Current through the 2024 legislative session
Section 4-10-103 - Definitions(a) As used in this act: (i) "Action," with respect to an act of a trustee, includes a failure to act;(ii) "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 or trust protector, holds a power of appointment over trust property.(iii) "Charitable trust" means a trust, or portion of a trust, created for a charitable purpose described in W.S. 4-10-406(a);(iv) "Conservator" for the purposes of this act means as defined in W.S. 3-1-101(a)(iii);(v) "Environmental law" means a federal, state, or local law, rule, regulation, or ordinance relating to protection of the environment;(vi) "Excluded fiduciary" means any fiduciary excluded from exercising certain powers under the trust instrument or by court order which powers may be exercised by the settlor, trust advisor, trust protector or other persons designated by the instrument or court order;(vii) "Fiduciary" means a trustee under a testamentary or other trust, an executor, administrator, or personal representative of a decedent's estate, or any other party including a trust advisor or a trust protector, who is acting in a fiduciary capacity for any person, trust or estate;(viii) "Guardian" for the purposes of this act means as defined in W.S. 3-1-101(a)(v);(ix) "Incapacity" or "incompetency" or "incompetent person" means as defined in W.S. 3-1-101(a)(ix) unless otherwise defined by the terms of the trust;(x) "Interests of the beneficiaries" means the beneficial interests provided in the terms of the trust;(xi) "Jurisdiction," with respect to a geographic area, includes a state or country;(xii) "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;(xiii) "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;(xiv) "Property" means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, legal or equitable, or any interest therein;(xv) "Qualified beneficiary" means:(A) A beneficiary who is currently entitled to mandatory distributions of income or principal from the trust or has a vested remainder interest in the residuary of the trust which is not subject to divestment;(B) If a trust has no qualified beneficiary under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, "qualified beneficiary" shall mean a beneficiary having a vested remainder interest in the residuary of the trust whose interest is subject to divestment only as a result of the beneficiary's death;(C) If a trust has no qualified beneficiary under subparagraph (A) or (B) of this paragraph, "qualified beneficiary" shall mean a beneficiary currently eligible to receive discretionary distributions of income or principal from the trust, who has received one (1) or more distributions during the beneficiary's lifetime;(D) If a trust has no qualified beneficiary under subparagraph (A), (B) or (C) of this paragraph, "qualified beneficiary" shall mean a beneficiary currently eligible to receive discretionary distributions of income or principal from the trust;(E) The department of health is a qualified beneficiary as the vested remainder beneficiary of trusts established pursuant to W.S. 42-2-403(f)(i), (ii) and (iii) and 42 U.S.C. 1396p(d)(4)(A), (B) and (C).(xvi) "Regulated financial services institution" means a financial institution as defined in W.S. 13-1-101(a)(ix) and any other financial services provider regulated by the state of Wyoming or agency of the federal government;(xvii) "Revocable," as applied to a trust, means revocable by the settlor without the consent of the trustee or a person holding an adverse interest;(xviii) "Settlor" means a person, including a testator, grantor or trust maker, who creates, transfers or contributes property to, a trust. If more than one (1) person creates, or transfers or contributes property to, a trust, each person is a settlor of the portion of the trust property attributable to that person's contributions or transfers, except to the extent another person has the power to revoke that portion;(xix) "Spendthrift provision" means a term of a trust which restrains either a voluntary or an involuntary transfer, or both, of a beneficiary's interest and shall not include or prevent a disclaimer of an interest of a beneficiary;(xx) "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;(xxi) "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;(xxii) "Trust advisor" means the settlor of a trust instrument or another person whose appointment is provided in the trust instrument and whose powers are defined in W.S. 4-10-712;(xxiii) "Trust protector" means any disinterested party whose appointment is provided for in the trust instrument or who is appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction and whose powers are defined in W.S. 4-10-710;(xxiv) "Trust instrument" means an instrument executed by the settlor that contains terms of the trust, including any amendments thereto;(xxv) "Trustee" includes an original, additional and successor trustee and a cotrustee;(xxvi) "This act" means W.S. 4-10-101 through 4-10-1103;(xxvii) "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 July 1, 2005; (xxviii) "Directed trust" means a trust where either through the terms of the trust, an agreement of the qualified beneficiaries or a court order, one (1) or more persons is given the authority to direct, consent to or disapprove a fiduciary's actual or proposed investment decision, distribution decision or any other noninvestment decision of the fiduciary;(xxix) "Discretionary distribution" means a distribution which the trustee is not directed to make, but is permitted to make in the trustee's discretion. For example, the language in a trust instrument providing for a discretionary distribution may contain the words "may" or "in the trustee's discretion". The language providing for a discretionary distribution may include a standard of distribution or other guidance as long as the language or other guidance does not require the trustee to make a distribution in accordance with the standard or guidance;(xxx) "Discretionary trust" means a trust in which the trustee is not directed to make any distributions, but is permitted to make discretionary distributions;(xxxi) "Mandatory distribution" means a distribution which a trustee is required to make under the trust instrument and the trustee has no discretion in determining whether the distribution shall be made. Trust instrument language providing for a mandatory distribution may include a standard of distribution accompanied by a direction requiring the trustee to make the distribution in accordance with the standard. For example, trust instrument language providing for a mandatory distribution may contain the words "shall" or "must" or "directed";(xxxii) "Power of appointment" means an inter vivos or testamentary power to direct the disposition of trust property, other than a distribution decision by a trustee to a beneficiary. A holder of a power of appointment shall not be deemed a fiduciary unless otherwise provided for in the trust instrument;(xxxiii) "Qualified spendthrift trust" means a trust established in accordance with W.S. 4-10-510 et seq.;(xxxiv) "Qualified transfer" means as defined in W.S. 4-10-512;(xxxv) "Qualified trustee" as used in article 5 of this act means: (A) A natural person who is a resident of this state; or(B) A person authorized by the law of this state to act as a trustee or a regulated financial institution which:(I) Maintains or arranges for custody in this state of some or all of the trust property;(II) Maintains records for the trust on an exclusive or nonexclusive basis;(III) Prepares or arranges for the preparation of fiduciary income tax returns for the trust; or(IV) Otherwise materially participates in the administration of the trust.(C) Neither the settlor, nor any other natural person who is a nonresident of this state, nor an entity that is not authorized by the law of this state to act as a trustee or is not a regulated financial institution, may serve as a qualified trustee.(xxxvi) "Qualified trust property" means the property of a qualified spendthrift trust as defined in W.S. 4-10-511;(xxxvii) "Standard of distribution" means language in a trust instrument providing guidance or direction to a trustee regarding distributions of income or principal. Standards of distribution are not limited to ascertainable standards;(xxxviii) "Legitime" means that portion of a testator's free movable property that the testator's children are legally entitled to regardless of the terms of the will or trust.Amended by Laws 2023, ch. 118,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2023.Amended by Laws 2019 , ch. 44, § 1, eff. 7/1/2019.Amended by Laws 2013 , ch. 178, § 2, eff. 7/1/2013.