Article on Iowa’s Trust Code
In the late 1990’s and the early years of the twenty-first century, one of the most significant movements in the area of estate planning was the development by a number of states of trust codes. Many states began with the Uniform Trust Code (UTC) and adapted it to their state’s unique rules. Others developed their trust codes from scratch. Iowa was one of the latter states. While Iowa considered early drafts of the UTC (as well as early drafts of the Restatement (Third) of Trusts) in developing its trust code, the Iowa Trust Code was developed primarily by Iowa practitioners and law professors. They decided the subjects to be covered and the law to be included. The Trust Code was then thoroughly considered by a Section of The Iowa State Bar Association. In a previous article (Martin D. Begleiter, In the Code We Trust – Some Trust Law for Iowa at Last, 49 Drake L. Rev. 165 (2001)), I discussed the writing and enactment of the Iowa Trust Code. This article traces the issues that arose and the amendments considered and adopted and rejected over the ten years since its enactment. Unlike the ULC, which needs to be very deliberate in changing provisions of the UTC due to considerations of the states that have previously enacted it, the Iowa drafters could respond quickly to new developments and concerns. The two articles together describe a unique process of statutory drafting and amendment, the development of the Iowa Trust Code. They also constitute a legislative history of the provisions of a major statute in Iowa law.