This bill enacts the Uniform Community Property Disposition at Death Act.
This bill:
- defines terms;
- specifies which personal and real property is treated as community property at death based on the domicile of the spouses and the law of the jurisdiction where the property was acquired;
- excludes property that spouses partition, reclassify, or waive by agreement;
- establishes requirements for how community-property spouses may partition, reclassify, or waive rights to community property;
- creates a presumption that property acquired while domiciled in a community-property jurisdiction is community property unless rebutted by a preponderance of the evidence;
- provides that one-half of community property belongs to the surviving community-property spouse and one-half belongs to the decedent and is subject to disposition at death;
- clarifies that a decedent's share of community property is not subject to the elective-share right of the surviving community-property spouse;
- authorizes a court to apply equitable principles and consider the law of other jurisdictions when resolving community-property claims at death;
- establishes time limits and procedures for claims brought by a surviving community-property spouse, an heir, a devisee, and a nonprobate transferee;
- protects third parties who transact in good faith and for value with a community-property spouse or estate representative;
- directs the court to construe the chapter to promote uniformity with other states that enact the uniform act;
- includes saving, transitional, and severability provisions; and
- repeals the existing Utah Code provisions governing community-property disposition at death and replaces the provisions with the new uniform chapter.