In this chapter:

(1) ACTION, with respect to an act of a trustee, includes a failure to act.
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Terms Used In Alabama Code 19-3B-103

  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • property: includes both real and personal property. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
  • Testator: A male person who leaves a will at death.
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
  • United States: includes the territories thereof and the District of Columbia. See Alabama Code 1-1-1
(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.
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