(1) Except as otherwise provided in the terms of a trust or this section, a fiduciary, in a record, without court approval, may adjust between income and principal if the fiduciary determines the exercise of the power to adjust will assist the fiduciary to administer the trust or estate impartially.

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Terms Used In Utah Code 75A-5-203

  • Accounting period: includes a part of a calendar year or another period of 12 calendar months or approximately 12 calendar months that begins when an income interest begins or ends when an income interest ends. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • 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
  • Beneficiary: includes :
         (3)(a) for a trust:
              (3)(a)(i) a current beneficiary, including a current income beneficiary and a beneficiary that may receive only principal;
              (3)(a)(ii) a remainder beneficiary; and
              (3)(a)(iii) any other successor beneficiary;
         (3)(b) for an estate, an heir and devisee; and
         (3)(c) for a life estate or term interest, a person that holds a life estate, term interest, or remainder, or other interest following a life estate or term interest. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Court: means a court in this state with jurisdiction over a trust or estate, or a life estate or other term interest described in Subsection 75A-5-103(2). See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Current income beneficiary: means a beneficiary to which a fiduciary may distribute net income, even if the fiduciary also may distribute principal to the beneficiary. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Estate: includes the property of the decedent as the estate is originally constituted and the property of the estate as it exists at any time during administration. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Fiduciary: includes :
         (8)(a) a trustee, trust director as defined in Section 75-12-102, personal representative, life tenant, holder of a term interest, and person acting under a delegation from a fiduciary;
         (8)(b) a person that holds property for a successor beneficiary whose interest may be affected by an allocation of receipts and expenditures between income and principal; and
         (8)(c) if there are two or more co-fiduciaries, all co-fiduciaries acting under the terms of the trust and applicable law. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Gross estate: The total fair market value of all property and property interests, real and personal, tangible and intangible, of which a decedent had beneficial ownership at the time of death before subtractions for deductions, debts, administrative expenses, and casualty losses suffered during estate administration.
  • Income: includes a part of receipts from a sale, exchange, or liquidation of a principal asset to the extent provided in Part 4, Allocation of Receipts. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Independent person: means a person that is not:
         (11)(a) for a trust:
              (11)(a)(i) a qualified beneficiary as determined under Section 75-7-103;
              (11)(a)(ii) a settlor of the trust; or
              (11)(a)(iii) an individual whose legal obligation to support a beneficiary may be satisfied by a distribution from the trust;
         (11)(b) for an estate, a beneficiary;
         (11)(c) a spouse, parent, brother, sister, or issue of an individual described in Subsection (11)(a) or (b);
         (11)(d) a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or other entity in which persons described in Subsections (11)(a) through (c), in the aggregate, have voting control; or
         (11)(e) an employee of a person described in Subsection (11)(a), (b), (c), or (d). See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Person: means :
         (14)(a) an individual;
         (14)(b) an estate;
         (14)(c) a trust;
         (14)(d) a business or nonprofit entity;
         (14)(e) a public corporation, government or governmental subdivision, agency, or instrumentality; or
         (14)(f) any other legal entity. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Principal: means property held in trust for distribution to, production of income for, or use by a current or successor beneficiary. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Property: includes both real and personal property. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
  • Record: means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Settlor: means the same as that term is defined in Section 75-7-103. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Special tax benefit: means :
         (19)(a) exclusion of a transfer to a trust from gifts described in Section 2503(b) of the Internal Revenue Code because of the qualification of an income interest in the trust as a present interest in property;
         (19)(b) status as a qualified subchapter S trust described in Section 1361(d)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code at a time the trust holds stock of an S corporation described in Section 1361(a)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code;
         (19)(c) an estate or gift tax marital deduction for a transfer to a trust under Section 2056 or 2523 of the Internal Revenue Code that depends or depended in whole or in part on the right of the settlor's spouse to receive the net income of the trust;
         (19)(d) exemption in whole or in part of a trust from the federal generation-skipping transfer tax imposed by Section 2601 of the Internal Revenue Code because the trust was irrevocable on September 25, 1985, if there is any possibility that:
              (19)(d)(i) a taxable distribution, as defined in Section 2612(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, could be made from the trust; or
              (19)(d)(ii) a taxable termination, as defined in Section 2612(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, could occur with respect to the trust; or
         (19)(e) an inclusion ratio, as defined in Section 2642(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, of the trust which is less than one, if there is any possibility that:
              (19)(e)(i) a taxable distribution, as defined in Section 2612(b) of the Internal Revenue Code, could be made from the trust; or
              (19)(e)(ii) a taxable termination, as defined in Section 2612(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, could occur with respect to the trust. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Terms of a trust: means :
         (22)(a) except as otherwise provided in Subsection (22)(b), the manifestation of the settlor's intent regarding a trust's provisions as:
              (22)(a)(i) expressed in the trust instrument; or
              (22)(a)(ii) established by other evidence that would be admissible in a judicial proceeding;
         (22)(b) the trust's provisions as established, determined, or amended by:
              (22)(b)(i) a trustee or trust director in accordance with applicable law;
              (22)(b)(ii) a court order; or
              (22)(b)(iii) a nonjudicial settlement agreement under Section 75-7-110;
         (22)(c) for an estate, a will; or
         (22)(d) for a life estate or term interest, the corresponding manifestation of the rights of the beneficiaries. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
  • Trust: includes :
              (23)(a)(i) an express trust, private or charitable, with additions to the trust, wherever and however created; and
              (23)(a)(ii) a trust created or determined by judgment or decree under which the trust is to be administered in the manner of an express trust. See Utah Code 75A-5-102
(2) This section does not create a duty to exercise or consider the power to adjust under Subsection (1) or to inform a beneficiary about the applicability of this section.
(3) A fiduciary that in good faith exercises or fails to exercise the power to adjust under Subsection (1) is not liable to a person affected by the exercise or failure to exercise.
(4) In deciding whether and to what extent to exercise the power to adjust under Subsection (1), a fiduciary shall consider all factors the fiduciary considers relevant, including the relevant factors in Subsection 75A-5-201(5) and the application of Subsection 75A-5-401(9), Section 75A-5-408, and Section 75A-5-413.
(5) A fiduciary may not exercise the power to make an adjustment under Subsection (1) or the power to make a determination that an allocation is insubstantial under Section 75A-5-408 if:

     (5)(a) the adjustment or determination would reduce the amount payable to a current income beneficiary from a trust that qualifies for a special tax benefit, except to the extent the adjustment is made to provide for a reasonable apportionment of the total return of the trust between the current income beneficiary and successor beneficiaries;
     (5)(b) the adjustment or determination would change the amount payable to a beneficiary, as a fixed annuity or a fixed fraction of the value of the trust assets, under the terms of the trust;
     (5)(c) the adjustment or determination would reduce an amount that is permanently set aside for a charitable purpose under the terms of the trust, unless both income and principal are set aside for the charitable purpose;
     (5)(d) possessing or exercising the power would cause a person to be treated as the owner of all or part of the trust for federal income tax purposes;
     (5)(e) possessing or exercising the power would cause all or part of the value of the trust assets to be included in the gross estate of an individual for federal estate tax purposes;
     (5)(f) possessing or exercising the power would cause an individual to be treated as making a gift for federal gift tax purposes;
     (5)(g) the fiduciary is not an independent person;
     (5)(h) the trust is irrevocable and provides for income to be paid to the settlor and possessing or exercising the power would cause the adjusted principal or income to be considered an available resource or available income under a public-benefit program; or
     (5)(i) the trust is a unitrust under Part 3, Unitrust.
(6) If Subsection (5)(d), (e), (f), or (g) applies to a fiduciary:

     (6)(a) a co-fiduciary to which Subsections (5)(d) through (g) do not apply may exercise the power to adjust, unless the exercise of the power to adjust by the remaining co-fiduciary or co-fiduciaries is not permitted by the terms of the trust or law other than this chapter; or
     (6)(b)

          (6)(b)(i) if there is no co-fiduciary to which Subsections (5)(d) through (g) do not apply:

               (6)(b)(i)(A) except as otherwise provided in Subsection (6)(b)(ii)(A), the fiduciary may appoint a co-fiduciary to which Subsections (5)(d) through (g) do not apply;
               (6)(b)(i)(B) except as otherwise provided in Subsection (6)(b)(ii)(B), the appointed co-fiduciary may exercise the power to adjust under Subsection (1); and
               (6)(b)(i)(C) the appointed co-fiduciary may be a special fiduciary with limited powers.
          (6)(b)(ii)

               (6)(b)(ii)(A) If the appointment of a co-fiduciary is not permitted by the terms of the trust or by a provision of law outside this chapter, a fiduciary may not appoint a co-fiduciary.
               (6)(b)(ii)(B) If the exercise of the power to adjust by a co-fiduciary is not permitted by the terms of the trust or by a provision of law outside this chapter, the co-fiduciary may not exercise the power to adjust under Subsection (1).
(7) A fiduciary may release or delegate to a co-fiduciary the power to adjust under Subsection (1) if the fiduciary determines that the fiduciary’s possession or exercise of the power to adjust will or may:

     (7)(a) cause a result described in Subsections (5)(a) through (f) or (h); or
     (7)(b) deprive the trust of a tax benefit or impose a tax burden not described in Subsections (5)(a) through (f).
(8) A fiduciary’s release or delegation to a co-fiduciary under Subsection (7) of the power to adjust under Subsection (1):

     (8)(a) must be in a record;
     (8)(b) applies to the entire power to adjust, unless the release or delegation provides a limitation, which may be a limitation to the power to adjust:

          (8)(b)(i) from income to principal;
          (8)(b)(ii) from principal to income;
          (8)(b)(iii) for specified property; or
          (8)(b)(iv) in specified circumstances;
     (8)(c) for a delegation, may be modified by a redelegation under this subsection by the co-fiduciary to which the delegation is made; and
     (8)(d) subject to Subsection (8)(c), is permanent, unless the release or delegation provides a specified period, including a period measured by the life of an individual or the lives of more than one individual.
(9) Terms of a trust that deny or limit the power to adjust between income and principal do not affect the application of this section, unless the terms of the trust expressly deny or limit the power to adjust under Subsection (1).
(10) The exercise of the power to adjust under Subsection (1) in any accounting period may apply to the current accounting period, the immediately preceding accounting period, and one or more subsequent accounting periods.
(11) A description of the exercise of the power to adjust under Subsection (1) shall be:

     (11)(a) included in a report, if any, sent to beneficiaries under Subsection 75-7-811(3); or
     (11)(b) communicated at least annually to the qualified beneficiaries determined under Subsection 75-7-103(1)(h).