Uniform Trust Code — Missouri

Jessica Haynes (J.D., University of Missouri-Kansas City, 2005), has recently published her comment entitled Quieting the “Noisy” Trusts of the Missouri Uniform Trust Code, 74 UMKC L. Rev. 139 (2005) [link requires Lexis access].

Here is the conclusion of her article:

In all, the MUTC’s mandatory notice provisions may have unintended consequences resulting in increased litigation and higher administrative costs. Such provisions intrude upon a settlor’s privacy and may encourage family discord, thereby delaying or impeding the implementation of the settlor’s intent. Mandatory notice is a vast departure from pre-MUTC law. In light of other statutory duties holding trustees accountable to beneficiaries and protecting them from trustee abuse, mandatory notice provisions are superfluous. Likewise, by adopting the mandatory notice provisions, the MUTC denies a property owner the right to exercise her own judgment and completely removes the alternative to create and maintain a quiet trust. Because neighboring states have wisely opted out of enacting the notice requirements, Missouri residents may take their trust business to more settlor- and notice-friendly states such as Kansas. Since no alternatives are in place in Missouri law that could potentially appease both sides of the mandatory notice debate, it appears that quieting the noisy trusts of the MUTC will just have to wait until the citizens of this state either placidly accept the new trust code, or resort to legislative restoration of the options it has taken from them.