AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE MASSACHUSETTS PRINCIPAL AND INCOME ACT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 27 of chapter 197 of the General Laws is hereby repealed.
SECTION 2. Sections 21A, 21B and 22 of chapter 203 of the General Laws are hereby repealed.
SECTION 3. Sections 24A and 24B of said chapter 203 are hereby repealed.
SECTION 4. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 203C the following chapter:-
Chapter 203D.
Section 1. This chapter shall be known as and may be cited as The Massachusetts Principal and Income Act.
Section 2. As used in this chapter, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
"Accounting period", a calendar year unless another 12-month period is selected by a fiduciary. The term includes a portion of a calendar year or other 12-month period that begins when an income interest begins or ends when an income interest ends.
"Asset-backed security", an asset whose value is based upon the right it gives the owner to receive distributions from the proceeds of financial assets that provide collateral for the security. The term includes an asset that gives the owner the right to receive from the collateral financial assets only the interest or other current return or only the proceeds other than interest or current return. The term does not include an asset to which section 10 or 18 applies.
"Beneficiary", includes, in the case of a decedent's estate, an heir, legatee and devisee, and, in the case of a trust, an income beneficiary, a remainder beneficiary and any other distributee.
"Depreciation", a reduction in value due to wear, tear, decay, corrosion, or gradual obsolescence of a fixed asset having a useful life of more than 1 year.
"Derivative", a contract or financial instrument or a combination of contracts and financial instruments which gives a trust the right or obligation to participate in some or all changes in the price of a tangible or intangible asset or group of assets, or changes in a rate, an index of prices or rates, or other market indicator for an asset or a group of assets.
"Entity", a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, regulated investment company, real estate investment trust, common trust fund or any other organization in which a trustee has an interest other than a trust or estate to which section 11 applies, a business or activity to which section 12 applies, or an asset-backed security to which section 24 applies.
"Fiduciary", a personal representative or a trustee. The term includes an executor, administrator, successor personal representative, special administrator, and a person performing substantially the same function.
"Income", money or property that a fiduciary receives as current return from a principal asset. The term includes a portion of receipts from a sale, exchange, or liquidation of a principal asset, to the extent provided herein.
"Income beneficiary", a person to whom net income of a trust is or may be payable.
"Income interest", the right of an income beneficiary to receive all or part of net income, whether the terms of the trust require it to be distributed or authorize it to be distributed in the trustee's discretion.
"Liquidating asset", an asset whose value will diminish or terminate because the asset is expected to produce receipts for a period of limited duration. The term includes a leasehold, patent, copyright, royalty right and right to receive payments during a period of more than 1 year under an arrangement that does not provide for the payment of interest on the unpaid balance. The term shall not include a payment subject to section 18, resources subject to section 20, timber subject to section 21, an activity subject to section 23, an asset subject to section 24, or any asset for which the trustee establishes a reserve for depreciation under section 27.
"Mandatory income interest", the right of an income beneficiary to receive net income that the terms of the trust require the fiduciary to distribute.
"Net income", the total receipts allocated to income during an accounting period minus the disbursements made from income during the period, plus or minus transfers under this chapter to or from income during the period.
"Payment", a payment that a trustee may receive over a fixed number of years or during the life of 1 or more individuals because of services rendered or property transferred to the payer in exchange for future payments. The term includes a payment made in money or property from the payer's general assets or from a separate fund created by the payer, including a private or commercial annuity, an individual retirement account and a pension, profit-sharing, stock-bonus, or stock-ownership plan.
"Person", 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.
"Principal", property held in trust for distribution to a remainder beneficiary when the trust terminates.
"Remainder beneficiary", a person entitled to receive principal when an income interest ends.
"Terms of a trust", the manifestation of the intent of a settlor or decedent with respect to the trust, expressed in a manner that admits of its proof in a judicial proceeding, whether by written or spoken words or by conduct.
"Trustee", includes an original, additional or successor trustee, whether or not appointed or confirmed by a court.
"Undistributed income", net income received before the date on which an income interest ends. It does not include an item of income or expense that is due or accrued or net income that has been added or is required to be added to principal under the terms of the trust.
Section 3. (a) In allocating receipts and disbursements to or between principal and income, and with respect to any matter within the scope of this chapter, a fiduciary:
(1) shall administer a trust or estate in accordance with the terms of the trust or the will, even if there is a different provision in this chapter;
(2) may administer a trust or estate by the exercise of a discretionary power of administration given to the fiduciary by the terms of the trust or the will, even if the exercise of the power produces a result different from a result required or permitted by this chapter;
(3) shall administer a trust or estate in accordance with this chapter if the terms of the trust or the will do not contain a different provision or do not give the fiduciary a discretionary power of administration; and
(4) shall add a receipt or charge a disbursement to principal if the terms of the trust and this chapter do not provide a rule for allocating the receipt or disbursement to or between principal and income.
(b) In exercising the power to adjust under subsection (a) of section 4 or a discretionary power of administration regarding a matter within the scope of this chapter, whether granted by the terms of a trust, a will, or this chapter, a fiduciary shall administer a trust or estate impartially, based on what is fair and reasonable to all of the beneficiaries, except to the extent that the terms of the trust or the will clearly manifest an intention that the fiduciary shall or may favor 1 or more of the beneficiaries. A determination in accordance with this chapter is presumed to be fair and reasonable to all of the beneficiaries.
Section 4. (a) A trustee may adjust between principal and income if the trustee considers it necessary if the trustee invests and manages trust assets as a prudent investor, the terms of the trust describe the amount that may or must be distributed to a beneficiary by referring to the trust's income, and the trustee determines, after applying the rules in subsection (a) of section 3, that the trustee is unable to comply with subsection (b) of said section 3.
(b) In deciding whether to exercise the power conferred by subsection (a), a trustee shall consider all factors relevant to the trust and its beneficiaries, including the following factors to the extent they are relevant:
(1) the nature, purpose and expected duration of the trust;
(2) the intent of the settlor;
(3) the identity and circumstances of the beneficiaries;
(4) the needs for liquidity, regularity of income and preservation and appreciation of capital;
(5) the nature and character of the assets held in the trust, if an asset is used by a beneficiary, and whether an asset was purchased by the trustee or received from the settlor;
(6) the net amount allocated to income under the other sections of this chapter and the increase or decrease in the value of the principal assets, which the trustee may estimate as to assets for which market values are not readily available;
(7) whether the terms of the trust give the trustee the power to invade principal or accumulate income or prohibit the trustee from invading principal or accumulating income, and if the trustee has exercised a power from time to time to invade principal or accumulate income;
(8) the actual and anticipated effect of economic conditions on principal and income and effects of inflation and deflation; and
(9) the anticipated tax consequences of an adjustment.
(c) A trustee may not make an adjustment:
(1) that diminishes the income interest in a trust that requires all of the income to be paid at least annually to a spouse and for which an estate tax or gift tax marital deduction would be allowed, in whole or in part, if the trustee did not have the power to make the adjustment;
(2) that reduces the actuarial value of the income interest in a trust to which a person transfers property with the intent to qualify for a gift tax exclusion;
(3) that changes the amount payable to a beneficiary as a fixed annuity or a fixed fraction of the value of the trust assets;
(4) from any amount that is permanently set aside for charitable purposes under a will or the terms of a trust unless both income and principal are so set aside;
(5) if possessing or exercising the power to make an adjustment causes an individual to be treated as the owner of all or part of the trust for income tax purposes, and the individual would not be treated as the owner if the trustee did not possess the power to make an adjustment;
(6) if possessing or exercising the power to make an adjustment causes all or part of the trust assets to be included for estate tax purposes in the estate of an individual who has the power to remove a trustee or appoint a trustee, or both, and the assets would not be included in the estate of the individual if the trustee did not possess the power to make an adjustment;
(7) if the trustee is a beneficiary of the trust; or
(8) if the trustee is not a beneficiary, but the adjustment would benefit the trustee directly or indirectly.
(d) If clause (5), (6), (7) or (8) of subsection (c) applies to a trustee and there is more than one trustee, a cotrustee to whom the provision does not apply may make the adjustment unless the exercise of the power by the remaining trustee or trustees is not permitted by the terms of the trust.
(e) A trustee may release the entire power conferred by subsection (a) or may release only the power to adjust from income to principal or the power to adjust from principal to income if the trustee is uncertain about whether possessing or exercising the power will cause a result described in clauses (1) to (6), inclusive, of subsection (c) or clause (8) of said subsection (c) or if the trustee determines that possessing or exercising the power will or may deprive the trust of a tax benefit or impose a tax burden not described in said subsection (c). The release may be permanent or for a specified period, including a period measured by the life of an individual.
(f) Terms of a trust that limit the power of a trustee to make an adjustment between principal and income do not affect the application of this section unless it is clear from the terms of the trust that the terms are intended to deny the trustee the power of adjustment conferred by subsection (a).
Section 5. (a) A court shall not change a trustee's decision to exercise or not to exercise a discretionary power conferred by this chapter unless it determines that the decision was an abuse of the trustee's discretion. A court shall not determine that a trustee abused his or her discretion merely because the court would have exercised the discretion in a different manner or would not have exercised the discretion.
(b) The decisions to which subsection (a) applies include:-
(1) A determination under subsection (a) of section 4 of whether and to what extent an amount should be transferred from principal to income or income to principal.
(2) A determination of the factors that are relevant to the trust and its beneficiaries and the weight, if any, to be given to those factors in deciding whether to exercise the power conferred by subsection (a) of section 4.
(c) If a court determines that a trustee has abused his discretion, the remedy shall be to restore the income and remainder beneficiaries to the positions they would have occupied if the trustee had not abused his discretion, according to the following rules:-
(1) If the abuse of discretion has resulted in no distribution to a beneficiary or a distribution that is too small, the court shall require the trustee to distribute to the beneficiary an amount that the court determines will restore the beneficiary, in whole or in part, to his appropriate position.
(2) If the abuse of discretion has resulted in a distribution to a beneficiary that is too large, the court shall restore the beneficiaries, the trust, or both, in whole or in part to their appropriate positions by requiring the trustee to withhold an amount from 1 or more future distributions to the beneficiary who received the distribution that was too large or requiring that beneficiary to return some or all of the distribution to the trust.
(3) If the court is unable, after applying paragraphs (1) and (2), to restore the beneficiaries, the trust, or both, to the positions they would have occupied if the trustee had not abused his discretion, the court may require the trustee to pay an appropriate amount from his own funds to one or more of the beneficiaries or the trust or both.
(d) A trustee may seek court determination as to whether a proposed exercise or non-exercise by the trustee of a discretionary power will result in an abuse of discretion. A beneficiary objecting to the relief sought shall have the burden of establishing that an abuse of discretion will result.
Section 6. After a decedent dies, in the case of an estate, or after an income interest in a trust ends, the following rules shall apply:
(1) A fiduciary of an estate or of a terminating income interest shall determine the amount of net income and net principal receipts received from property specifically given to a beneficiary under this chapter which apply to trustees and the rules in paragraph (5). The fiduciary shall distribute the net income and net principal receipts to the beneficiary who is to receive the specific property.
(2) A fiduciary shall determine the remaining net income of a decedent's estate or a terminating income interest under which apply to trustees and by:
(i) including in net income all income from property used to discharge liabilities;
(ii) paying from income or principal, in the fiduciary's discretion, fees of attorneys, accountants and fiduciaries, court costs and other expenses of administration, and interest on death taxes, but the fiduciary may pay those expenses from income of property passing to a trust for which the fiduciary claims an estate tax, marital or charitable deduction only if the payment of those expenses from income will not cause the reduction or loss of the deduction; and
(iii) paying from principal all other disbursements made or incurred in connection with the settlement of a decedent's estate or the winding up of a terminating income interest, including debts, funeral expenses, disposition of remains, family allowances, and death taxes and related penalties that are apportioned to the estate or terminating income interest by the will, the terms of the trust, or applicable law.
(3) A fiduciary shall distribute to a beneficiary who receives a pecuniary amount outright, the interest on the amount, if any, provided by the will, the terms of the trust or applicable law from net income determined under paragraph (2) or from principal if the net income is insufficient. If a beneficiary is to receive a pecuniary amount outright from a trust after an income interest ends and no interest on the amount is provided for by the terms of the trust or applicable law, the fiduciary shall distribute the interest to which the beneficiary would be entitled under applicable law as if the pecuniary amount were required to be paid under a will.
(4) A fiduciary shall distribute the net income remaining after distributions required by paragraph (3) in the manner described in section 2 to all other beneficiaries, including a beneficiary who receives a pecuniary amount in trust, even if the beneficiary holds an unqualified power to withdraw assets from the trust or other presently exercisable general power of appointment over the trust.
(5) A fiduciary may not reduce principal or income receipts from property described in paragraph (1) because of a payment described in section 5 if the will, the terms of the trust or applicable law requires the fiduciary to make the payment from assets other than the property or if the fiduciary recovers or expects to recover the payment from a third party. The net income and principal receipts from the property are determined by including all of the amounts the fiduciary receives or pays with respect to the property, whether those amounts accrued or became due before, on or after the date of a decedent's death or an income interest's terminating event and by making a reasonable provision for amounts that the fiduciary believes the estate or terminating income interest may become obligated to pay after the property is distributed.
Section 7. (a) Each beneficiary described in paragraph (4) of section 6 is entitled to receive a portion of the net income equal to the beneficiary's fractional interest in undistributed principal assets, using values as of the distribution date. If a fiduciary makes more than one distribution of assets to beneficiaries to whom this section applies, each beneficiary, including one who does not receive part of the distribution, is entitled, as of each distribution date, to the net income the fiduciary has received after the date of death or terminating event or earlier distribution date but has not distributed as of the current distribution date.
(b) In determining a beneficiary's share of net income, the following rules apply:
(1) the beneficiary is entitled to receive a portion of the net income equal to the beneficiary's fractional interest in the undistributed principal assets immediately before the distribution date, including assets that later may be sold to meet principal obligations;
(2) the beneficiary's fractional interest in the undistributed principal assets must be calculated without regard to property specifically given to a beneficiary and property required to pay pecuniary amounts not in trust;
(3) the beneficiary's fractional interest in the undistributed principal assets must be calculated on the basis of the aggregate value of those assets as of the distribution date without reducing the value by any unpaid principal obligation; and
(4) the distribution date, for purposes of this section, may be the date as of which the fiduciary calculates the value of the assets if that date is reasonably near the date on which assets are actually distributed.
(c) If a fiduciary does not distribute all of the collected but undistributed net income to each person as of a distribution date, the fiduciary shall maintain appropriate records showing the interest of each beneficiary in that net income.
(d) A fiduciary may apply the rules in this section, to the extent that the fiduciary considers it appropriate, to net gain or loss realized after the date of death or terminating event or earlier distribution date from the disposition of a principal asset if this section applies to the income from the asset.
Section 8. (a) An income beneficiary is entitled to net income from the date on which the income interest begins. An income interest begins on the date specified in the terms of the trust or, if no date is specified, on the date an asset becomes subject to a trust or successive income interest.
(b) An asset becomes subject to a trust:
(1) on the date it is transferred to the trust in the case of an asset that is transferred to a trust during the transferor's life;
(2) on the day after a testator's death in the case of an asset that becomes subject to a trust by reason of a will, even if there is an intervening period of administration of the testator's estate; or
(3) on the day after an individual's death in the case of an asset that is transferred to a fiduciary by a third party because of the individual's death.
(c) An asset becomes subject to a successive income interest on the day after the preceding income interest ends, as determined under subsection (d), even if there is an intervening period of administration to wind up the preceding income interest.
(d) An income interest ends on the day an income beneficiary dies or another terminating event occurs, or on the last day of a period during which there is no beneficiary to whom a trustee may distribute income.
Section 8A. (a) A trustee shall allocate an income receipt or disbursement other than one to which paragraph (1) of section 6 applies to principal if its due date occurs on or before the date on which a decedent dies in the case of an estate or before an income interest begins in the case of a trust or successive income interest.
(b) A trustee shall allocate an income receipt or disbursement to income if its due date occurs after the date on which a decedent dies or on or after an income interest begins and it is a periodic due date. An income receipt or disbursement must be treated as accruing from day to day if its due date is not periodic or it has no due date. The portion of the receipt or disbursement accruing on or before the date on which a decedent dies or before an income interest begins shall be allocated to principal and the balance shall be allocated to income.
(c) An item of income or an obligation is due on the date the payer is required to make a payment. If a payment date is not stated, there is no due date for the purposes of this chapter. Distributions to shareholders or other owners from an entity to which section 10 applies are considered to be due on the date fixed by the entity for determining who is entitled to receive the distribution or, if no date is fixed, on the declaration date for the distribution. A due date is periodic for receipts or disbursements that shall be paid at regular intervals under a lease or an obligation to pay interest or if an entity customarily makes distributions at regular intervals.
Section 9. (a) When a mandatory income interest ends, the trustee shall pay to a mandatory income beneficiary who survives that date, or the estate of a deceased mandatory income beneficiary whose death causes the interest to end, the beneficiary's share of the undistributed income that is not disposed of under the terms of the trust unless the beneficiary has an unqualified power to revoke more than 5 per cent of the trust immediately before the income interest ends. In the latter case, the undistributed income from the portion of the trust that may be revoked shall be added to principal.
(b) When a trustee's obligation to pay a fixed annuity or a fixed fraction of the value of the trust's assets ends, the trustee shall prorate the final payment if required by applicable law to accomplish a purpose of the trust or its settlor relating to income, gift, estate or other tax requirements.
Section 10. (a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a trustee shall allocate to income money received from an entity.
(b) A trustee shall allocate the following receipts from an entity to principal:
(1) property other than money;
(2) money received in one distribution or a series of related distributions in exchange for part or all of a trust's interest in the entity;
(3) money received in total or partial liquidation of the entity; and
(4) money received from an entity that is a regulated investment company or a real estate investment trust if the money distributed is a capital gain dividend for federal income tax purposes.
(c) A trustee may rely upon a statement made by an entity about the source or character of a distribution if the statement is made at or near the time of distribution by the entity's board of directors or other person or group of persons authorized to exercise powers to pay money or transfer property comparable to those of a corporation's board of directors.
Section 11. A trustee shall allocate to income an amount received as a distribution of income from a trust or an estate in which the trust has an interest other than a purchased interest, and shall allocate to principal an amount received as a distribution of principal from such a trust or estate. If a trustee purchases an interest in a trust that is an investment entity, or a decedent or donor transfers an interest in the trust to a trustee, section 10 or 24 applies to a receipt from the trust.
Section 12. (a) If a trustee who conducts a business or other activity determines that it is in the best interest of all the beneficiaries to account separately for the business or activity instead of accounting for it as part of the trust's general accounting records, the trustee may maintain separate accounting records for its transactions, whether or not its assets are segregated from other trust assets.
(b) A trustee who accounts separately for a business or other activity may determine if its net cash receipts must be retained for working capital, the acquisition or replacement of fixed assets and other reasonably foreseeable needs of the business or activity, and if the remaining net cash receipts are accounted for as principal or income in the trust's general accounting records. If a trustee sells assets of the business or other activity, other than in the ordinary course of the business or activity, the trustee shall account for the net amount received as principal in the trust's general accounting records to the extent the trustee determines that the amount received is no longer required in the conduct of the business.
(c) Activities for which a trustee may maintain separate accounting records include:
(1) retail, manufacturing, service, and other traditional business activities;
(2) farming;
(3) raising and selling livestock and other animals;
(4) management of rental properties;
(5) extraction of minerals and other natural resources;
(6) timber operations; and
(7) activities to which section 23 applies.
Section 13. If not allocated to income, a trustee shall allocate to principal:
(1) to the extent not allocated to income under this chapter, assets received from a transferor during the transferor's lifetime, a decedent's estate, a trust with a terminating income interest or a payer under a contract naming the trust or its trustee as beneficiary;
(2) money or other property received from the sale, exchange, liquidation or change in form of a principal asset, including realized profit;
(3) amounts recovered from third parties to reimburse the trust because of disbursements described in clause (7) of subsection (a) of section 26 or for other reasons to the extent not based on the loss of income;
(4) proceeds of property taken by eminent domain, but a separate award made for the loss of income with respect to an accounting period during which a current income beneficiary had a mandatory income interest is income;
(5) net income received in an accounting period during which there is no beneficiary to whom a trustee may or must distribute income; and
(6) other receipts.
Section 14. If a trustee accounts for receipts from rental property pursuant to this section, the trustee shall allocate to income an amount received as rent of real or personal property, including an amount received for cancellation or renewal of a lease. An amount received as a refundable deposit, including a security deposit or a deposit that is to be applied as rent for future periods, must be added to principal and held subject to the terms of the lease and is not available for distribution to a beneficiary until the trustee's contractual obligations have been satisfied with respect to that amount.
Section 15. (a) An amount received as interest, whether determined at a fixed, variable or floating rate on an obligation to pay money to the trustee, including an amount received as consideration for prepayment of principal, shall be allocated to income without any provision for amortization of premium.
(b) This section shall not apply to an obligation to which section 18, 19, 20, 21, 23 or 24 applies.
Section 16. (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b), a trustee shall allocate to principal the proceeds of a life insurance policy or other contract in which the trust or its trustee is named as beneficiary, including a contract that insures the trust or its trustee against loss for damage to, destruction of or loss of title to a trust asset. The trustee shall allocate dividends on an insurance policy to income if the premiums on the policy are paid from income and to principal if the premiums are paid from principal.
(b) A trustee shall allocate to income proceeds of a contract that insures the trustee against loss of occupancy or other use by an income beneficiary, loss of income, or, subject to section 12, loss of profits from a business.
(c) This section shall not apply to a contract to which section 18 applies.
Section 17. If a trustee determines that an allocation between principal and income required by section 18, 19, 20, 21 or 24 is insubstantial, the trustee may allocate the entire amount to principal unless 1 of the circumstances described in subsection (c) of section 4 applies to the allocation. This power may be exercised by a cotrustee in the circumstances described in subsection (d) of said section 4 and may be released for the reasons and in the manner described in subsection (e) of said section 4. An allocation is presumed to be insubstantial if:
(1) the amount of the allocation would increase or decrease net income in an accounting period, as determined before the allocation, by less than 10 per cent; or
(2) the value of the asset producing the receipt for which the allocation would be made is less than 10 per cent of the total value of the trust's assets at the beginning of the accounting period.
Section 18. (a) If a payment is characterized as interest or a dividend or a payment made in lieu of interest or a dividend, a trustee shall allocate it to income. The trustee shall allocate to principal the balance of the payment and any other payment received in the same accounting period that is not characterized as interest, a dividend, or an equivalent payment.
(b) If no part of a payment is characterized as interest, a dividend or an equivalent payment, and all or part of the payment is required to be made, a trustee shall allocate to income 10 per cent of the part that is required to be made during the accounting period and the balance to principal. If no part of a payment is required to be made or the payment received is the entire amount to which the trustee is entitled, the trustee shall allocate the entire payment to principal. For purposes of this subsection, a payment is not required to be made if it is made because the trustee exercises a right of withdrawal.
(c) If, to obtain an estate tax marital deduction for a trust, a trustee shall allocate more of a payment to income than provided for by this section, the trustee shall allocate to income the additional amount necessary to obtain the marital deduction.
(d) This section shall not apply to payments to which section 19 applies.
Section 19. A trustee shall allocate to income 10 per cent of the receipts from a liquidating asset and the balance to principal.
Section 20. (a) If a trustee accounts for receipts from an interest in minerals or other natural resources pursuant to this section, the trustee shall allocate them as follows:
(1) If received as nominal delay rental or nominal annual rent on a lease, a receipt shall be allocated to income.
(2) If received from a production payment, a receipt must be allocated to income if the agreement creating the production payment provides a factor for interest or its equivalent. The balance shall be allocated to principal.
(3) If an amount received as a royalty, shut-in-well payment, take-or-pay payment, bonus, or delay rental is more than nominal, 90 per cent shall be allocated to principal and the balance to income.
(4) If an amount is received from a working interest or any other interest not provided for in paragraph (1), (2), or (3), 90 per cent of the net amount received shall be allocated to principal and the balance to income.
(b) An amount received on account of an interest in water that is renewable shall be allocated to income. If the water is not renewable, 90 per cent of the amount shall be allocated to principal and the balance to income.
(c) This chapter applies whether or not a decedent or donor was extracting minerals, water or other natural resources before the interest became subject to the trust.
(d) If a trust owns an interest in minerals, water, or other natural resources, the trustee may allocate receipts from the interest as provided in this chapter or in the manner used by the trustee. If the trust acquires an interest in minerals, water or other natural resources, the trustee shall allocate receipts from the interest as provided in this chapter.
Section 21. (a) If a trustee accounts for receipts from the sale of timber and related products pursuant to this section, the trustee shall allocate the net receipts:
(1) to income if the amount of timber removed from the land does not exceed the rate of growth of the timber during the accounting periods in which a beneficiary has a mandatory income interest;
(2) to principal if the amount of timber removed from the land exceeds the rate of growth of the timber or the net receipts are from the sale of standing timber;
(3) to or between income and principal if the net receipts are from the lease of timberland or from a contract to cut timber from land owned by a trust, by determining the amount of timber removed from the land under the lease or contract and applying the rules in paragraphs (1) and (2); or
(4) to principal if the advance payments, bonuses, and other payments are not allocated pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), or (3).
(b) In determining net receipts to be allocated pursuant to subsection (a), a trustee shall deduct and transfer to principal a reasonable amount for depletion.
(c) This chapter applies whether or not a decedent or transferor was harvesting timber from the property before it become subject to the trust.
(d) If a trust owns an interest in timber land, the trustee may allocate net receipts from the sale of timber and related products as provided in this chapter or in the manner used by the trustee. If the trust acquires an interest in timber land, the trustee shall allocate net receipts from the sale of timber and related products as provided in this chapter.
Section 22. (a) If a marital deduction is allowed for all or part of a trust whose assets consist substantially of property that does not provide the spouse with sufficient income from or use of the trust assets, and if the amounts that the trustee transfers from principal to income under section 4 and distributes to the spouse from principal pursuant to the terms of the trust are insufficient to provide the spouse with the beneficial enjoyment required to obtain the marital deduction, the spouse may require the trustee to make property productive of income, convert property within a reasonable time, or exercise the power conferred by subsection (a) of said section 4. The trustee may decide which action or combination of actions to take.
(b) In cases not governed by subsection (a), proceeds from the sale or other disposition of an asset are principal without regard to the amount of income the asset produces during any accounting period.
Section 23. (a) To the extent that a trustee does not account under section 12 for transactions in derivatives, the trustee shall allocate to principal receipts from and disbursements made in connection with those transactions.
(b) If a trustee grants an option to buy property from the trust, whether or not the trust owns the property when the option is granted, grants an option that permits another person to sell property to the trust, or acquires an option to buy property for the trust or an option to sell an asset owned by the trust, and the trustee or other owner of the asset is required to deliver the asset if the option is exercised, an amount received for granting the option must be allocated to principal. An amount paid to acquire the option must be paid from principal. A gain or loss realized upon the exercise of an option, including an option granted to a settlor of the trust for services rendered, shall be allocated to principal.
Section 24. (a) If a trust receives a payment from interest or other current return and from other proceeds of the collateral financial assets, the trustee shall allocate to income the portion of the payment which the payer identifies as being from interest or other current return and shall allocate the balance of the payment to principal.
(b) If a trust receives one or more payments in exchange for the trust's entire interest in an asset-backed security in 1 accounting period, the trustee shall allocate the payments to principal. If a payment is 1 of a series of payments that will result in the liquidation of the trust's interest in the security over more than 1 accounting period, the trustee shall allocate 10 per cent of the payment to income and the balance to principal.
Section 25. A trustee shall make the following disbursements from income if they are not disbursements to which clause (ii) or (iii) of paragraph (2) of section 6 applies:
(1) so much of the regular compensation of the trustee and of any person providing investment advisory or custodial services to the trustee, and expenses for accountings, judicial proceedings or other matters that involve both the income and remainder interests as shall be determined by the trustee;
(2) all of the other ordinary expenses incurred in connection with the administration, management or preservation of trust property and the distribution of income, including interest, ordinary repairs, regularly recurring taxes assessed against principal and expenses of a proceeding or other matter that concerns primarily the income interest; and
(3) recurring premiums on insurance covering the loss of a principal asset or the loss of income from or use of the asset.
Section 26. (a) A trustee shall make the following disbursements from principal:
(1) such of the disbursements described in clause (1) of section 25 as are not charged to income;
(2) all of the trustee's compensation calculated on principal as a fee for acceptance, distribution, or termination, and disbursements made to prepare property for sale;
(3) payments on the principal of a trust debt;
(4) expenses of a proceeding that concerns primarily principal, including a proceeding to construe the trust or to protect the trust or its property;
(5) premiums paid on a policy of insurance not described in clause (3) of section 25 of which the trust is the owner and beneficiary;
(6) estate, inheritance, and other transfer taxes, including penalties, apportioned to the trust; and
(7) disbursements related to environmental matters, including reclamation, assessing environmental conditions, remedying and removing environmental contamination, monitoring remedial activities and the release of substances, preventing future releases of substances, collecting amounts from persons liable or potentially liable for the costs of those activities, penalties imposed under environmental laws or regulations and other payments made to comply with those laws or regulations, statutory or common law claims by third parties, and defending claims based on environmental matters.
(b) If a principal asset is encumbered with an obligation that requires income from that asset to be paid directly to the creditor, the trustee shall transfer from principal to income an amount equal to the income paid to the creditor in reduction of the principal balance of the obligation.
Section 27. (a) A trustee may transfer to principal a reasonable amount of the net cash receipts from a principal asset that is subject to depreciation, but may not transfer any amount for depreciation:
(1) of that portion of real property used or available for use by a beneficiary as a residence or of tangible personal property held or made available for the personal use or enjoyment of a beneficiary;
(2) during the administration of a decedent's estate; or
(3) under this section if the trustee is accounting under section 12 for the business or activity in which the asset is used.
(b) An amount transferred to principal need not be held as a separate fund.
Section 28. If an amount chargeable to income is unusually large, a trustee may pay all or any part of such amount from principal and shall reimburse principal by transfers from income over a reasonable period of time.
Section 29. (a) A tax required to be paid by a trustee based on receipts allocated to income shall be paid from income.
(b) A tax required to be paid by a trustee based on receipts allocated to principal shall be paid from principal, even if the tax is called an income tax by the taxing authority.
(c) A tax required to be paid by a trustee on the trust's share of an entity's taxable income shall be paid proportionately:
(1) from income if receipts from the entity are allocated to income; and
(2) from principal if:-
(i) receipts from the entity are allocated to principal; and
(ii) the trust's share of the entity's taxable income exceeds the total receipts described in this clause and in paragraph (1).
(d) For purposes of this section, receipts allocated to principal or income shall be reduced by the amount distributed to a beneficiary from principal or income for which the trust receives a deduction in calculating the tax.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect on January 1, 2006.
SECTION 6. This act shall apply to a trust or decedent's estate existing on the effective date of this act except as otherwise expressly provided in the will or terms of the trust or in this act.