Makes technical correction to provisions granting jurisdiction to surrogate's court over actions taken pursuant to the uniform transfers to minors act.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A9055
SPONSOR: Buchwald TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the surrogate's court procedure act,
in relation to custodians acting under the uniform transfers to minors
act
PURPOSE:
To amend the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act section 1724 in order to
correct the section of the Estates Powers and Trusts Law being referred
to under current law.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF BILL:
Amends Surrogate's Court Procedure Act section 1724 by replacing the
reference to the repealed sections of the Estates Powers and Trusts Law
(sections 7-4.1 to 7-4.9) which referred to the Uniform Gifts to Minors
Act with a reference to the sections of the Estates Powers and Trusts
Law that contain the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (sections 7-6.1 to
7-6.26).
JUSTIFICATION:
In its current form, the Surrogate's Court Procedure Act ("SCPA")
section 1724 specifically references the Uniform Gifts to Minors Act
("UGMA") sections of the Estates Powers and Trusts Law ("EPTL"). See,
repealed sections EPTL § 7-4.1 to 7-4.9. UGMA was repealed (1997 N.Y.
Laws 535) and replaced by Uniform Transfers to Minors Act ("UTMA") (1996
N.Y. Laws 304). See, EPTL sections 7-6.1 to 7-6.26.
When UTMA was first enacted, UGMA was left intact because UTMA directed
that UGMA would continue to apply to transfers made before December 31,
1996. However, that overlap proved to be unwieldy for practitioners.
Therefore, UGMA was repealed the following year and UTMA was made appli-
cable to existing UGMA accounts. See, EPTL 7-6.22. Despite this change;
SCPA section 1724 still remains with the reference to the now repealed
sections of the EPTL.
Arguably, the purpose of SCPA section 1724 is largely superseded by EPTL
section 7-6.2 which details and defines the scope and jurisdiction of
UTMA. However, it is preferable not to repeal SCPA section 1724.
As a general (and historical) matter, SCPA contains most of the proce-
dural and jurisdictional provisions of estate law. Article 17 of the
SCPA contains procedural statutory authority related to guardians and
custodians. Practitioners searching for the jurisdictional authority for
UTMA may begin their search with SCPA. Regardless, it is confusing and
incorrect to have a statute which references a now repealed section of
the EPTL. Therefore, the erroneous reference to repealed sections of the
EPTL in SCPA section 1724 is being corrected by this proposed legis-
lation.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill, 2014.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
