Revised Trust Code Effective as of July 1

Please be advised that the Revised Trust Code 2010 [S.B. 131] became effective on July 1, 2010. The one change which will likely be most important to a majority of you is that the Code Section for the fiduciary powers which may be incorporated by reference in a will have been changed from O.C.G.A. §53-12-232 to O.C.G.A. §53-12-261.

New Code Section 53-12-263(d) provides that references to Section 108-1204 (Harrison) or former Code Sections 53-12-40 or 53-12-232, as existing under the applicable law at the time the will (or trust) was signed, shall remain effective as though those Sections had not been repealed. This means that wills which refer to those earlier Sections will be still be viewed as incorporating the provisions of those Sections, as such existed on the date the will (or trust) was signed.

This also means that any wills which your clients may have signed since July 1, 2010, must be revised, since those older Sections are no longer valid and existing, in their earlier form, as of July 1, 2010.

You should make the necessary changes in your will forms, and you should take appropriate action with regard to any wills which have been executed from July 1, 2010, until you make those changes.