Four Missouri Bar-initiated provisions pass through Missouri General Assembly

Several provisions initiated by The Missouri Bar have passed the Missouri General Assembly and now await Gov. Mike Kehoe’s signature.

The provisions address trust situs, trust termination, electronic estate planning, and estate planning during an emergency.

In September 2024, The Missouri Bar Board of Governors, the policy-making body elected by the members, determined these legislative proposals concerned proper subject matter and reapproved them for reintroduction in the 103rd General Assembly.

Sen. Jamie Burger amended the provisions onto Rep. Philip Oehlerking’s House Bill 754, and the bills were truly agreed to and finally passed May 5.

A special thank you to lawyers John Challis and Michael Magliari for testifying on the component pieces of the bill at various times and in various committees.

Trust situs 
The trust situs legislation proposed a minor change. Under the current statue, a trustee may be able to change the principal place of administration of a trust currently governed by Missouri law. That change of principal place of administration may have a significant impact on the laws applicable to that trust, as some states have trust laws that are different from Missouri’s.

If a trustee desires to change the principal place of administration, current law requires the trustee to provide notice to the qualified beneficiaries of the trust. Several items are required to be included in the notice. The proposed change requires the trustee to add one additional statement to the notice, notifying the qualified beneficiaries that a change in the place of administration may result in a change of governing law, which may affect the rights of beneficiaries in ways that are different from current governing law.

Trust termination 
The trust termination legislation provides greater specificity as to when a beneficiary under a trust may bring action for a breach against a trustee. The applicable time during which a beneficiary must file an action is shifted under the proposal from the termination of the beneficiary’s interest in the trust to the first occurrence of an event causing a termination. It also is shifts from the termination of the trust to the first occurrence of the event causing a termination of the trust.

Electronic estate planning 
This legislation embraces the national trend to recognize electronic estate planning documents and specifies that an e-will is considered a will for the purposes of law and that written estate planning documents may be executed electronically.

It also states that an e-will is one that is readable at the time of signing, signed by the testator or another in the testator’s name in the physical or e-presence of two witnesses.

The legislation includes power of attorney, durable power of attorney, advance directive, irrevocable trust, and beneficiary deed documents.

The legislation also establishes procedures by which an e-will may be self-proved or revoked.

Estate planning during an emergency 
This section specifies that, when executed from April 6, 2020-Dec. 31, 2021, during which there was a state of emergency due to COVID-19 and a temporary suspension of physical appearance requirements, certain estate planning documents will be deemed to have satisfied the physical presence requirements if certain requirements were met. This allows for estate planning documents executed during that time to be considered legally valid and properly executed.

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