-- Last revised Tuesday, November 12, 2002, 12:19 PM --
Trust Rules of Construction
The Commission surveyed the existing
Probate Code rules of construction for wills, trusts, and other estate
planning instruments, which have been criticized in recent years as
being overly broad. The Commission concluded that several of the rules should be limited in
their application. A number should be repealed because they restate the
common law (but do so in an incomplete fashion), because they
repeat other statutes, or because they unduly inhibit the ability of the
court to ascertain the donor's intent. The Commission also recommended further clarifications of existing statutes
and improvements in terminology, and correction of statutes containing
obsolete references to former law. The Commission's recommendation was enacted by the Legislature. See below.
If you have questions or comments on this study, send
email to Nathaniel Sterling at sterling@clrc.ca.gov.
