Virginia Code 64.2-706: Principal place of administration
A. Without precluding other means for establishing a sufficient connection with the designated jurisdiction, terms of an inter vivos trust designating the principal place of administration are valid and controlling if:
Terms Used In Virginia Code 64.2-706
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Beneficiary: means a person that (i) has a present or future, vested or contingent, beneficial interest in a trust; (ii) holds a power of appointment over trust property; or (iii) is an identified charitable organization that will or may receive distributions under the terms of the trust. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Court: means the court of the Commonwealth having jurisdiction in matters related to trusts. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Inter vivos: Transfer of property from one living person to another living person.
- Interests of the beneficiaries: means the beneficial interests provided in the terms of the trust. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Property: means anything that may be the subject of ownership, whether real or personal, legal or equitable, or any interest therein. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Trust director: means a person that is granted a power of direction by the terms of a trust to the extent the power is exercisable while the person is not serving as a trustee. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Trustee: includes an original, additional, and successor trustee and a cotrustee. See Virginia Code 64.2-701
- United States: includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-255
1. A trustee‘s principal place of business is located in or a trustee is a resident of the designated jurisdiction;
2. A trust director‘s principal place of business is located in or a trust director is a resident of the designated jurisdiction; or
3. All or part of the administration occurs in the designated jurisdiction.
B. Without precluding the right of the court to order, approve, or disapprove a transfer, the trustee of an inter vivos trust may transfer the trust’s principal place of administration to another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States that is appropriate to the trust’s purposes, its administration, and the interests of the beneficiaries.
C. When the proposed transfer of a trust’s principal place of administration is to another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States, the trustee shall notify the qualified beneficiaries of the proposed transfer not less than 60 days before initiating the transfer. A corporate trustee that maintains a place of business in the Commonwealth where one or more trust officers are available on a regular basis for personal contact with trust customers and beneficiaries shall not be deemed to have transferred its principal place of administration if all or significant portions of the administration of the trust are performed outside the Commonwealth. The notice of proposed transfer shall include:
1. The name of the jurisdiction to which the principal place of administration is to be transferred;
2. The address and telephone number at the new location at which the trustee can be contacted;
3. An explanation of the reasons for the proposed transfer;
4. The date on which the proposed transfer is anticipated to occur; and
5. The date, not less than 60 days after the giving of the notice, by which the qualified beneficiary shall notify the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer.
D. The authority of a trustee under this section to transfer a trust’s principal place of administration to another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States terminates if a qualified beneficiary notifies the trustee of an objection to the proposed transfer on or before the date specified in the notice.
E. In connection with a transfer of the trust’s principal place of administration, the trustee may transfer some or all of the trust property to a successor trustee designated in the terms of the trust or appointed pursuant to § 64.2-757.
F. The court, for good cause shown, may transfer the principal place of administration of a testamentary trust to another state or to a jurisdiction outside of the United States upon such conditions, if any, as it may deem appropriate.