Uniform Law Commission
111 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 1010, Chicago, IL 60602
312-450-6600, www.uniformlaws.org
Contact: John Sebert, ULC Executive Director, john.sebert@uniformlaws.org
Katie Robinson, ULC Communications Officer, katie.robinson@uniformlaws.org
NEW DRAFTING AND STUDY COMMITTEES TO BE APPOINTED
August 15, 2012 — At its 2012 Annual Meeting in Nashville, Tennessee, the Executive Committee of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) authorized the appointment of five new drafting committees and two new study committees.
The new drafting committees are:
Drafting Committee on a Model Act on Appointment and Powers of Real Estate Receivers. The Committee will draft a model act that authorizes the appointment of real estate receivers and sets forth the powers of real estate receivers. The act may also provide powers for a receiver to act with respect to personal property that is ancillary to real estate, but the act will not authorize the appointment of receivers with respect to owner-occupied residences.
Drafting Committee on Series of Unincorporated Business Entities. The Committee will draft series provisions that can be added to some or all of the uniform unincorporated business organization acts other than the Uniform Statutory Trust Entity Act, and the committee is also authorized to draft revisions to the series provisions in USTEA if it believes such revisions are necessary.
Drafting Committee on Amendments to the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act. The Committee will prepare amendments to the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act that address: (a) choice of law for fraudulent transfers, (b) presumptions and burdens of proof for fraudulent transfers, (c) who receives “reasonably equivalent value” under Section 8(a), (d) asset freezing orders, and (e) the consistency of the UFTA with ULC unincorporated business organization acts. The drafting committee is also authorized to draft, for approval by the Executive Committee, revisions to the comments to other provisions of the UFTA.
Drafting Committee on Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets. The Committee will draft a free-standing act and/or amendments to ULC acts, such as the Uniform Probate Code, the Uniform Trust Code, the Uniform Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Act, and the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, that will vest fiduciaries with at least the authority to manage and distribute digital assets, copy or delete digital assets, and access digital assets.
Joint Drafting Committee with the Uniform Law Conference of Canada on Inter-jurisdictional Recognition of Advance Planning Documents. The Joint Committee will draft principles that will guide the drafting of uniform legislation for enactment in the United States and in Canada that provides for cross-border recognition of documents such as powers of attorney for both property and health care, health care instructions, and other documents (such as instructions concerning living arrangements) as appropriate. The ULC members of the Joint Committee also will draft uniform U.S. legislation on these matters. This project will not develop principles or statutory provisions concerning the recognition of provisions for trusts or guardianships.
The new study committees are:
Study Committee on a Model Veterans Court Act. Some state and local governments have recently created or authorized the creation of “veterans courts” that would provide vehicles for diverting some veterans who are in the criminal justice system from traditional criminal courts to specialized courts that can facilitate the provision of rehabilitative treatment when appropriate. The Study Committee will consider and make recommendations concerning the need for and feasibility of drafting a model act on veterans courts.
Study Committee on Trust Protectors. A number of states have recently enacted legislation that authorizes the appointment of a “trust protector,” a person other than the trustee, beneficiary or settlor who holds power over some aspect of a trust, such as the power to direct investments, remove or replace trustees, or amend the trust. The Study Committee will consider and make recommendations concerning the need for and feasibility of drafting uniform state legislation, or amendments to current ULC acts, on this topic.
Further information on the new drafting and study committees, as well as information on the Uniform Law Commission, can be found at the ULC’s website at www.uniformlaws.org.
Drafting committees, composed of commissioners, with participation from observers, advisors and reporter-drafters, meet throughout the year. Tentative drafts are not submitted to the entire Commission until they have received extensive committee consideration.
Proposed acts are subjected to rigorous examination and debate before they become eligible for designation as ULC products. The final decision on whether an act is ready for promulgation to the states is made near the close of an annual meeting, on a vote by states basis, with an affirmative vote of twenty or more states necessary for final approval.
The ULC, now in its 121st year, comprises more than 350 practicing lawyers, governmental lawyers, judges, law professors, and lawyer-legislators from every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Commissioners are appointed by their states to draft and promote enactment of uniform laws that are designed to solve problems common to all the states.
After receiving the ULC’s seal of approval, a uniform act is officially promulgated for consideration by the states, and legislatures are urged to adopt it. Since its inception in 1892, the ULC has been responsible for more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, the Uniform Partnership Act, and the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.
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