BILL NUMBER: SB 685	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  JANUARY 9, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JANUARY 7, 2008
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 10, 2007

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Yee
    (   Coauthor:   Senator   Padilla
  ) 

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2007

   An act to  amend Section 15211 of, and to  repeal
and add Section 15212 of  ,  the Probate Code,
relating to pet trusts.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 685, as amended, Yee. Pet trusts.
   Existing law provides that a trust for  a noncharitable
corporation or unincorporated society or for a lawful noncharitable
purpose may be performed by the trustee for only 21 years, as
specified. Existing law provides that a trust for  the care
of a designated domestic or pet animal may be performed by the
trustee for the life of the animal, whether or not there is a
beneficiary who can seek enforcement or termination of the trust and
whether or not the terms of the trust contemplate a longer duration.
   This bill would repeal the provisions regarding domestic or pet
animal trusts and  enact new provisions that would function
as an exception to the limitation on the duration of trusts for a
noncharitable corporation or unincorporated society or for a lawful
noncharitable purpose, as described above. The bill  would
provide  instead  that a trust for the care of a designated
domestic or pet animal is valid and terminates when no living animal
is covered by the trust, subject to certain requirements. The bill
would require a court to liberally construe a pet trust to bring it
within the bill's provisions, to presume against an interpretation
that would render the disposition a mere request or an attempt to
honor the pet, and to carry out the general intent of the transfer.
The bill would provide an order of disposition of trust property upon
termination of the trust and would provide authority for the court
to name a trustee and to transfer trust property, as specified.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
   
  SECTION 1.    Section 15211 of the Probate Code is
amended to read:
   15211.  Except as provided in Section 15212, a trust for a
noncharitable corporation or unincorporated society or for a lawful
noncharitable purpose may be performed by the trustee for only 21
years, whether or not there is a beneficiary who can seek enforcement
or termination of the trust and whether or not the terms of the
trust contemplate a longer duration. 
   SEC. 2.   SECTION 1.   Section 15212 of
the Probate Code is repealed.
   SEC. 3.   SEC. 2.   Section 15212 is
added to the Probate Code, to read:
   15212.  (a)  Subject to the requirements of this section, a trust
for the care of a designated domestic or pet animal is valid. The
trust terminates when no living animal is covered by the trust. The
governing instrument of the animal trust shall be liberally construed
to bring the transfer within this section, to presume against the
merely precatory or honorary nature of the disposition, and to carry
out the general intent of the transferor. Extrinsic evidence is
admissible in determining the transferor's intent.
   (b) A trust for the care of a designated domestic or pet animal is
subject to the following requirements:
   (1) Except as expressly provided otherwise in the trust
instrument, the principal or income shall not be converted to the use
of the trustee or to any use other than for the trust's purposes or
for the benefit of a covered animal.
   (2) Upon termination of the trust, the trustee shall transfer the
unexpended trust property in the following order:
   (A) As directed in the trust instrument.
   (B) If the trust was created in a nonresiduary clause in the
transferor's will or in a codicil to the transferor's will, under the
residuary clause in the transferor's will.
   (C) If the application of subparagraph (A) or (B) does not result
in transfer of unexpended trust property, to the transferor's heirs
under Section 21114.
   (3) For the purposes of Section 21110, the residuary clause
described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (2) shall be treated as
creating a future interest under the terms of a trust.
   (4) The intended use of the principal or income may be enforced by
a person designated for that purpose in the trust instrument or, if
none is designated, by a person appointed by a court upon application
to the court by that person.
   (5) Except as ordered by the court or required by the trust
instrument, no filing, report, registration, periodic accounting,
separate maintenance of funds, appointment, or fee is required by
reason of the existence of the fiduciary relationship of the trustee.

   (6) If a trustee is not designated or no designated trustee is
willing or able to serve, a court shall name a trustee. A court may
order the transfer of the trust property to a trustee, if it is
required to assure that the intended use is carried out and if a
successor trustee is not designated in the trust instrument or if no
designated successor trustee agrees to serve or is able to serve. A
court may also make all other orders and determinations as it shall
deem advisable to carry out the intent of the transferor and the
purpose of this section.