§ 51:2133 — Gross earnings; fifteen percent placed in trust fund

A.(1) Every contract executed by or on behalf of a minor rendering artistic or creative services for compensation in this state shall require that fifteen percent of the gross earnings for the minor under the contract be placed in a trust fund created for the benefit of the minor and, except as provided in Subsection G of this Section, that the trust fund be created in a state or federally chartered financial institution, including trust companies, operating in this state through one or more branches.
(2) Monies placed in a trust fund pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter shall be placed in a blocked account and no funds shall be withdrawn prior to the date the minor attains the age of eighteen unless the minor is determined to be in necessitous circumstances by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(3) All monies deposited in trust pursuant to the provisions of this Chapter shall be administered by the financial institution as a fiduciary for the benefit of the minor. Reasonable fees may be charged by a financial institution to the trust for providing services as fiduciary and/or trustee.
B.(1) Monies in the trust fund shall be invested in a combination of United States Treasury notes, bonds, interest bearing savings accounts, or certificates of deposit fully insured by the federal government at the highest possible rate of return without risk to principal in the trust account or a combination of such investments. All funds derived from investments and earnings attributed to the trust fund shall be redeposited into the fund and invested in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter. All investments in the fund shall have a maturity date on or before the date the minor attains the age of eighteen.
(2) Funds may be withdrawn from the trust fund by the beneficiary only after the beneficiary provides a certified copy of his birth certificate to the financial institution where the trust fund is located showing that the beneficiary is at least eighteen years of age.
C. Both parents of a minor on whose behalf monies are placed in trust pursuant to this Section shall serve as trustees of the trust unless otherwise provided in writing by both parents or in the case of divorce or death of a parent by the person appointed as tutor of the minor, or by both cotutors if the parents are divorced and have joint custody of the minor. Any state or federally chartered financial institution operating in this state through one or more branches, may serve as a trustee.
D. Prior to execution of a contract subject to the provisions of this Chapter, the trustee or trustees shall establish the trust required under this Section, unless an account has been previously established, and no contract subject to the provisions of this Chapter shall be executed until the trustee or trustees provide a written statement to the employer which shall include the name, address, and telephone number of the financial institution holding the trust account, the name of the account, the number of the account, the name of the minor beneficiary, the name of the trustee or trustees of the account and such additional information as may be required by the employer to make the deposit required under this Section. The trustee or trustees shall attach to this written statement a true and accurate photocopy of any information received from the financial institution confirming the creation and existence of the trust account on behalf of the minor, and may include a copy of the account agreement, account terms, passbook, or other similar writings required by the employer.
E. In the event that a trust account is not established on behalf of a minor performer within thirty days of the last day of employment, the employer shall forward the fifteen percent of the minor's gross earnings, accompanied by the name of the minor, and if known, the minor's address and social security number, to the treasurer of the state of Louisiana, who shall hold such funds in trust to be tendered to a trust account that is subsequently established on behalf of the minor, or if no such trust account is established, then to the minor upon reaching the age of majority.
F. Once the employer has transferred monies pursuant to this Section to either the minor's trust account or the treasurer's office in those circumstances where a trust account has not been established, the employer has no further duty or obligation with respect to the transferred monies.
G. If a trust account is already established on behalf of the minor in another state, all monies required to be deposited in a trust fund under the provisions of this Section, may be deposited into the trust account already established in another state for the benefit of the minor.

Legislative History

Acts 2005, No. 147, §2; Acts 2006, No. 594, §1.