Uniform Law Commission
111 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 1010, Chicago IL 60602
312/450-6600, www.nccusl.org
Contact: Michael Kerr, ULC Legislative Director, 312-450-6620, michael.kerr@nccusl.org
Kate Robinson, ULC Communications Officer, 312-450-6616, katie.robinson@nccusl.org
For Immediate Release:
NATIONAL LAW GROUP WRAPS UP 118th ANNUAL MEETING
July 15, 2009 — At its 118th Annual Meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Uniform Law Commission (ULC) today approved five new acts dealing with issues ranging from a new law addressing the various penalties that individuals might face incidental to criminal sentencing to a new act regulating the transfer of real property upon an owner’s death.
The Uniform Collateral Consequences of Conviction Act addresses the various penalties and disqualifications that individuals face incidental to criminal sentencing, which are often known as “collateral consequences” and include such penalties as disqualification from voting, prohibitions from running for office, exclusion from certain types of employment, etc. The provisions in the Act are largely procedural, and designed to rationalize and clarify policies and provisions which are already widely accepted by the states. The Act includes provisions to ensure that defendants are aware of the existence of collateral sanctions before sentencing.
The Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act provides a mechanism for the non-probate transfer of land. The Act allows an owner of real property to pass the property simply and directly to a beneficiary on the owner’s death without probate. The property passes by means of a recorded transfer on a death (TOD) deed. During the owner’s lifetime, the beneficiary of a TOD deed has no interest in the property and the owner retains full power to transfer or encumber the property or to revoke the deed.
The Uniform Law Enforcement Access to Entity Information Act is designed to be a substitute for the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act (S.569), currently pending in Congress (co-sponsored by Senators Levin, Grassley, and McCaskill). S.569 would require virtually all corporations and limited liability companies to file “beneficial ownership” information with the Secretary of State. The Uniform Act, a joint project with the ULC and the American Bar Association Committee on Corporate Laws, and supported by the National Association of Secretaries of State, would preserve the traditional confidentiality of entity ownership and would instead require the filing of the name of an individual (a records-contact) who would be responsible for obtaining, maintaining, and verifying record ownership information.
The Uniform Collaborative Law Act regulates the use of collaborative law, a form of alternative dispute resolution that is becoming more popular in the states. Collaborative law is now used mainly in family law disputes, but its practice has spread to other areas of the law, including the settlement of contract and insurance disputes. States have approached the regulation of collaborative law through a variety of means, including statutes, court rules, and independent boards. This new Act standardizes the most important features of collaborative law participation, mindful of ethical concerns as well as questions of evidentiary privilege.
The Uniform Statutory Trust Entity Act governs the use of statutory trusts as a mode of business organization. A statutory trust provides a flexible business entity that can be used as an alternative to the partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, and corporate forms of organization. Statutory trusts are commonly used in the mutual fund and securitization industries, and it is also used in certain tax-advantaged real estate transactions. The Uniform Act modernizes the existing, but outdated, laws governing these types of entities.
A portion of the Uniform Business Organizations Act (UBOA), containing language to harmonize common provisions found throughout existing business organization acts, such as the Uniform Partnership Act and the Uniform Limited Partnership Act, was also approved. This portion of the project establishes common definitions, and makes the mechanics of filing, qualification of foreign entities, and entity transaction provisions on mergers, interest exchanges and domestications consistent between the various business entity acts. Work continues on the rest of the UBOA.
The following acts were also debated at the ULC’s annual meeting: Model State Administrative Procedure Act; Uniform Presidential Electors Act; Uniform Insurable Interests in Trusts Act; Uniform Partition of Inherited Property Act; Uniform Recordation of Custodial Interrogations Act; Uniform Law on Notarial Acts; and Uniform Military Services and Overseas Civilian Absentee Voters Act.
The current drafts of all of these acts can be found at the ULC’s website at www.nccusl.org.
The Uniform Law Commission, now in its 118th year, comprises more than 350 practicing lawyers, governmental lawyers, judges, law professors, and lawyer-legislators from every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Uniform law commissioners are appointed by their states to draft and promote enactment of uniform laws that are designed to solve problems common to all the states.
After receiving the ULC’s seal of approval, a uniform act is officially promulgated for consideration by the states, and legislatures are urged to adopt it. Since its inception in 1892, the ULC has been responsible for more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, the Uniform Partnership Act, and the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act.
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