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United States trust law is the body of law regulating the legal instrument for holding wealth known as a trust. Most law regulating the creation and administration of trusts in the United States is now statutory at the state level. In August 2004, the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws created the first attempt to codify generally accepted common law principles in Anglo-American law regarding trusts into a uniform statutory code for the fifty states, called the Uniform Trust Code (UTC).〔See http://www.nccusl.org/Update/uniformact_summaries/uniformacts-s-utc2000.asp〕 As of July 2012, 25 states have adopted some substantive form of the UTC with three others having introduced it into the legislature for adoption.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://malawyeronline.com/estate-planning/series-on-massachusetts-uniform-trust-code-part-1 )〕 The goal of the uniform law is to standardize the law of trusts to a greater extent, given their increased use as a substitute for the "last will and testament" as the primary estate planning mechanism for the affluent.〔Preface, UTC, p.1〕 Despite the uniform law, however, differences remain, as states still harbor rich differences in fiduciary law. It has been a common practice of American lawyers for the past 150 years or so to choose the law of Massachusetts to govern the disposition of property conveyed in trust. In the absence of a nationally uniform law, their justification was that the courts of Massachusetts ruled on trust questions with far greater experience and authority than any other State (much like choosing corporate law in Delaware for a new company). Each state adopting the UTC has incorporated changes to their version of the Code, reflecting certain peculiar or long-standing exceptions in their own state's law that legislators intend to preserve. == Overview == Trusts are essentially creatures of contract. Virtually all trusts are made in written form, either through an ''inter vivos'' or "living trust" instrument (created while the settlor is living) or in a will (which creates a testamentary trust). Therefore, in understanding certain terms in a trust, general rules of construction regarding interpretation of wills or other testamentary documents will apply.〔UTC Section 112.〕 Subject to certain fundamental requirements of trusts,〔UTC Section 105(b).〕 the UTC generally states that the terms of a trust instrument, as written by the settlor, will control over the "default rules" of the UTC. Where a document does not contain a provision that is otherwise covered by the UTC's default rules, the UTC will control.〔UTC Section 105(a).〕 Where a document contains obnoxious, unworkable, impractical, or outdated language, the beneficiaries and trustees have recourse to local courts having general jurisdiction in equitymost commonly for a declaratory judgment, judicial construction or reformation of the trust to bring it into compliance with the original intent of the settlor.〔''See'' UTC Sections 411-416.〕 Also, the court may be called upon to deal with circumstances not imaginable by the settlor at the time the trust was created to make the trust ''cy pres'' or as close as possible to the original intent.〔''See'' UTC Section 413; Restatement Third of Trusts Section 67 (for charitable trusts); UTC Section 412 (for non-charitable trusts).〕 Trusts are a special breed of contract in that they often govern the disposition of property in the same way a "last will and testament" does via a probate proceeding. Many states differ as to their procedures concerning the interpretation and administration of trusts created during life (i.e., the ''inter vivos'' trust) versus those created in a will which are typically subject to jurisdiction in probate proceedings (the testamentary trust). The UTC attempts to standardize the general ''composition'' of both trust forms and their requirements, but does not generally attempt to address the ''procedural'' questions as to overall subject-matter jurisdiction and other aspects of proceedings involving trusts.〔''See'' UTC Section 203 (optional section proposed by Committee).〕 Instead, the vagarities of various state and local procedural rules will generally apply. When titling property or otherwise referring to an existing trust, practitioners persist in referring to trusts as "Tr. u/a" (trusts under agreement, i.e., inter vivos trusts) or "Tr. u/w" (trusts under will, i.e., testamentary trusts). Industry convention is for the settlor's name to appear in the title. In the USA, the name follows a shorthand for the type of instrument. Hence: "Tr. u/a John Smith FBO Alma Smith" or, if appropriate, "Tr. u/a John Smith FBO Alma Smith irrevocable" (FBO means for benefit of). Titles also frequently include more information such as the existence of more than one trustee ("Co-tr. u/a John Smith": "co-tr" means co-trustee) or that one or more of the trustees are not the original trustee (Successor Co-Tr. u/a John Smith). In understanding American trust law, it is helpful to understanding the terminology and definitions of various terms as they relate to trusts. The following section contains a discussion of some of these terms. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「United States trust law」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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