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A.R.S. § 14-7401

Trust Principal and Income Act: Key Terms

Verified April 4, 202657th Legislature, 1st Regular Session

The Uniform Principal and Income Act defines the key terms that govern trust income and principal. These terms set the foundation for how trustees split receipts and expenses between current and future beneficiaries.

Title 14, TRUST ADMINISTRATION

azleg.gov

Income vs. Principal: The Core Distinction

When a trust holds assets, some of those assets generate current returns. These include dividends, interest, or rent. This statute calls those returns "income."

The underlying assets themselves count as "principal." A trustee who manages trust assets must understand this distinction. It matters because income and remainder beneficiaries have competing interests.

"Income" means money or property that a fiduciary receives as current return from a principal asset and includes a portion of receipts from a sale, exchange or liquidation of a principal asset, to the extent provided in sections 14-7410 through 14-7424.

A.R.S. § 14-7401(4)

An income beneficiary receives net income from the trust during its term. A remainder beneficiary receives the principal when the income interest ends.

In many family trusts, a surviving spouse receives income for life. The children receive the principal after the spouse passes.

Fiduciary, Trustee, and the Accounting Period

The statute defines "fiduciary" broadly. It includes personal representatives, trustees, executors, and administrators.

"Fiduciary" means a personal representative or a trustee and includes an executor, an administrator, a successor personal representative, a special administrator and a person performing substantially the same function.

A.R.S. § 14-7401(3)

Fiduciary duties under this article apply during both trust management and estate settlement. Trust documents may add specific duties beyond these defaults.

The accounting period defaults to a calendar year. It can also be a different twelve-month period chosen by the fiduciary. This means it includes partial periods at the start or end of an income interest.

Families who own real estate, investment accounts, or business interests in a trust should understand these terms. The way a trustee classifies each receipt directly affects how much each beneficiary receives.

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires: 1. "Accounting period" means a calendar year unless another twelve month period is selected by a fiduciary and includes a portion of a calendar year or other twelve month period that begins when an income interest begins or ends when an income interest ends. 2. "Beneficiary" includes, in the case of a decedent's estate, an heir, legatee and devisee and, in the case of a trust, an income beneficiary and a remainder beneficiary. 3. "Fiduciary" means a personal representative or a trustee and includes an executor, an administrator, a successor personal representative, a special administrator and a person performing substantially the same function. 4. "Income" means money or property that a fiduciary receives as current return from a principal asset and includes a portion of receipts from a sale, exchange or liquidation of a principal asset, to the extent provided in sections 14-7410 through 14-7424. 5. "Income beneficiary" means a person to whom net income of a trust is or may be payable. 6. "Income interest" means the right of an income beneficiary to receive all or part of net income, whether the terms of the trust require it to be distributed or authorize it to be distributed in the trustee's discretion. 7. "Mandatory income interest" means the right of an income beneficiary to receive net income that the terms of the trust require the fiduciary to distribute. 8. "Net income" means the total receipts allocated to income during an accounting period minus the disbursements made from income during the period, plus or minus transfers under this article to or from income during the period. 9. "Person" means any individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited liability company, association, joint venture, government, governmental subdivision, agency or instrumentality, public corporation or other legal or commercial entity...

This page provides general legal information about Arizona statutes and is not legal advice. For guidance on how this law applies to your situation, speak with a qualified attorney.

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