CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS
IC 30-4
ARTICLE 4. TRUST CODE
IC 30-4-1
Chapter 1. General Provisions
IC 30-4-1-1
Definition of "trust"; relationships excluded from this article;
transferability of employee benefit trust
Sec. 1. (a) A trust is a fiduciary relationship between a person
who, as trustee, holds title to property and another person for whom,
as beneficiary, the title is held.
(b) Subject to IC 30-4-2-8, the same person may be both the
trustee and a beneficiary.
(c) The rules of law contained in this article do not apply to:
(1) trusts created by operation of law;
(2) business trusts (as defined in IC 23-5-1);
(3) security instruments and creditor arrangements;
(4) voting trusts;
(5) religious, educational, and cultural institutions, created in
other than trust form, except with respect to the application of
IC 30-4-5-18 through IC 30-4-5-23 as those sections relate to
the maintenance of federal income tax exemption privileges to
which an institution is entitled;
(6) corporations and other entities governed by IC 23-17, except
with respect to IC 30-4-5-18 through IC 30-4-5-23 as those
sections relate to the maintenance of federal income tax
exemption privileges to which a corporation or other entity is
entitled;
(7) except as provided in this article for trusts for a benevolent
public purpose and as provided in the Indiana uniform prudent
investor act (IC 30-4-3.5):
(A) prepaid funeral plans;
(B) trusts for the care and upkeep of cemeteries; and
(C) agreements to furnish funeral services; and
(8) trusts created or authorized by statute other than this article.
(d) IC 30-4-3-2(a) applies to an employee benefit trust that meets
the requirements set forth in IC 30-4-3-2(c). However, no other
provision of this article applies to an employee benefit trust.
(Formerly: Acts 1971, P.L.416, SEC.2; Acts 1972, P.L.11, SEC.12.)
As amended by P.L.287-1987, SEC.1; P.L.41-2000, SEC.1;
P.L.61-2008, SEC.12.
IC 30-4-1-1.5
IC 30-2-4 and IC 30-2-5 not repealed
Sec. 1.5. This article does not repeal:
(1) IC 30-2-4 (the Uniform Fiduciaries Act); or
(2) IC 30-2-5 (the Uniform Act for the Simplification of
Fiduciary Security Transfers).
As added by P.L.1-1989, SEC.60.
IC 30-4-1-2
Other definitions
Sec. 2. As used in this article:
(1) "Adult" means any person eighteen (18) years of age or
older.
(2) "Affiliate" means a parent, descendant, spouse, spouse of a
descendant, brother, sister, spouse of a brother or sister,
employee, director, officer, partner, joint venturer, a corporation
subject to common control with the trustee, a shareholder, or
corporation who controls the trustee or a corporation controlled
by the trustee other than as a fiduciary, an attorney, or an agent.
(3) "Beneficiary" has the meaning set forth in IC 30-2-14-2.
(4) "Breach of trust" means a violation by the trustee of any
duty which is owed to the settlor or beneficiary.
(5) "Charitable trust" means a trust in which all the
beneficiaries are the general public or organizations, including
trusts, corporations, and associations, and that is organized and
operated wholly for religious, charitable, scientific, public
safety testing, literary, or educational purposes. The term does
not include charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts,
pooled income funds, or any other form of split-interest
charitable trust that has at least one (1) noncharitable
beneficiary.
(6) "Court" means a court having jurisdiction over trust matters.
(7) "Income", except as otherwise stated in a trust agreement,
has the meaning set forth in IC 30-2-14-4.
(8) "Income beneficiary" has the meaning set forth in
IC 30-2-14-5.
(9) "Inventory value" means the cost of property to the settlor
or the trustee at the time of acquisition or the market value of
the property at the time it is delivered to the trustee, or the value
of the property as finally determined for purposes of an estate
or inheritance tax.
(10) "Minor" means any person under the age of eighteen (18)
years.
(11) "Person" has the meaning set forth in IC 30-2-14-9.
(12) "Personal representative" means an executor or
administrator of a decedent's or absentee's estate, guardian of
the person or estate, guardian ad litem or other court appointed
representative, next friend, parent or custodian of a minor,
attorney in fact, or custodian of an incapacitated person (as
defined in IC 29-3-1-7.5).
(13) "Principal" has the meaning set forth in IC 30-2-14-10.
(14) "Qualified beneficiary" means:
(A) a beneficiary who, on the date the beneficiary's
qualification is determined:
(i) is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust
income or principal;
(ii) would be a distributee or permissible distributee of
trust income or principal if the interest of the distributee
described in item (i) terminated on that date;
(iii) would be a distributee or permissible distributee of
trust income or principal if the trust terminated on that
date;
(iv) has sent the trustee a request for notice;
(v) is a charitable organization expressly designated to
receive distributions under the terms of a charitable trust;
(vi) is a person appointed to enforce a trust for the care of
an animal under IC 30-4-2-18; or
(vii) is a person appointed to enforce a trust for a
noncharitable purpose under IC 30-4-2-19; or
(B) the attorney general, if the trust is a charitable trust
having its principal place of administration in Indiana.
(15) "Remainderman" means a beneficiary entitled to principal,
including income which has been accumulated and added to the
principal.
(16) "Settlor" means a person who establishes a trust including
the testator of a will under which a trust is created.
(17) "Trust estate" means the trust property and the income
derived from its use.
(18) "Trust for a benevolent public purpose" means a charitable
trust (as defined in subdivision (5)), a split-interest trust (as
defined in Section 4947 of the Internal Revenue Code), a
perpetual care fund or an endowment care fund established
under IC 23-14-48-2, a prepaid funeral plan or funeral trust
established under IC 30-2-9, a funeral trust established under
IC 30-2-10, a trust or an escrow account created from payments
of funeral, burial services, or merchandise in advance of need
described in IC 30-2-13, and any other form of split-interest
charitable trust that has both charitable and noncharitable
beneficiaries, including but not limited to charitable remainder
trusts, charitable lead trusts, and charitable pooled income
funds.
(19) "Trust property" means property either placed in trust or
purchased or otherwise acquired by the trustee for the trust
regardless of whether the trust property is titled in the name of
the trustee or the name of the trust.
(20) "Trustee" has the meaning set forth in IC 30-2-14-13.
(Formerly: Acts 1971, P.L.416, SEC.2; Acts 1973, P.L.293, SEC.5.)
As amended by P.L.33-1989, SEC.94; P.L.138-1994, SEC.1;
P.L.41-2000, SEC.2; P.L.84-2002, SEC.3; P.L.238-2005, SEC.19;
P.L.61-2008, SEC.13.
IC 30-4-1-3
Application and interpretation of rules of law and terms of trust
Sec. 3. (Application and Interpretation of the Rules of Law and
the Terms of the Trust)
The rules of law contained in this article shall be interpreted and
applied to the terms of the trust so as to implement the intent of the
settlor and the purposes of the trust. If the rules of law and the terms
of the trust conflict, the terms of the trust shall control unless the
rules of law clearly prohibit or restrict the article which the terms of
the trust purport to authorize.
(Formerly: Acts 1971, P.L.416, SEC.2.)
IC 30-4-1-4
Application of this article with respect to pre-existing trusts
Sec. 4. (Application of the Article with Respect to Pre-Existing
Trusts)
Except as provided elsewhere in this article, the rules of law
contained in this article shall apply to all trusts created prior to
September 2, 1971 unless to do so would:
(1) adversely affect a right given to any beneficiary;
(2) give a right to any beneficiary which he was not intended to
have when the trust was created;
(3) impose a duty or liability on any person which was not
intended to be imposed when the trust was created; or
(4) relieve any person from any duty or liability imposed by the
terms of the trust or under prior law.
(Formerly: Acts 1971, P.L.416, SEC.2.) As amended by Acts 1982,
P.L.171, SEC.117.
IC 30-4-1-5
Construction of pronouns
Sec. 5. (Construction of Pronouns)
A pronoun used in this article may be construed, unless the
context requires otherwise, without regard to gender or whether the
person or thing to which it refers is animate or inanimate.
(Formerly: Acts 1971, P.L.416, SEC.2.)
IC 30-4-1-6
Construction of singular number
Sec. 6. (Construction of Singular Number)
Any word appearing in the singular number in this article may be
construed as plural, unless the context requires otherwise.
(Formerly: Acts 1971, P.L.416, SEC.2.)
IC 30-4-1-7
Trust Code Study Commission report
Sec. 7. The report of the Trust Code Study Commission made
according to IC 2-5-11 (repealed) may be consulted by the courts to
determine the reasons, purpose and policies of this article, and may
be used as a guide to its construction and application.
(Formerly: Acts 1971, P.L.416, SEC.2.) As amended by P.L.1-2009,
SEC.153.
IC 30-4-1-8
Effect of requirement of exercising power of appointment by
reference
Sec. 8. If a trust creating a power of appointment expressly
requires that the power be exercised by a reference, an express
reference, or a specific reference to the power or its source, it is
presumed that the settlor's intention, in requiring that the grantee
exercise the power by making reference to the particular power or to
the creating instrument, was to prevent an inadvertent exercise of the
power.
As added by P.L.252-2001, SEC.30.
IC 30-4-1-9
Specific indication of power of appointment required
Sec. 9. A trust shall not operate as to the exercise of a power of
appointment, which the settlor may have with respect to any real or
personal property, unless by its terms the trust specifically indicates
that the settlor intended to exercise the power.
As added by P.L.252-2001, SEC.31.
IC 30-4-1-10
Distribution under laws of intestate succession when manner not
specified
Sec. 10. If a distribution 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 is
distributed among the class members who are living when the
distribution is to take effect in possession or enjoyment, in such
shares they would receive, under the applicable law of intestate
succession, as if the designated ancestor had then died intestate,
unmarried, and owning the subject matter of the distribution.
As added by P.L.252-2001, SEC.32.
IC 30-4-1-11
Choice of law
Sec. 11. The meaning and legal effect of a distribution under a
trust shall be determined by the law of the state selected by the
settlor in the trust, unless the application of that law is contrary to the
public policy of this state.
As added by P.L.252-2001, SEC.33.
IC 30-4-1-12
Persons born out of wedlock
Sec. 12. In construing a trust making a distribution to a person
described by relationship to the settlor or to another person, a person
born out of wedlock shall be considered the child of the person's
mother. If the right of a person born out of wedlock to inherit from
the person's father is established under IC 29-1-2-7, the person shall
also be considered a child of the person's father.
As added by P.L.252-2001, SEC.34.
IC 30-4-1-13
Applicability of constructive trust provisions
Sec. 13. IC 29-1-2-12.1 applies to a trust.
As added by P.L.238-2005, SEC.20.