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Developed and maintained by the Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
2005 SESSION
057256224Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That § 26-17.7 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 26-17.7. Testamentary trustees under a will waiving accounts; waiver where beneficiary also trustee.
A. If (i) the will of a decedent probated on or after
July 1, 1993, contains a waiver of the obligations of the testamentary trustee
nominated therein to account, or (ii) if the sole beneficiary of the trust
also is a trustee, the trustee will not be required to file accounts with
the commissioner of accounts provided. [ For purposes of this
section, a “sole beneficiary” includes a person who is the sole income
beneficiary and has either a general power of appointment over the principal or
has a special power of appointment that is not limited to a particular class of
persons. ]
Where the waiver is contained in the decedent's will, the
trustee shall (i) within ninety 90 days after
qualification, notifies notify in writing all beneficiaries of
the trust who are adults other than the trustee, whose addresses are known to
the trustee and to whom income or principal of the trust could be currently
distributed; provides provide each with a copy of the applicable
provisions of the will; advises advise each of his right to require
an annual accounting; and provides provide each with a copy of
this code section and (ii) annually thereafter provides provide
each such beneficiary an accounting upon request. The trustee shall send to the
commissioner of accounts a copy of the notice given to each beneficiary or, in
the alternative, file a writing with the commissioner stating that the
requirements of this section have been met. For receiving and filing such
notice or writing, the Commissioner shall be allowed a fee not to exceed twenty-five
dollars $25.
B. Language substantially in form and effect as follows will be sufficient to constitute a waiver in the will of the decedent of the trustee's obligation to account: I hereby direct that my trustee(s) shall not be required to file annual accounts with a court as otherwise required by Virginia law.
C. Notwithstanding such a waiver by in the
will of the decedent or any prior consent of a beneficiary, any such adult
beneficiary may, at any time during the administration of the trust, demand in
a writing delivered to the trustee and to the commissioner of accounts that the
trustee settle annually with the commissioner of accounts. Upon notice of such
demand to the trustee and the commissioner of accounts, such trustee shall file
an account with such commissioner for a period acceptable to the commissioner
as though there were no waiver by the testator. The beneficiary making such
demand may later revoke his demand by a writing delivered to the trustee and
the commissioner of accounts. The demand for settlement of the trustee's
account before the commissioner of accounts may also be made by the personal
representative of a deceased beneficiary whose estate is a beneficiary, an
attorney in fact for a beneficiary, a guardian of an incapacitated beneficiary,
a committee of a convict or insane beneficiary, the duly qualified guardian of
a minor, or if none exists, a custodial parent of a minor or by any minor who
has attained fourteen 14 years of age.
D. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any trustee
under a will of a decedent containing the requisite waiver, whenever probated,
shall be relieved of the duty to file an inventory or annual accounts with the
commissioner of accounts if the trustee (i) obtains the written consent of all adult
beneficiaries, other than the trustee, to whom income or principal of the trust
could be currently distributed, after providing those beneficiaries with the
documents and information specified in subsection A,; and (ii)
files those consents with the commissioner on or before the date on which the
inventory or next required accounting would otherwise be due. For receiving and
filing such written consent, the Commissioner shall be allowed a fee not to
exceed twenty-five dollars $25.
E. A court having jurisdiction may order the filing of annual accounts if it deems such filings to be in the best interests of one or more beneficiaries of the trust.