Senate Bill No. 567
(By Senators Rowe and McCabe)
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[Introduced February 19, 2004; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §44-5-15 of the code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to irrevocable trusts.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §44-5-15 of the code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 5. GENERAL PROVISIONS AS TO FIDUCIARIES.
§44-5-15. Nonmerger of trusts; irrevocability.
(a) No trust is invalid or terminated, and title to trust
assets is not merged, because the trustee or trustees are the same
person or persons as the beneficiaries of the trust. No trust,
which is otherwise irrevocable because the grantor or settler of
the trust has not expressly reserved the right to alter, amend,
modify or revoke the trust, or because the creating instrument
expressly provides or states that the trust is irrevocable, shall
be or become revocable by the grantor or settler because the
grantor or settler is the sole beneficiary of the trust.
(b) This section applies to all trusts whenever executed or created.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify West Virginia
law as to the irrevocability of trusts in light of a recent Vermont
federal district court case interpreting West Virginia law.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.