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35-15-103 - Chapter definitions.

35-15-103. Chapter definitions.

As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:

     (1)  “Action” with respect to an act of a trustee, includes a failure to act;

     (2)  “Ascertainable standard” means a standard relating to an individual's health, education, support or maintenance within the meaning of § 2041(b)(1)(A) or § 2514(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as in effect on July 1, 2004, or as later amended;

     (3)  “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, holds a power of appointment over trust property;

     (4)  “Charitable trust” means a trust, or portion of a trust, created for a charitable purpose described in § 35-15-405(a);

     (5)  “Conservator” has the same meaning as in § 34-1-101;

     (6)  “Environmental law” means a federal, state, or local law, rule, regulation, or ordinance relating to protection of the environment;

     (7)  “Guardian” has the same meaning as in § 34-1-101. The term does not include a guardian ad litem;

     (8)  “Interests of the beneficiaries” means the beneficial interests provided in the terms of the trust;

     (9)  “Jurisdiction” with respect to a geographic area, includes a state or country;

     (10)  “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;

     (11)  “Power of withdrawal” means a presently exercisable general power of appointment other than a power:

          (A)  Exercisable by a trustee and limited by an ascertainable standard; or

          (B)  Exercisable by another person only upon consent of the trustee or a person holding an adverse interest;

     (12)  “Property” means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, legal or equitable, or any interest therein;

     (13)  “Qualified beneficiary” means a beneficiary who, assuming the nonexercise of all powers of appointment and the nonoccurrence of any event not reasonably expected to occur, on the date the beneficiary's qualification is determined:

          (A)  Is a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal;

          (B)  Would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal if the interests of the distributees described in subdivision (12)(A) terminated on that date; or

          (C)  Would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal if the trust terminated on that date;

     (14)  “Revocable” as applied to a trust, means revocable by the settlor without the consent of the trustee or a person holding an adverse interest;

     (15)  “Settlor” means a person, including a testator, who creates, or contributes property to, a trust. If more than one (1) 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;

     (16)  “Spendthrift provision” means a term of a trust which restrains both voluntary and involuntary transfer of a beneficiary's interest;

     (17)  “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;

     (18)  “Successors in interest” means the beneficiaries under the settlor's will, if the settlor has a will, or in the absence of an effective will provision, the settlor's heirs at law;

     (19)  “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;

     (20)  “Trust instrument” means an instrument executed by the settlor that contains terms of the trust, including any amendments thereto; and

     (21)  “Trustee” includes an original, additional, and successor trustee, and a cotrustee.

[Acts 2004, ch. 537, § 4; 2007, ch. 24, §§ 1-3; 2007, ch. 477, § 1.]