Washington Code 11.104B.500 – Death or termination of interest — Determination and distribution of net income
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(1) This section applies when:
Terms Used In Washington Code 11.104B.500
- 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
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
- Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
(a) The death of an individual results in the creation of an estate or trust; or
(b) An income interest in a trust terminates, whether the trust continues or is distributed.
(2) A fiduciary of an estate or trust with an income interest that terminates shall determine, under subsection (7) of this section and Articles 4, 5, and 7 of this chapter, the amount of net income and net principal receipts received from property specifically given to a beneficiary. The fiduciary shall distribute the net income and net principal receipts to the beneficiary that is to receive the specific property.
(3) A fiduciary shall determine the income and net income of an estate or income interest in a trust which terminates, other than the amount of net income determined under subsection (2) of this section, under Articles 4, 5, and 7 of this chapter and by:
(a) Including in net income all income from property used or sold to discharge liabilities;
(b) Paying from income or principal, in the fiduciary’s discretion, fees of attorneys, accountants, and fiduciaries, court costs and other expenses of administration, and interest on estate and inheritance taxes and other taxes imposed because of the decedent‘s death, but the fiduciary may pay the expenses from income of property passing to a trust for which the fiduciary claims a federal estate tax marital or charitable deduction only to the extent:
(i) The payment of the expenses from income will not cause the reduction or loss of the deduction; or
(ii) The fiduciary makes an adjustment under RCW 11.104B.460(2); and
(c) Paying from principal other disbursements made or incurred in connection with the settlement of the estate or the winding up of an income interest that terminates, including:
(i) To the extent authorized by the decedent’s will, the terms of the trust, or applicable law, debts, funeral expenses, disposition of remains, family allowances, estate and inheritance taxes, and other taxes imposed because of the decedent’s death; and
(ii) Related penalties that are apportioned, by the decedent’s will, the terms of the trust, or applicable law, to the estate or income interest that terminates.
(4) If a decedent’s will, the terms of a trust, or applicable law provides for the payment of interest or the equivalent of interest to a beneficiary that receives a pecuniary amount outright, the fiduciary shall make the payment from net income determined under subsection (3) of this section or from principal to the extent net income is insufficient.
(5) If a beneficiary is to receive a pecuniary amount outright from a trust after an income interest ends because of an income beneficiary’s death, and no payment of interest or the equivalent of interest is provided for by the terms of the trust or applicable law, the fiduciary shall pay the interest or the equivalent of interest to which the beneficiary would be entitled under applicable law if the pecuniary amount were required to be paid under a will.
(6) A fiduciary shall distribute net income remaining after payments required by subsections (4) and (5) of this section in the manner described in RCW 11.104B.510 to all other beneficiaries, including a beneficiary that receives a pecuniary amount in trust, even if the beneficiary holds an unqualified power to withdraw assets from the trust or other presently exercisable general power of appointment over the trust.
(7) A fiduciary may not reduce principal or income receipts from property described in subsection (2) of this section because of a payment described in RCW 11.104B.400 or 11.104B.410, to the extent the decedent’s will, the terms of the trust, or applicable law requires the fiduciary to make the payment from assets other than the property or to the extent the fiduciary recovers or expects to recover the payment from a third party. The net income and principal receipts from the property must be determined by including the amount the fiduciary receives or pays regarding the property, whether the amount accrued or became due before, on, or after the date of the decedent’s death or an income interest’s terminating event, and making a reasonable provision for an amount the estate or income interest may become obligated to pay after the property is distributed.