Chapter 45, Article 2, Part 11 NMSA 1978 [45-2-1101 to 45-2-1116 NMSA 1978] may be cited as the "Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act".

History: Laws 2001, ch. 290, § 1; 1978 Comp., § 46-10-1 recompiled and amended as § 45-2-1101 NMSA 1978 by Laws 2011, ch. 124, § 89.

Recompilations. — Laws 1993, ch. 174, § 67 recompiled former sections 45-2-1101 to 45-2-1110 NMSA 1978, as enacted by Laws 1992, ch. 66, §§ 7 to 16, relating to international wills, as 45-2-1001 to 45-2-1010 NMSA 1978, effective July 1, 1993.

Laws 2011, ch. 124, § 89 recompiled and amended former 46-10-1 NMSA 1978 as 45-2-1101 NMSA 1978, effective January 1, 2012.

The 2011 amendment, effective January 1, 2012, changed the statutory reference to the act.

COMMENT

Part 11 [45-2-1101 to 45-2-1116 NMSA 1978] incorporates into the Code the Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act (UDIPA or Act). The UDPIA replaces the Code's former disclaimer provision (Section 2-801). It also replaces three Uniform Acts promulgated in 1978 (Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act, Uniform Disclaimer of Transfers by Will, Intestacy or Appointment Act, and Uniform Disclaimer of Transfers under Nontestatmentary Instruments Act). The new Act is the most comprehensive disclaimer statute ever written. It is designed to allow every sort of disclaimer, including those that are useful for tax planning purposes. It does not, however, include a specific time limit on the making of any disclaimer. Because a disclaimer is a refusal to accept, the only bar to a disclaimer should be acceptance of the offer. In addition, in almost all jurisdictions disclaimers can be used for more than tax planning. A proper disclaimer will often keep the disclaimed property from the disclaimant's creditors. In short, the new Act is an enabling statute which prescribes all the rules for refusing a proffered interest in or power over property and the effect of that refusal on the power or interest while leaving the effect of the refusal itself to other law. Section 2-1113(e) [45-2-1113 NMSA 1978] explicitly states that a disclaimer may be barred or limited by law other than the Act.

The decision not to include a specific time limit -- to "decouple" the disclaimer statute from the time requirement applicable to a "qualified disclaimer" under IRC §2518 -- is also designed to reduce confusion. The older Uniform Acts and almost all the current state statutes (many of which are based on those Acts) were drafted in the wake of the passage of IRC §2518 in 1976. That provision replaced the "reasonable time" requirement of prior law with a requirement that a disclaimer must be made within nine months of the creation of the interest disclaimed if the disclaimer is to be a "qualified disclaimer" which is not regarded as transfer by the disclaimant. The statutes that were written in response to this new provision of tax law reflected the nine month time limit. Under most of these statutes (including the older Uniform Acts and former Section 2-801) a disclaimer must be made within nine months of the creation of a present interest (for example, as disclaimer of an outright gift under a will must be made within nine months of the decedent's death), which corresponds to the requirement of IRC §2518. A future interest, however, may be disclaimed within nine months of the time the interest vests in possession or enjoyment (for example, a remainder whether or not contingent on surviving the holder of the life income interest must be disclaimed within nine months of the death of the life income beneficiary). The time limit for future interests does not correspond to IRC §2518 which generally requires that a qualified disclaimer of a future interest be made within nine months of the interest's creation, no matter how contingent it may then be. The nine-month time limit of the existing statutes really is a trap. While it superficially conforms to IRC §2518, its application to the disclaimer of future interests does not. The removal of all mention of time limits will clearly signal the practitioner that the requirements for a tax qualified disclaimer are set by different law.

The elimination of the time limit is not the only change from current statutes. The Act abandons the concept of "relates back" as a proxy for when a disclaimer becomes effective. Instead, by stating specifically when a disclaimer becomes effective and explicitly stating in Section 2-1105(f) that a disclaimer "is not a transfer, assignment, or release," the Act makes clear the results of refusing property or powers through a disclaimer. Second, UDPIA creates rules for several types of disclaimers that have not been explicitly addressed in previous statutes. The Act provides detailed rules for the disclaimer of interests in jointly held property (Section 2-1107). Such disclaimers have important uses especially in tax planning, but their status under current law is not clear. Furthermore, although current statutes mention the disclaimer of jointly held property, they provide no details. Recent developments in the law of qualified disclaimers of jointly held property make fuller treatment of such disclaimers necessary. Section 2-1108 [45-2-1108 NMSA 1978] addresses the disclaimer by trustees of property that would otherwise become part of the trust. The disclaimer of powers of appointment and other powers not held in a fiduciary capacity is treated in Section 2-1109 [45-2-1109 NMSA 1978] and disclaimers by appointees, objects, and takers in default of exercise of a power of appointment is the subject of Section 2-1110 [45-2-1110 NMSA 1978]. Finally, Section 2-1111 provides rules for the disclaimer of powers held in a fiduciary capacity.