§ 501 — Powers of appointment; effect of rule against perpetuities

Delaware § 501

• Jurisdiction: Delaware
• Title: 25
• Part: General Provisions
• Ch. 5: RULE AGAINST PERPETUITIES; POWERS OF APPOINTMENT; RULE AGAINST ACCUMULATIONS

Text

(a) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (b) of this section, every estate or interest in property, real or personal, created through the exercise, by will, deed or other instrument, of a power of appointment, irrespective of:

(1) Whether such power is nongeneral or general as to appointees;

(2) The manner in which such power was created or may be exercised;

(3) Whether such power was created before or after the passage of this section,

shall, for the purpose of any rule of law against perpetuities, remoteness in vesting, restraint upon the power of alienation or accumulations now in effect or hereafter enacted be deemed to have been created at the time of the exercise and not at the time of the creation of such power of appointment. No such estate or interest shall be void on account of any such rule unless the estate or interest would have been void had it been created at the date of the exercise of such power of appointment otherwise than through the exercise of a power of appointment.

(b) Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to the exercise of a power over property held in a trust (the “first power”) if the instrument of exercise of any such power makes express reference to this section and expressly states that the provisions of this subsection shall apply. If the provisions of this subsection apply, every estate or interest in property, real or personal, created through the exercise, by will, deed or other instrument, of a power of appointment, irrespective of:

(1) Whether such power is nongeneral or general as to appointees;

(2) The manner in which such power was created or may be exercised;

(3) Whether such power was created before or after the passage of this section;

shall, for the purpose of any rule of law against perpetuities, remoteness in vesting, restraint upon the power of alienation or accumulations now in effect or hereafter enacted, be deemed to have been created at the time of the creation and not at the time of the exercise of such power of appointment. For purposes of applying the foregoing rule, if any part of an estate or interest in property created through the exercise of the first power includes another power of appointment (the “second power”), then the second power and any estate or interest in property (including additional powers of appointment) created through the exercise of the second power shall be deemed to have been created at the time of the creation of the first power.

Legislative History

Code 1915, § 3907(a); 38 Del. Laws, c. 198 ; Code 1935, § 4414; 25 Del. C. 1953, § 501; 79 Del. Laws, c. 352, § 5 ; 81 Del. Laws, c. 149, § 4 ; 82 Del. Laws, c. 52, § 3