Chapter 2 - § 2.13 • STATUTORY AMENDMENTS

• Jurisdiction: Colorado

§ 2.13 • STATUTORY AMENDMENTS

§ 2.13.1—Alaska Statutory Amendment

In Alaska, the courts' dispositional power extends to all of the parties' property.³²²

A 2006 statutory revision imposed a limitation on the courts' dispositional power over both third-party and self-settled trusts.³²³ Alaska Stat. § 34.40.110(l) (2013) states, in part:

If a trust has a transfer restriction allowed under (a) of this section,³²⁴ in the event of the divorce or dissolution of the marriage of a beneficiary of the trust, the beneficiary's interest in the trust is not considered property subject to division under [the Alaska property division statute] or a part of a property division. . . . Unless otherwise agreed to in writing by the parties to the marriage, this subsection does not apply to a settlor's interest in a self-settled trust with respect to assets transferred to the trust
(1) after the settlor's marriage; or
(2) within 30 days before the settlor's marriage unless the settlor gives written notice to the other party to the marriage of the transfer.

Thus, under the Alaska statute, the court is prohibited from awarding the property or the "value" of the property of a third-party settled trust (as well as a self-settled trust if the conditions of the statute are met) to the non-beneficiary spouse.

§ 2.13.2—Missouri Statutory Amendment

Missouri amended its version of the Uniform Trust Code effective August 2006 by revising the Missouri Revised Statutes § 456.5-504 (2013) to state, in part:

A beneficiary's interest in a trust that is subject to the trustee's discretion does not constitute an interest in property or an enforceable right even if the discretion is expressed in the form of a standard of distribution or the beneficiary is then serving as a trustee or cotrustee. A creditor or other claimant may not attach present or future distributions from such an interest or right, obtain an order from a court forcing the judicial sale of the interest or compelling the trustee to make distributions, or reach the interest or right by any other means, even if the trustee has abused the trustee's discretion. . . . This section applies whether or not an interest is subject to a spendthrift provision. . . . [A] beneficiary's interest in a trust is subject to the trustee's discretion if that interest does not constitute a mandatory distribution. . . .³²⁵

The comment to § 4.56-5-504 states that the section was altered to clearly restate Missouri law that discretionary interests in...