uniform trust code - Kansas Judicial Branch

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instrument, in a manner determined by the trustee.
(c) The trustee may combine two or more trusts under this section by:
(1) Giving a written notice of the combination, not later than the 30th day before the effective
date of the combination, to each qualified beneficiary; and
(2) executing a written instrument, acknowledged before a notary public or other person
authorized to take acknowledgments of conveyances of real estate stating that the trust has been
combined pursuant to this section and that the notice requirements of this subsection have been
satisfied.
(d) The trustee may divide or combine a testamentary trust after the will establishing the trust
has been admitted to probate, even if the trust will not be funded until a later date. The trustee may
divide or combine any other trust before it is funded if the instrument establishing the trust is not
revocable at the time of the division or combination.
Kansas Comment
The Kansas drafting committee combined Section 417 of the Uniform Trust Code with an
amended form of K.S.A. 58-2420 to draft this section.
UTC Comment
This section, which authorizes the combination or division of trusts, is subject to contrary
provision in the terms of the trust. See Section 105 and Article 4 General Comment. Many trust
instruments and standardized estate planning forms include comprehensive provisions governing
combination and division of trusts. Except for the requirement that the qualified beneficiaries
receive advance notice of a proposed combination or division, this section is similar to Restatement
(Third) of Trusts § 68 (Tentative Draft No. 3, 2001).
This section allows a trustee to combine two or more trusts even though their terms are not
identical. Typically the trusts to be combined will have been created by different members of the
same family and will vary on only insignificant details, such as the presence of different perpetuities
savings periods. The more the dispositive provisions of the trusts to be combined differ from each
other the more likely it is that a combination would impair some beneficiary’s interest, hence the
less likely that the combination can be approved. Combining trusts may prompt more efficient trust
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