Uniform State Laws of Interest to Colorado Probate Lawyers
| Publication year | 1985 |
| Pages | 1961 |
| Citation | Vol. 14 No. 9 Pg. 1961 |
1985, November, Pg. 1961. Uniform State Laws of Interest to Colorado Probate Lawyers
The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws ("Conference") was organized in 1892 as a law reform organization. The impetus for the founding of the organization was the American Bar Association, together with representatives of several of the states. The primary purposes of the Conference are to draft laws of national interest where uniform adoption and administration would be beneficial and to assist with the adoption of these laws in the various states. The Conference consists of delegates or commissioners from these states, normally appointed by the governor of each state for fixed terms. Similarly, the funding for the Conference comes primarily from the states.
The Conference has promulgated uniform acts in all areas of the law. Perhaps the act most commonly adopted with the most widespread impact is the Uniform Commercial Code. However, in terms of numbers of acts adopted and impact upon common areas of practice, perhaps no area has benefited more from the work of the Conference than estate planning and administration.
This article reviews briefly the uniform acts already in place in Colorado in the probate field, together with some of the recent and ongoing work of the Conference in this area.
The Uniform Probate Code ("Code") was first promulgated in 1969 and was adopted, substantially intact, in Colorado in 1973, effective July 1, 1974. It has now been adopted in full or in substantial part in fourteen states, with many other states adopting selective parts.(fn1) The Code is under constant revision by a Joint Editorial Board, consisting of representatives from the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section of the American Bar Association, the American College of Probate Counsel and the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. In addition, the Joint Editorial Board has an educational director and liaison members with the nation's probate judiciary and law school teachers.
Prior to adoption of the Code, Colorado had adopted a number of uniform laws in the probate area which continue to be an integral part of legal practice in this state. A brief review of these uniform laws follows:
The Uniform Principal and Income Act was adopted in 1955.(fn2) In cases of trusts and estates, especially where the residuary beneficiary under a will is a trust, the act establishes the ground rules for characterizing receipts and disbursements for allocation to the accounts of either the current income beneficiary or the remainder beneficiary.
Colorado adopted the original version of the Uniform Principal and Income Act. However, this act has been superseded by the promulgation of a Revised Uniform Principal and Income Act, which has been adopted by substantially more states than the original act. Thus, Colorado's version of the act is not consistent with that of many other states. Attorneys must be careful when using references to cases and statutory provisions from other states to resolve Colorado probate accounting problems.
In 1923, Colorado adopted...
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