Z-1172.1                   _______________________________________________

 

                                                     SENATE BILL 6005

                              _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington                              53rd Legislature                             1994 Regular Session

 

By Senator A. Smith

 

Read first time 01/10/94.  Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.

 

Updating references to the Internal Revenue Code in state trust law.



          AN ACT Relating to references to the Internal Revenue Code; and amending RCW 11.02.005, 83.100.020, and 83.110.010.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

 

        Sec. 1.  RCW 11.02.005 and 1993 c 73 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

          When used in this title, unless otherwise required from the context:

          (1) "Personal representative" includes executor, administrator, special administrator, and guardian or limited guardian and special representative.

          (2) "Net estate" refers to the real and personal property of a decedent exclusive of homestead rights, exempt property, the family allowance and enforceable claims against, and debts of, the deceased or the estate.

          (3) "Representation" refers to a method of determining distribution in which the takers are in unequal degrees of kinship with respect to the intestate, and is accomplished as follows:  After first determining who, of those entitled to share in the estate, are in the nearest degree of kinship, the estate is divided into equal shares, the number of shares being the sum of the number of persons who survive the intestate who are in the nearest degree of kinship and the number of persons in the same degree of kinship who died before the intestate but who left issue surviving the intestate; each share of a deceased person in the nearest degree shall be divided among those of the intestate's issue who survive the intestate and have no ancestor then living who is in the line of relationship between them and the intestate, those more remote in degree taking together the share which their ancestor would have taken had he or she survived the intestate.  Posthumous children are considered as living at the death of their parent.

          (4) "Issue" includes all the lawful lineal descendants of the ancestor and all lawfully adopted children.

          (5) "Degree of kinship" means the degree of kinship as computed according to the rules of the civil law; that is, by counting upward from the intestate to the nearest common ancestor and then downward to the relative, the degree of kinship being the sum of these two counts.

          (6) "Heirs" denotes those persons, including the surviving spouse, who are entitled under the statutes of intestate succession to the real and personal property of a decedent on the decedent's death intestate.

          (7) "Real estate" includes, except as otherwise specifically provided herein, all lands, tenements, and hereditaments, and all rights thereto, and all interest therein possessed and claimed in fee simple, or for the life of a third person.

          (8) "Will" means an instrument validly executed as required by RCW 11.12.020 and includes all codicils.

          (9) "Codicil" means an instrument that is validly executed in the manner provided by this title for a will and that refers to an existing will for the purpose of altering or changing the same, and which need not be attached thereto.

          (10) "Guardian" or "limited guardian" means a personal representative of the person or estate of an incompetent or disabled person as defined in RCW 11.88.010 and the term may be used in lieu of "personal representative" wherever required by context.

          (11) "Administrator" means a personal representative of the estate of a decedent and the term may be used in lieu of "personal representative" wherever required by context.

          (12) "Executor" means a personal representative of the estate of a decedent appointed by will and the term may be used in lieu of "personal representative" wherever required by context.

          (13) "Special administrator" means a personal representative of the estate of a decedent appointed for limited purposes and the term may be used in lieu of "personal representative" wherever required by context.

          (14) "Trustee" means an original, added, or successor trustee and includes the state, or any agency thereof, when it is acting as the trustee of a trust to which chapter 11.98 RCW applies.

          (15) "Internal Revenue Code" means the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended or renumbered on ((July 25, 1993)) the effective date of this section.

          (16) Words that import the singular number may also be applied to the plural of persons and things.

          (17) Words importing the masculine gender only may be extended to females also.

 

        Sec. 2.  RCW 83.100.020 and 1993 c 73 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:

          As used in this chapter:

          (1) "Decedent" means a deceased individual;

          (2) "Department" means the department of revenue, the director of that department, or any employee of the department exercising authority lawfully delegated to him by the director;

          (3) "Federal credit" means (a) for a transfer, the maximum amount of the credit for state taxes allowed by section 2011 of the Internal Revenue Code; and (b) for a generation-skipping transfer, the maximum amount of the credit for state taxes allowed by section 2604 of the Internal Revenue Code;

          (4) "Federal return" means any tax return required by chapter 11 or 13 of the Internal Revenue Code;

          (5) "Federal tax" means (a) for a transfer, a tax under chapter 11 of the Internal Revenue Code; and (b) for a generation-skipping transfer, the tax under chapter 13 of the Internal Revenue Code;

          (6) "Generation-skipping transfer" means a "generation‑skipping transfer" as defined and used in section 2611 of the Internal Revenue Code;

          (7) "Gross estate" means "gross estate" as defined and used in section 2031 of the Internal Revenue Code;

          (8) "Nonresident" means a decedent who was domiciled outside Washington at his death;

          (9) "Person" means any individual, estate, trust, receiver, cooperative association, club, corporation, company, firm, partnership, joint venture, syndicate, or other entity and, to the extent permitted by law, any federal, state, or other governmental unit or subdivision or agency, department, or instrumental­ity thereof;

          (10) "Person required to file the federal return" means any person required to file a return required by chapter 11 or 13 of the Internal Revenue Code, such as the personal representative of an estate; or a transferor, trustee, or beneficiary of a generation-skipping transfer; or a qualified heir with respect to qualified real property, as defined and used in section 2032A(c) of the Internal Revenue Code;

          (11) "Property" means (a) for a transfer, property included in the gross estate; and (b) for a generation-skipping transfer, all real and personal property subject to the federal tax;

          (12) "Resident" means a decedent who was domiciled in Washington at time of death;

          (13) "Transfer" means "transfer" as used in section 2001 of the Internal Revenue Code, or a disposition or cessation of qualified use as defined and used in section 2032A(c) of the Internal Revenue Code;

          (14) "Trust" means "trust" under Washington law and any arrangement described in section 2652 of the Internal Revenue Code; and

          (15) "Internal Revenue Code" means the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended or renumbered on ((July 25, 1993)) the effective date of this section.

 

        Sec. 3.  RCW 83.110.010 and 1993 c 73 s 10 are each amended to read as follows:

          As used in this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated unless the context clearly requires otherwise.

          (1) "Estate" means the gross estate of a decedent as determined for the purpose of federal estate tax and the estate tax payable to this state;

          (2) "Excise tax" means the federal excise tax imposed by section 4980A(d) of the Internal Revenue Code, and interest and penalties imposed in addition to the excise tax;

          (3) "Fiduciary" means executor, administrator of any description, and trustee;

          (4) "Internal Revenue Code" means the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended or renumbered on ((July 25, 1993)) the effective date of this section;

          (5) "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company, corporation, government, political subdivision, governmental agency, or local governmental agency;

          (6) "Persons interested in retirement distributions" means any person determined as of the date the excise tax is due, including a personal representa­tive, guardian, trustee, or beneficiary, entitled to receive, or who has received, by reason of or following the death of a decedent, any property or interest therein which constitutes a retirement distribution as defined in section 4980A(e) of the Internal Revenue Code, but this definition excludes any alternate payee under a qualified domestic relations order as such terms are defined in section 414(p) of the Internal Revenue Code;

          (7) "Person interested in the estate" means any person, including a personal representative, guardian, or trustee, entitled to receive, or who has received, from a decedent while alive or by reason of the death of a decedent any property or interest therein included in the decedent's taxable estate;

          (8) "Qualified heir" means a person interested in the estate who is entitled to receive, or who has received, an interest in qualified real property;

          (9) "Qualified real property" means real property for which the election described in section 2032A of the Internal Revenue Code has been made;

          (10) "State" means any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District of Columbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and

          (11) "Tax" means the federal estate tax, the excise tax defined in subsection (2) of this section, and the estate tax payable to this state and interest and penalties imposed in addition to the tax.

 


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