SS HS HCS HB 1511 -- TRUST AND ESTATE ADMINISTRATION

This bill enacts the Missouri Uniform Trust Code.  In its main
provisions, the code:

(1)  Establishes general provisions and definitions regarding
trust administration;

(2)  Establishes rules regarding court jurisdiction and venue for
actions concerning trusts;

(3)  Provides rules for the representation of minor, unborn, and
unascertained beneficiaries and other interested persons by
fiduciaries in judicial and non-judicial contexts;

(4)  Specifies the requirements for creating, modifying, and
terminating trusts;

(5)  Establishes provisions regarding the ability of creditors of
trust settlors or beneficiaries to reach trust assets, including
the effect of spendthrift clauses;

(6)  Modifies existing and creates new provisions regarding
revocable trusts, including a settlor's necessary legal capacity
to create a valid revocable trust, a presumption that trusts are
revocable unless otherwise specified, and requirements for trust
amendments and revocations;

(7)  Contains default rules for dealing with the office of
trustee which may be modified by the terms of the trust;

(8)  Outlines the fiduciary duties of trustees and enumerates
trustees' powers and specifies the liability of trustees and the
rights of persons dealing with trustees;

(9)  Moves the Missouri Prudent Investor Act and the Missouri
Principal and Income Act from Chapter 456, RSMo, to Chapter 469;

(10)  Creates a rebuttable presumption of undue influence for
certain asset transfers to in-home health care providers who are
not closely related to the grantor;

(11)  Modifies the nonprobate transfer of assets.  Recipients of
a recoverable transfer of a decedent's property are liable to
account for a percentage of the property received if necessary to
discharge statutory allowances to the decedent's surviving spouse
and dependent children and for other unpaid claims remaining
after the application of the decedent's estate.  In order to
enforce the obligation of a recipient of a recoverable transfer,
an action for accounting must be commenced within 18 months of
the death of the decedent by the decedent's personal
representative or a qualified claimant if the personal
representative fails to follow certain procedures relating to the
personal representative's failure to respond to a demand for
accounting.  The failure of the personal representative to
provide certain information in response to a demand from a
qualified claimant may toll the 18-month requirement.  Any
judgment in a proceeding for accounting must take into account
the expenses of administration of the estate;

(12)  Specifies that if an action for accounting is commenced
within 18 months, other recipients of recoverable transfers may
be brought into the action, even if the joinder occurs later than
18 months following the decedent's death.  If an action is
commenced after 18 months, then only the personal representative
who received a recoverable transfer will be liable to account,
and no other recipient may be joined;

(13)  Allows a beneficiary who receives a motor vehicle, an
outboard motor, or a vessel pursuant to a transfer on death
instrument to make one reassignment of the original certificate
of ownership upon the death of the owner to another owner without
transferring the certificate to the beneficiary's name;

(14)  Allows owners of manufactured homes who own the home as
joint tenants with the right of survivorship or as tenants by the
entirety to receive a certificate of ownership in beneficiary
form from the Director of the Department of Revenue.  The
beneficiary form must include a directive to the director to
transfer the certificate of ownership on the death of the owner
or owners and permit the beneficiary to make one reassignment of
the original certificate of ownership upon the death of the owner
to another owner without transferring the certificate to the
beneficiary's name; and

(15)  Prohibits a certificate of ownership in beneficiary form
from being issued to persons who hold their interest in a
manufactured home as tenants in common.  During the lifetime of
the owners, the signature or consent of the beneficiary cannot be
required for transactions relating to the manufactured home.  The
owner may revoke the certificate of ownership or change
beneficiaries before their death under certain conditions.  A
beneficiary's interest in the home is subject to the security
interests which the owner accrued during his or her lifetime.  A
beneficiary's interest in a certificate of ownership may not be
changed or revoked by will or other instruments.  The director is
required to issue a new certificate of ownership to the surviving
owners or beneficiaries upon proof of death.

Missouri House of Representatives
92nd General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 23, 2004 at 11:15 am