02. Requirements for creation. (a) A trust is created only if: (1) The settlor has capacity to create a trust; (2) The settlor indicates an intention to create the trust; (3) The trust has a definite beneficiary or is: (A) A charitable trust; (B) A trust for the care of an animal, as provided in section 19-1304.08; or (C) A trust for a noncharitable purpose, as provided in section 19-1304.09; (4) The trustee has duties to perform; and (5) The same person is not the sole trustee and sole beneficiary. (b) A beneficiary is definite if the beneficiary can be ascertained now or in the future, subject to any applicable rule against perpetuities. (c) A power in a trustee to select a beneficiary from an indefinite class is valid. If the power is not exercised within a reasonable time, the power fails and the property subject to the power passes to the persons who would have taken the property had the power not been conferred. (Mar. 10, 2004, D.C. Law 15-104, § 2(b), 51 DCR 208.) Editor's Notes Uniform Law: This section is based upon § 402 of the Uniform Trust Code.
District of Columbia Legal Code