Vermont S. 179: An act relating to offender and inmate records

Bill Text

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No. 123. An act relating to the Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests
Act.
(S.179)
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
Sec. 1. 14 V.S.A. chapter 129 is added to read:
CHAPTER 129. VERMONT DISCLAIMER OF PROPERTY INTERESTS
ACT
§ 4101. SHORT TITLE
This chapter may be cited as the “Vermont Uniform Disclaimer of Property
Interests Act.”
§ 4102. DEFINITIONS
As used in this chapter:
(1) “Disclaimant” means the person to whom a disclaimed interest or
power would have passed had the disclaimer not been made.
(2) “Disclaimed interest” means the interest that would have passed to
the disclaimant had the disclaimer not been made.
(3) “Disclaimer” means the refusal to accept an interest in or power over
property.
(4) “Fiduciary” means a personal representative, trustee, agent acting
under a power of attorney, or other person authorized to act as a fiduciary with
respect to the property of another person.
(5) “Jointly held property” means property held in the name of two or
more persons under an arrangement in which all holders have concurrent

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interests and under which the last surviving holder is entitled to the whole of
the property.
(6) “Person” means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate,
trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture,
government, governmental subdivision, governmental agency, governmental
instrumentality, public corporation, or any other legal or commercial entity.
(7) “Personal representative” means a duly appointed representative of a
probate estate, such as an executor or administrator.
(8) “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, or Alaskan native village, recognized by federal law or
formally acknowledged by a state.
(9) “Trust” means:
(A) an express trust, charitable or noncharitable, with additions
thereto, whenever and however created; or
(B) a trust created pursuant to a statute, judgment, or decree that
requires the trust to be administered in the manner of an express trust.
§ 4103. SCOPE
This chapter applies to disclaimers of any interest in or power over
property, whenever created.

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§ 4104. SUPPLEMENTED BY OTHER LAW
(a) Unless displaced by a provision of this chapter, the principles of law
and equity supplement this chapter.
(b) This chapter does not limit any right of a person to waive, release,
disclaim, or renounce an interest in or power over property under a law other
than this chapter.
§ 4105. POWER TO DISCLAIM; GENERAL REQUIREMENTS; WHEN
IRREVOCABLE
(a) A person may disclaim, in whole or in part, any interest in or power
over property, including a power of appointment. A person may disclaim the
interest or power even if its creator imposed a spendthrift provision or similar
restriction on transfer or a restriction or limitation on the right to disclaim.
(b) Except to the extent a fiduciary’s right to disclaim is expressly
restricted or limited by another statute of this State or by the instrument
creating the fiduciary relationship, a fiduciary may disclaim, in whole or in
part, any interest in or power over property, including a power of appointment,
whether acting in a personal or representative capacity. A fiduciary may
disclaim the interest or power even if its creator imposed a spendthrift
provision or similar restriction on transfer or a restriction or limitation on the
right to disclaim, or an instrument other than the instrument that created the
fiduciary relationship imposed a restriction or limitation on the right to
disclaim.

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(c) To the extent that there is no material conflict of interest, a parent, as
defined in 15C V.S.A. § 102(16), can disclaim on behalf of the parent’s minor
child, if a guardian has not been or is not required to be appointed for the child.
(d) To be effective, a disclaimer shall be in a writing or other record,
declare the disclaimer, describe the interest or power disclaimed, be signed,
and be delivered or filed in the manner provided in section 4112 of this title.
As used in this subsection:
(1) “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.
(2) “Signed” means:
(A) by the person making the disclaimer, or by another individual
directed by the person making the disclaimer to sign the name of the person
making the disclaimer in the presence of the person making the disclaimer and
two credible witnesses who shall also sign the record in the presence of all
parties hereto; and
(B) with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record to:
(i) execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or