As used in this chapter, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) “Act” means this chapter.

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Terms Used In California Business and Professions Code 6501

  • Act: means this chapter. See California Business and Professions Code 6501
  • Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Bureau: means the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau within the Department of Consumer Affairs, established pursuant to Section 6510. See California Business and Professions Code 6501
  • Committee: means the Professional Fiduciaries Advisory Committee, as established pursuant to Section 6511. See California Business and Professions Code 6501
  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • County: includes city and county. See California Business and Professions Code 17
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Department: means the Department of Consumer Affairs. See California Business and Professions Code 6501
  • Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
  • Fiduciary: A trustee, executor, or administrator.
  • Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
  • Guardian: A person legally empowered and charged with the duty of taking care of and managing the property of another person who because of age, intellect, or health, is incapable of managing his (her) own affairs.
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Power of attorney: A written instrument which authorizes one person to act as another's agent or attorney. The power of attorney may be for a definite, specific act, or it may be general in nature. The terms of the written power of attorney may specify when it will expire. If not, the power of attorney usually expires when the person granting it dies. Source: OCC
  • Probate: Proving a will
  • Professional fiduciary: means either of the following:

    California Business and Professions Code 6501

  • related: means related by blood, adoption, marriage, or registered domestic partnership. See California Business and Professions Code 6501
  • Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Business and Professions Code 21
  • Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs, unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Business and Professions Code 15
  • Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.

(b) “Bureau” means the Professional Fiduciaries Bureau within the Department of Consumer Affairs, established pursuant to Section 6510.

(c) “Client” means an individual who is served by a professional fiduciary.

(d) “Department” means the Department of Consumer Affairs.

(e) “Licensee” means a person who is licensed under this chapter as a professional fiduciary.

(f) (1) “Professional fiduciary” means either of the following:

(A) A person who acts as a guardian or conservator of the person, the estate, or the person and estate, for two or more individuals at the same time who are not related to the professional fiduciary or to each other.

(B) A personal representative of a decedent‘s estate, as defined in § 58 of the Probate Code, for two or more individuals at the same time who are not related to the professional fiduciary or to each other.

(2) “Professional fiduciary” also means a person who acts as a trustee, agent under a durable power of attorney for health care, or agent under a durable power of attorney for finances, for more than three individuals, at the same time.

In counting individuals under this paragraph to determine whether a person is a professional fiduciary:

(A) Individuals who are related to the fiduciary shall not be counted.

(B) All individuals who are related to each other shall be counted as one individual.

(C) All trustors who are related to each other shall be counted as one individual, and neither the number of trusts nor the number of beneficiaries of those trusts shall be counted.

(D) “Professional fiduciary” also includes a person acting as a professional fiduciary practice administrator, appointed pursuant to Section 2469 or 9765 of the Probate Code.

(3) For purposes of this subdivision, “related” means related by blood, adoption, marriage, or registered domestic partnership.

(4) “Professional fiduciary” does not include any of the following:

(A) A trust company, as defined in § 83 of the Probate Code.

(B) An FDIC-insured institution, or its holding companies, subsidiaries, or affiliates. For the purposes of this subparagraph, “affiliate” means an entity that shares an ownership interest with, or that is under the common control of, the FDIC-insured institution.

(C) A public agency, including the public guardian, public conservator, or other agency of the State of California or of a county of California or a regional center for persons with developmental disabilities, as defined in § 4620 of the Welfare and Institutions Code.

(D) A nonprofit corporation or charitable trust that is described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and that satisfies all of the following requirements:

(i) Is an organization described in Section 509(a)(1), Section 509(a)(2), or Section 509(a)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(ii) Has been in existence for at least five years.

(iii) Has total institutional funds as described in subdivision (e) of § 18502 of the Probate Code according to its most recent audited financial statement with a value of at least two million dollars ($2,000,000) net of encumbrances.

(iv) Is acting as a trustee, incidental to the purposes for which it was organized, of a trust that meets at least one of the following conditions:

(I) It is a trust from which annual distributions are limited to income, a sum certain, or a fixed percentage of the net fair market value of the trust assets as described in Section 664(d) of the Internal Revenue Code governing charitable remainder trusts.

(II) It is a trust from which annual distributions are limited to a guaranteed annuity or a fixed percentage of the fair market value of the property as described in Section 2055(e)(2)(B) or Section 2522(c)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code.

(III) It is a trust from which annual distributions are limited to income, including a pooled income fund from which annual distributions are limited to income as described in Section 642(c)(5) of the Internal Revenue Code governing pooled income funds.

(IV) It is a trust as to which the value of the charitable interest was presently ascertainable upon creation of the trust and deductible for federal gift, estate, or income tax purposes under the Internal Revenue Code as in effect prior to enactment of the federal Tax Reform Act of 1969 (Public Law 91-172).

(E) A person employed by, or acting as an agent on behalf of, an entity or agency described in subparagraph (A), (B), (C), or (D) who is acting within the course and scope of that employment or agency, and a public officer of an agency described in subparagraph (C) acting in the course and scope of official duties.

(F) A person whose sole activity as a professional fiduciary is as a broker-dealer, broker-dealer agent, investment adviser, or investment adviser representative registered and regulated under the Corporate Securities Law of 1968 (Division 1 (commencing with Section 25000) of Title 4 of the Corporations Code), the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. § 80b-1 et seq.), or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. § 78a et seq.), or involves serving as a trustee to a company regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. § 80a-1 et seq.).

(g) “Committee” means the Professional Fiduciaries Advisory Committee, as established pursuant to Section 6511.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 612, Sec. 1. (SB 1024) Effective January 1, 2023.)