Indiana § 30-4-2.1-14.5 "Discretionary interest"; rules of construction

Indiana Statutes

§ 30-4-2.1-14.5 — "Discretionary interest"; rules of construction

Indiana § 30-4-2.1-14.5

Art. 4TRUST CODE

Ch. 2.1Rules for Interpretation of Trusts

This text of Indiana § 30-4-2.1-14.5 ("Discretionary interest"; rules of construction) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Indiana primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Ind. Code § 30-4-2.1-14.5 (2026).

Text

5.

(a)As used in this section and section 14 of this chapter, "discretionary interest" refers to any interest over which the trustee has any discretion to make or withhold a distribution.

(b)A discretionary interest may be evidenced by permissive language such as "may make distributions" or may be evidenced by mandatory distribution language that is negated by the discretionary language of the trust such as "the trustee shall make distributions in the trustee's sole and absolute discretion".

(c)An interest that includes distribution language that appears mandatory but is subsequently qualified by discretionary distribution language is considered a discretionary interest.

(d)Trust provisions that create discretionary interests include the following examples:

(1)"The trustee may, in the

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

5. (a) As used in this section and section
14 of this chapter, "discretionary interest" refers to any interest over
which the trustee has any discretion to make or withhold a distribution.
(b) A discretionary interest may be evidenced by permissive
language such as "may make distributions" or may be evidenced by
mandatory distribution language that is negated by the discretionary
language of the trust such as "the trustee shall make distributions in the
trustee's sole and absolute discretion".
(c) An interest that includes distribution language that appears
mandatory but is subsequently qualified by discretionary distribution
language is considered a discretionary interest.
(d) Trust provisions that create discretionary interests include the
following examples:
(1) "The trustee may, in the trustee's sole and absolute discretion,
make distributions for health, education, maintenance, and
support.".
(2) "The trustee shall, in the trustee's sole and absolute discretion,
make distributions for health, education, maintenance, and
support.".
(3) "The trustee may make distributions for health, education,
maintenance, and support.".
(4) "The trustee shall make distributions for health, education,
maintenance, and support. The trustee may exclude any
beneficiary or make unequal distributions among the
beneficiaries.".
(5) "The trustee may make distributions for health, education,
maintenance, support, comfort, and general welfare.".