TheUniform Probate Code (commonly abbreviatedUPC) is auniform act drafted byNational Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) governinginheritance and the decedents'estates in the United States. The primary purposes of the act were to streamline theprobate process and to standardize and modernize the variousU.S. state laws governingwills,trusts, andintestacy.
Drafting of the Uniform Probate Code began in 1964. The final version of the original UPC was promulgated in 1969 as a joint project betweenNCCUSL and theReal Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of theAmerican Bar Association. Richard V. Wellman served as chief reporter on the project. The UPC has been revised several times, most recently in 2019 to conform with theUniform Parentage Act (2017).[1]
Although the UPC was intended for adoption by all 50states, the original 1969 version of the code was adopted in its entirety by only fifteen states:[2]Alaska,Arizona,Colorado,Hawaii,Idaho,Maine,Michigan,Minnesota,Montana,Nebraska,New Mexico,North Dakota,South Carolina,South Dakota, andUtah. The remaining states have adopted various portions of the code in a piecemeal fashion. In any case, even among the adopting jurisdictions, there are variations from state to state, some of which are significant. A person attempting to determine the law in a particular state should check the codeas actually adopted in that jurisdiction and not rely on the text of the UPC as promulgated by NCCUSL. In general, the UPC has not been as successful a standardization of the law as theUniform Commercial Code has been.
InPayne v. Stalley,[3] aMichigan lawyer relied on the official text of the Uniform Probate Code and failed to check the statute as it had been adopted inFlorida. As a result, the lawyer missed a filing deadline on a $3,760,909.49 claim. As the Florida appellate court pointed out in 1995, "[w]e cannot rewrite Florida probate law to accommodate a Michigan attorney more familiar with the Uniform Probate Code."[4] TheUniform Law Commission does not list Florida as one of the states that has adopted the Uniform Probate Code.[5]
The UPC has seven articles, each covering a different set of rules for this area of the law:
| ART. | TITLE | CONTENTS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Provisions, Definitions, and Probate Jurisdiction of Court | Definitions; rules ofinterpretation;jurisdiction andvenue |
| 2 | Intestacy, Wills, and Donative Transfers | Intestate succession of property; procedures for making, interpretation, and revocation of wills (includes Statutoryrule against perpetuities andUniform Simultaneous Death Act) |
| 3 | Probate of Wills and Administration | Procedural rules for the probate process |
| 4 | Foreign Personal Representatives and Ancillary Administration | Rules governingpersonal representatives outside the decedent'sdomiciliary state |
| 5 | Protection of Persons under Disability and their Property | Power of attorney and rules forguardianship of minors and incapacitated persons |
| 6 | Nonprobate Transfers on Death | Rules governing nonprobate transfers, such as jointbank accounts,life insurance policies, and transfer-on-death (TOD)securities |
| 7 | Trust Administration | Provisions governing management of trusts;fiduciary duties oftrustees. The provisions of Article 7 have been superseded by theUniform Trust Code. |
