This section defines terms used in the chapter, including trustee, settlor, beneficiary, guardian, conservator, person, property, and several trust-related concepts.
In this chapter: (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 Section 2041(b)(1)(A) or 2514(c)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as in effect on January 1, 2007, 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 Section 19-3B-405(a). (5) CONSERVATOR means a person appointed by the court to administer the estate of a minor or adult individual. (6) ENVIRONMENTAL LAW means a federal, state, or local law, rule, regulation, or ordinance relating to protection of the environment. (7) GUARDIAN means a person who has qualified as a guardian of a minor or incapacitated person pursuant to parental or spousal nomination or court appointment and includes a limited guardian as described in Section 26-2A-78(e) and Section 26-2A-105(c), but excludes one who is merely 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 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. (12) PRESUMPTIVE REMAINDER BENEFICIARY means a person who would be entitled to the principal of a trust if the income interest were immediately terminated, and if a trust contains a power of appointment, then the holder of such power of appointment shall also be a presumptive remainder beneficiary. (13) PROPERTY means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, legal or equitable, or any interest therein. Property includes choses in action, claims, and interests created by beneficiary designation under policies of insurance, financial instruments and deferred compensation and other retirement arrangements, whether revocable or irrevocable. (14) QUALIFIED BENEFICIARY means a living beneficiary who, 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 paragraph (A) terminated on that date, but the termination of those interests would not cause the trust to terminate; or (C) would be a distributee or permissible distributee of trust income or principal if the trust terminated on that date. (15) REVOCABLE, as applied to a trust, means revocable by the settlor without the consent of the trustee or a person holding an adverse interest. (16) 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, then 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. (17) SPENDTHRIFT PROVISION means a term of a trust which restrains both voluntary and involuntary transfer of a beneficiary’s interest. (18) 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. (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. (21) TRUSTEE includes an original, additional, and successor trustee, and a co-trustee.