than Wyoming, governs the administration of the trust; (B) Expressly prohibit a change in the choice of law for the administration of the trust; and (C) Expressly state that a change in the choice of law for the administration of the trust is prohibited, even if a trustee from another jurisdiction becomes a trustee of the trust.

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4-10-109. Methods and waiver of notice.

(a) Notice to a person under this act or the sending of a document to a person under this act shall be accomplished in a manner reasonably suitable under the circumstances and that results in receipt of the notice or document. Permissible methods of notice, or for sending a document, include first-class mail, personal delivery, delivery to the person's last known place of residence or place of business or a properly directed electronic message. (b) Notice otherwise required under this act or a document otherwise required to be sent under this act need not be provided to a person whose identity or location is unknown to and not reasonably ascertainable by the trustee. (c) Notice under this act or the sending of a document under this act may be waived in writing by the person to be notified or sent the document. (d) Notice of a judicial proceeding shall be given as provided in the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure. (e) For any judicial action or proceeding concerning a trust under this act, notice shall only be required to be provided to interested persons as defined in W.S. 4-10-201(d).

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4-10-110. Others treated as qualified beneficiaries.

(a) Whenever notice to qualified beneficiaries of a trust is required under this act before the death of the settlor, the trustee may give notice to any beneficiary from whom the trustee has received a written request for notice if the trustee has the written consent of the settlor. (b) Whenever notice to qualified beneficiaries of a trust is required under this act after the death of the settlor, the trustee shall give notice to any beneficiary from whom the trustee has received a written request for notice unless the terms of the trust specify otherwise. (c) A charitable organization expressly mandated to receive distributions under the terms of a charitable trust or a person appointed to enforce a trust created for the care of an animal or another noncharitable purpose as provided in W.S. 4-10-409 or 4-10-410 has the rights of a qualified beneficiary under this act. (d) The attorney general of this state may exercise the rights of a qualified beneficiary with respect to a charitable trust having its principal place of administration in this state by notifying the trustee by written notice.

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4-10-111. Nonjudicial settlement agreements.

(a) For purposes of this section, "interested persons" means a qualified beneficiary, the settlor, if living, the trustee and trust protector, if any. (b) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section, interested persons may enter into a binding nonjudicial settlement agreement with respect to any matter involving a trust. (c) Subject to the rights of persons dealing with a fiduciary as provided in W.S. 4-10-1013, 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 act or other applicable law. (d) Matters that may be resolved by a nonjudicial settlement agreement include: (i) The interpretation or construction of the terms of the trust; (ii) The approval of a trustee's report or accounting; (iii) Direction to a trustee to refrain from performing a particular act or the grant to a trustee of any necessary or desirable power; (iv) The resignation or appointment of a trustee and the determination of a trustee's compensation; (v) Transfer of a trust's principal place of administration; (vi) Liability of a trustee for an action relating to the trust; and (vii) An election to treat the trust as a qualified spendthrift trust under article 5 of this act and modification of the trust to comply with W.S. 4-10-510. (e) Any interested person may request the court to approve a nonjudicial settlement agreement, to determine whether the representation as provided in article 3 of this act was adequate, and to determine whether the agreement contains terms and conditions the court could have properly approved.

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4-10-112. Insurable interest of trustee.

(a) A trustee of a trust has an insurable interest in the life of an individual insured under a life insurance policy that is owned by the trustee of the trust acting in a fiduciary capacity or that designates the trust itself as the owner if, on the date the policy is issued: (i) The insured is: (A) A settlor of the trust; or (B) An individual in whom a settlor of the trust has, or would have had, if living at the time the policy was issued, an insurable interest; and (ii) The life insurance proceeds are primarily for the benefit of one (1) or more trust beneficiaries that have: (A) An insurable interest in the life of the insured; or (B) A substantial interest engendered by love and affection in the continuation of the life of the insured and, if not already included under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, who are: (I) Kindred of the insured having a possibility of being distributees of the insured's estate if the insured dies intestate pursuant to W.S. 2-4-101; or (II) Stepchildren of the insured. (b) This section applies to any trust existing before, on or after July 1, 2013, regardless of the effective date of the governing instrument under which the trust was created, but only as to a life insurance policy that is in force and for which an insured is alive on or after July 1, 2013. (c) As used in this section, "settlor" means a person who executes a trust instrument. The term includes a person for which a fiduciary or agent is acting.

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