To repeal section 474.490, RSMo 1994, and section 456.520, RSMo Supp. 1996, relating to decedents' estates, and to enact in lieu thereof thirteen new sections relating to the same subject.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS:

     Section A. Section 474.490, RSMo 1994, and section 456.520, RSMo Supp. 1996, are repealed and thirteen new sections enacted in lieu thereof, to be known as sections 456.520, 469.010, 469.020, 469.030, 469.040, 469.050, 469.060, 469.070, 469.080, 469.090, 469.100, 469.110 and 469.120, to read as follows:

     456.520. 1. From time of creation of the trust until final distribution of the assets of the trust, a trustee has the power to perform, without court authorization, every act which a prudent investor would perform for the purposes of the trust including but not limited to the powers specified in subsection 3.

     2. In the exercise of his powers including the powers granted by this chapter, a trustee has a duty to act with due regard to his obligation as a fiduciary.

     3. A trustee has the power, subject to subsections 1 and 2:

     (1) To collect, hold, and retain trust assets received from a trustor until, in the judgment of the trustee, disposition of the assets should be made; and the assets may be retained even though they include an asset in which the trustee is personally interested;

     (2) To receive additions to the assets of the trust;

     (3) To continue or participate in the operation of any business or other enterprise, and to effect incorporations, dissolution, or other change in the form of the organization of the business or enterprise;

     (4) To acquire an undivided interest in a trust asset in which the trustee, in any trust capacity, holds an undivided interest;

     (5) To invest and reinvest trust assets in accordance with the provisions of the trust or as provided by law;

     (6) To deposit trust funds in savings and loan associations, credit unions and banks, including a bank operated by the trustee;

     (7) To acquire or dispose of an asset, for cash or on credit, at public or private sale; and to manage, develop, improve, exchange, partition, change the character of, or abandon a trust asset or any interest therein; and to encumber, mortgage, or pledge a trust asset for a term within or extending beyond the term of the trust, in connection with the exercise of any power vested in the trustee;

     (8) To make ordinary or extraordinary repairs or alterations in buildings or other structures, to demolish any improvements, to raze existing or erect new party walls or buildings;

     (9) To subdivide, develop, or dedicate land to public use; or to make or obtain the vacation of plats and adjust boundaries; or to adjust differences in valuation on exchange or partition by giving or receiving consideration; or to dedicate easements to public use without consideration;

     (10) To enter for any purpose into a lease as lessor or lessee with or without option to purchase or renew for a term within or extending beyond the term of the trust;

     (11) To enter into a lease or arrangement for exploration and removal of minerals or other natural resources or enter into a pooling or unitization agreement;

     (12) To grant an option involving disposition of a trust asset, or to take an option for the acquisition of any asset;

     (13) To vote a security, in person or by general or limited proxy;

     (14) To pay calls, assessments, and any other sums chargeable or accruing against or on account of securities;

     (15) To sell or exercise stock subscription or conversion rights; directly or through a committee or other agent, to consent to or oppose the reorganization, consolidation, merger, dissolution, or liquidation of a corporation or other business enterprise;

     (16) To hold a security in the name of a nominee or in other form without disclosure of the trust, so that title to the security may pass by delivery, but the trustee is liable for any act of the nominee in connection with the security so held;

     (17) To insure the assets of the trust against damage or loss, and the trustee against liability with respect to third persons;

     (18) To borrow money to be repaid from trust assets or otherwise; to advance money for the protection of the trust, and for all expenses, losses, and liability sustained in the administration of the trust or because of the holding or ownership of any trust assets, for which advances with any interest the trustee has a lien on the trust assets as against the beneficiary;

     (19) To pay or contest any claim; to settle a claim by or against the trust by compromise, arbitration, or otherwise; and to release, in whole or in part, any claim belonging to the trust to the extent that the claim is uncollectible;

     (20) To pay taxes, assessments, compensation of the trustee, and other expenses incurred in the collection, care, administration, and protection of the trust;

     (21) To allocate items of income or expense to either trust income or principal, as provided by this chapter, including creation of reserves out of income for depreciation, obsolescence, or amortization, or for depletion in mineral or timber properties;

     (22) To pay any sum distributable to a beneficiary under legal disability, without liability to the trustee, by paying the sum to the beneficiary or by paying the sum for the use of the beneficiary;

     (23) To effect distribution of property and money in divided or undivided interests and to adjust resulting differences in valuation;

     (24) To employ persons, including attorneys, accountants, investment advisors, or agents, even if they are associated with the trustee, to advise or assist the trustee in the performance of his administrative duties; to act without independent investigation upon their recommendations; and instead of acting personally, to employ one or more agents to perform any act of administration, whether or not discretionary;

     (25) To prosecute or defend actions, claims, or proceedings for the protection of trust assets and of the trustee in the performance of his duties;

     (26) To execute and deliver all instruments which will accomplish or facilitate the exercise of the powers vested in the trustee;

     (27) To invest and reinvest trust assets in United States government obligations, either directly or in the form of securities of, or other interests in, any open-end or closed-end management type investment company or investment trust registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, provided that the governing instrument or order directs, requires, authorizes, or permits investment in United States government obligations, and provided that the portfolio of such investment company or investment trust is limited to United States government obligations and to repurchase agreements fully collateralized by such obligations, and provided further that such investment company or investment trust shall take delivery of such collateral;

     (28) To invest and reinvest trust assets in securities or obligations of any state or its political subdivisions, including securities or obligations that are underwritten by the trustee or an affiliate of the trustee or a syndicate in which the trustee or an affiliate of the trustee is a member which in addition to meeting the standards under subsections 1 and 2 of this section also meet the standards established by the division of finance under subsection 5 of section 362.550, RSMo;

     (29) To divide any trust, before or after its initial funding, into two or more separate trusts, and to make payments or distributions that are authorized by or directed in the governing instrument from any one or more of such separate trusts.

     469.010. Any individual to whom property or an interest therein is donatively transferred by any means, including a transfer resulting from another disclaimer, may disclaim all or any portion of the transfer. Unless the terms of the transfer otherwise provide, the disclaimer shall cause the terms of the transfer to be applied to the disclaimed transfer and to any future interests taking effect thereafter as if the disclaimant had died immediately before the transfer. The presumption of a disclaimant's death does not prevent recognition of the disclaimant's later born children and their issue, assuming they have rights after all proper acceleration has taken place, nor does it prevent recognition of future and other interests of the disclaimant which are not disclaimed. For all purposes the disclaimed interest is deemed to have passed directly from the transferor to the ultimate taker or takers and is not subject to the claim of any creditor of the disclaimant. A disclaimed portion of a transfer passes to the same ultimate taker or takers and in the same proportions as in the case of a disclaimer of all of the transfer.

     469.020. 1. A disclaimer is made by a writing showing an unconditional refusal to accept a transfer, or a portion thereof, signed by the disclaimant, or representative, and delivered on or before nine months after the transfer, or by any later time provided in the particular case or pursuant to other provisions of this chapter, and before any acceptance of the disclaimed interest. Delivery of a disclaimer may be accomplished by delivery to the transferor, the transferor's personal representative or other legal representative, or the holder of the legal title to the property to which the interest related. A disclaimer involving an estate or property within the jurisdiction of the probate division of a circuit court may be filed in that division.

     2. The right to disclaim exists notwithstanding any intention to the contrary expressed by the transferor and notwithstanding any limitation on the disclaimant such as a spendthrift provision or similar restriction.

     469.030. 1. Except as otherwise provided in sections 469.090 and 469.100, acceptance of a transferred interest or a portion thereof may be shown by conduct, including acceptance of benefits. Acceptance precludes any later disclaimer.

     2. A disclaimer or acceptance may be made on a person's behalf by the person's representative who may be an authorized agent, the guardian or conservator of a minor or disabled person, or the personal representative of a deceased person.

     469.040. A transfer that is subject to the transferor's power to revoke is not a transfer for purposes of this chapter unless such power is released or extinguished.

     469.050. Each separate interest in property is subject to disclaimer or acceptance and each separate interest, including any specific amount, part, fraction or asset thereof, or formula amount based on present or future facts independent of the disclaimant's volition, is subject to disclaimer or acceptance.

     469.060. A power with respect to property shall be treated as an interest in such property and if releasable shall be disclaimable in whole or in part under the provisions of this chapter by the holder of the power. An individual who is a potential object of a power exercise has an interest in the property that is disclaimable in whole or in part.

     469.070. A contingent future interest may be disclaimed in whole or in part under the provisions of this chapter at any time before, or within nine months after, beneficiaries of the interest have been fully ascertained and their interests vested. A vested interest subject to defeasance or divestment shall be deemed a contingent interest for purposes of this chapter.

     469.080. In the case of a per stirpes distribution or vesting, either under an instrument or by operation of law, a prior or subsequent disclaimer by an individual living at the time of the transfer or vesting does not change the stocks that are to be used as the basis of the division between beneficiaries of succeeding generations.

     469.090. The following rules set forth in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this section shall apply in the case of a vested interest or vested future interest created by a transfer made before 1977, and may apply in such case to lengthen, but shall not shorten, the time for disclaimer otherwise available:

     (1) Such interest is subject to disclaimer in whole or in part for a reasonable time after the disclaimant has knowledge of the existence of the transfer;

     (2) If the interest has vested before the disclaimant's eighteenth birthday, and the disclaimant has knowledge of the existence of the transfer before the disclaimant's eighteenth birthday, such interest is subject to disclaimer in whole or in part until a reasonable time elapses after the disclaimant's eighteenth birthday, except that a written acceptance by the disclaimant's representative shall constitute an acceptance of any portion of the interest.

     469.100. In the case of a transfer made after 1976 creating an interest or future interest that has vested in a person before such person's twenty-first birthday, such interest shall be subject to disclaimer as provided in this chapter until nine months after the person's twenty-first birthday. No act or conduct of the person prior to such twenty-first birthday, other than a written acceptance, shall constitute an acceptance of any portion of the interest.

     469.110. This chapter does not abridge or affect the right of any person to transfer, release, disclaim or renounce any property, interest or power, or elect against a will, under any other statute or under the common law.

     469.120. This chapter shall be effective with respect to any disclaimer made after August 13, 1982, except that rights which have vested pursuant to any such disclaimer shall not be disturbed by the provisions of this chapter.

          [474.490. 1. When used in this section, the following terms shall mean:

          (1) "Disclaimant", a person disclaiming a transfer, or, if such person is deceased, whose personal representative disclaims a transfer, without the necessity of obtaining leave of court, on behalf of the estate of such person, or, if such person is disabled as defined in chapter 475, RSMo, whose conservator disclaims a transfer, with leave of court, on behalf of such person;

          (2) "Disclaimer", an irrevocable and unqualified refusal to accept a transfer;

          (3) "Effective date of the transfer":

          (a) Except as provided in paragraphs (b) through (e) of this subdivision, the date of death of the transferor;

          (b) Except as provided in paragraphs (c) through (e) of this subdivision, if the transfer being disclaimed is not a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship or a tenancy by the entirety and is transferred, conveyed or conferred by the exercise of an inter vivos power of appointment, the date of such exercise, or by any other nontestamentary instrument under which the transferor, during his lifetime, retains no power to revoke or convey to himself or another the transfer being disclaimed, the earliest date upon which the transferor retains no such power;

          (c) Except as provided in paragraphs (d) and (e) of this subdivision, if the transfer is a future interest or power, the date of the event determining that the taker of the interest or the holder of the power has become finally ascertained and his interest or power is vested to the full extent possible under the terms of the transfer;

          (d) Except as provided in paragraph (e) of this subdivision, if the disclaimant is under the age of eighteen years at any time referred to in the foregoing provisions of this subdivision, the date upon which the disclaimant attains the age of eighteen years; and

          (e) If the disclaimant is under the age of twenty-one years at any time referred to in the foregoing provisions of this subdivision and if the transfer does not confer fee ownership of property or an undivided portion thereof prior to the date upon which the disclaimant attains the age of twenty-one years, the date upon which the disclaimant attains the age of twenty-one years;

          (4) "Interest", any beneficial interest in property;

          (5) "Power", the power to establish or alter an interest, including an inter vivos or testamentary power of appointment and any power held in a fiduciary capacity;

          (6) "Transfer", the transfer, conveyance or conferment of any property, interest or power from a person other than the disclaimant by operation of law or any testamentary or nontestamentary instrument, including, but not limited to, the laws of intestate succession, a will, a trust instrument, the exercise or nonexercise of a power of appointment, a life insurance or annuity contract, a joint tenancy with rights of survivorship, a tenancy by the entirety, an account or bond payable on the death of the transferor, a benefit plan (including, without limitation, any pension, retirement, death benefit, stock bonus or profit-sharing plan, system or trust), and any transfer created or increased by reason of a disclaimer by a person other than the disclaimant;

          (7) "Transferor", any person who makes a transfer.

          2. A disclaimant may disclaim any transfer by delivering a written disclaimer within the time and in the manner specified in this section. A disclaimant under this section may accept one transfer and disclaim another, may disclaim a transfer in whole or in part, or with reference to any specific amount, part, fractional share, undivided portion or asset thereof. The right to disclaim under this section exists irrespective of any limitation on the disclaimant in the nature of a spendthrift provision or similar restriction.

          3. The disclaimer must:

          (1) Be in writing,

          (2) Identify the transfer being disclaimed,

          (3) Be signed by the disclaimant or by one with authority to sign on behalf of the disclaimant, and

          (4) No later than nine months after the effective date of the transfer, be received by the transferor, or the transferor's legal representative, or the holder of legal title to the property being disclaimed or the property to which the interest or power being disclaimed relates. A copy of the disclaimer may be filed in the probate division of the circuit court of the county in which proceedings for the administration of the estate of the deceased owner of the property or deceased donee of the power have been commenced. If real property or an interest therein is disclaimed, a copy of the disclaimer may be recorded in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county in which the real property is located.

          4. Unless the transferor has otherwise provided, the disclaimer has the same effect with respect to the disclaimed transfer as though the disclaimant died immediately prior to the effective date of the transfer. Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this subsection, a disclaimer by the surviving spouse of a decedent of a transfer by such decedent shall not be deemed to be a disclaimer by such spouse of all or any part of any other transfer from such decedent to or for the benefit of such spouse, regardless of whether the property or interest which would have passed under such disclaimed transfer passes, by reason of such disclaimer, to or for the benefit of such spouse by virtue of such other transfer. A disclaimer under this section relates back for all purposes to the effective date of the transfer and shall not be subject to the claims of any creditor of the disclaimant.

          5. A disclaimer may not be made under this section with respect to any transfer, or part thereof, which the disclaimant has accepted; provided that, an acceptance does not preclude a person from disclaiming all or a part of any other property or interest or power to which he becomes entitled when another person disclaims after such acceptance. For purposes of this subsection, a person accepts a transfer if such person voluntarily transfers or encumbers, or contracts to transfer or encumber, all or a part thereof, or executes a written waiver of the right to disclaim, or receives benefits from the transfer, or otherwise indicates acceptance of the transfer; provided that, a person who has received benefits from property or an interest without any action on his part before attaining the age of twenty-one shall not be deemed to have accepted such property or interest; and provided, further, that a person retaining the fee ownership of property or of an undivided portion thereof for more than nine months after attaining the age of eighteen years shall be deemed to have accepted such property or undivided interest.

          6. This section does not abridge the right of any person to assign, convey, release, disclaim or renounce any property, interest or power under any other statute or the common law.

          7. A present interest or power that exists on August 13, 1982, as to which the time for disclaimer under this section has not expired may be disclaimed nine months after August 13, 1982; provided that, an interest or power which exists on August 13, 1982, but which has not then become indefeasibly fixed both in quality and quantity, or the taker of which has not then become finally ascertained, may be disclaimed as provided in this section.]