BILL NUMBER: SB 685 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 27, 2008
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 23, 2008
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)
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Galgiani )
FEBRUARY 23, 2007
An act 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 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 would provide instead that a trust for the care of
a designated domestic or pet animal is for a lawful noncharitable
purpose and terminates when no living
designated animal is living on the date of the
trustor's settlor's death is
covered by the trust , unless otherwise provided in the
trust and 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
trust. 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. This bill would permit a any
person interested in the welfare of the pet animal or any nonprofit
charitable organization whose that has as its
principal activity is the care of animals
to apply to the court for appointment as trustee or for
removal of a trustee petition the court regarding the
trust, as specified . The bill would provide a process for an
accounting of the trust, to be waived if the value of the
pet trust assets do does not
exceed $5,000 $40,000, as specified .
The bill would require termination of a trust for the care
of a covered domestic or pet animal that has a life span of 21 years
of age or greater when that animal dies permit
beneficiaries of the trust, a person designated by the trust, or
certain nonprofit charitable organizations, upon reasonable request,
to inspect the animal, the premises where the animal is maintained,
or the books and records of the trust. The bill would except these
trusts from the application of specified provisions generally
regarding the termination of trusts .
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 15212 of the Probate Code is repealed.
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 a trust for a
lawful noncharitable purpose. Unless expressly provided in the trust,
and subject to Section 15211, the trust
terminates when no designated animal living on the date of
the trustor's settlor's death
is covered by the trust remains alive . The
governing instrument of the animal trust shall be liberally construed
to bring the trust within this section, to presume against the
merely precatory or honorary nature of the disposition, and to carry
out the general intent of the trustor settlor
. Extrinsic evidence is admissible in determining the
trustor's settlor'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 distribute
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
trustor's settlor's will or in a
codicil to the trustor's settlor's
will, under the residuary clause in the trustor's
settlor's will.
(C) If the application of subparagraph (A) or (B) does not result
in distribution of unexpended trust property, to the trustor'
s settlor'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.
(c) 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. Any
In addition to a person identified in subdivision (a)
of Section 17200, any person interested in the welfare of the
pet animal or any nonprofit charitable organization whose
that has as its principal activity is
the care of animals may apply to the court for
appointment as trustee to enforce the trust or for removal of a
trustee for a violation of this section. petition the
court regarding the trust as provided in Chapter 3 (commencing with
Section 17200 ) of Part 5.
(d) (1) If a trustee is not
designated or no designated or successor 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 court-appointed
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 settlor and the purpose
of this section.
(2) (A) If
(e) The accountings required by Section
16062 shall be provided to the beneficiaries who would be entitled
to distribution if the animal were then deceased and to
any nonprofit charitable corporation that has as its principal
activity the care of animals and that has requested these accountings
in writing. However, if the value of the assets in
the pet trust does not exceed five
forty thousand dollars ($5,000)
($40,000) , 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, unless ordered by the court or required
by the trust instrument.
(B) If the value of the trust assets exceed five thousand dollars
($5,000), the trustee shall submit to the court an accounting of the
assets in the trust within 60 days of the trustee's appointment.
Thereafter, the trustee shall submit to the court an accounting of
the trust assets biennially. No hearing on the accounting shall be
required. The court may, for good cause and after reviewing the
accounting submitted by the trustee, order a hearing on the
accounting, with notice given to residuary beneficiaries of the
trustor's will, to other named beneficiaries in the trust, and to the
trustor's heirs under Section 21114. The court may, after the
hearing, issue orders necessary to ensure that the purpose of the
trust is carried out.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 15211, a trust for the care of a
covered domestic or pet animal that has a life span of 21 years of
age or greater shall terminate when that designated animal dies.
(f) Any beneficiary, any person designated by the trust instrument
or the court to enforce the trust, or any nonprofit charitable
corporation that has as its principal activity the care of animals
may, upon reasonable request, inspect the animal, the premises where
the animal is maintained, or the books and records of the trust.
(g) A trust governed by this section is not subject to termination
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 15408.
(h) Section 15211 does not apply to a trust governed by this
section.