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Alaska Statutes.

Title 13. Decedents' Estates, Guardianships, Transfers, and Trusts.

Chapter 36. Trust Administration

Section 35. Court Jurisdiction; Choice of Law.

AS 13.36.035. Court Jurisdiction; Choice of Law.

   (a) The court has exclusive jurisdiction of proceedings initiated by interested parties concerning the internal affairs of trusts, including trusts covered by (c) of this section. Except as provided in (c) and (d) of this section, proceedings that may be maintained under this section are those concerning the administration and distribution of trusts, the declaration of rights, and the determination of other matters involving trustees and beneficiaries of trusts. These include proceedings to
        (1) appoint or remove a trustee under AS 13.36.076;
        (2) review trustees' fees and to review and settle interim or final accounts;
        (3) ascertain beneficiaries, determine any question arising in the administration or distribution of any trust including questions of construction of trust instruments, instruct trustees, and determine the existence or nonexistence of any immunity, power, privilege, duty, or right; and
        (4) release registration of a trust.
   (b) Neither registration of a trust nor a proceeding under this section results in continuing supervisory proceedings. The management and distribution of a trust estate, submission of accounts and reports to beneficiaries, payment of trustee's fees and other obligations of a trust, acceptance and change of trusteeship, and other aspects of the administration of a trust shall proceed expeditiously consistently with the terms of the trust, free of judicial intervention and without order, approval or other action of any court, subject to the jurisdiction of the court as invoked by interested parties or as otherwise exercised as provided by law.
   (c) A provision that the laws of this state govern the validity, construction, and administration of the trust and that the trust is subject to the jurisdiction of this state is valid, effective, and conclusive for the trust if
        (1) some or all of the trust assets are deposited in this state and are being administered by a qualified person; in this paragraph, "deposited in this state" includes being held in a checking account, time deposit, certificate of deposit, brokerage account, trust company fiduciary account, or other similar account or deposit that is located in this state;
        (2) a trustee is a qualified person who is designated as a trustee under the governing instrument or by a court having jurisdiction over the trust;
        (3) the powers of the trustee identified under (2) of this subsection include or are limited to
             (A) maintaining records for the trust on an exclusive basis or a nonexclusive basis; and
             (B) preparing or arranging for the preparation of, on an exclusive basis or a nonexclusive basis, an income tax return that must be filed by the trust; and
        (4) part or all of the administration occurs in this state, including physically maintaining trust records in this state.
   (d) The validity, construction, and administration of a trust with a state jurisdiction provision are determined by the laws of this state, including the
        (1) capacity of the settlor;
        (2) powers, obligations, liabilities, and rights of the trustees and the appointment and removal of the trustees under AS 13.36.076; and
        (3) existence and extent of powers, conferred or retained, including a trustee's discretionary powers, the powers retained by a beneficiary of the trust, and the validity of the exercise of a power.
   (e) [Repealed, § 22 ch 105 SLA 1998].
   (f) Unless the laws of this state govern the validity, construction, and administration of the trust under (c) of this section, the laws of this state govern the administration of a trust and the courts of this state have exclusive jurisdiction over the trust and its trustees while the trust is administered in this state unless the governing instrument of the trust
        (1) specifies that the law of a jurisdiction other than this state governs the administration of the trust;
        (2) expressly prohibits a change in the choice of law for the administration of the trust; and
        (3) expressly states that a change in the choice of law for the administration of the trust may not occur, even if a trustee from another jurisdiction becomes a trustee of the trust.
   (g) In (f) of this section, a trust is considered to be administered in this state if
        (1) the governing instrument of the trust specifies that the trust is to be administered in this state;
        (2) the principal office of the trustee having custody of the trust's principal assets and records is located in this state, unless the trustee elects to maintain the administration of the trust in the state whose law is specified in the governing instrument to govern;
        (3) the only trustee who is acting to administer the trust is a qualified person, unless the trustee elects to maintain the administration of the trust in the state whose law is specified in the governing instrument to govern;
        (4) a majority of all trustees acting to administer the trust consists of qualified persons, unless a majority of the trustees elects to maintain the administration of the trust in the state whose law is specified in the governing instrument to govern; or
        (5) a majority of the trustees are not qualified persons and a majority of the trustees, including at least one trustee who is a qualified person, executes an acknowledged instrument that this state shall be the primary place of administration for the trust.
   (h) The trustee shall make the election in (g)(2) — (4) of this section by an instrument that is acknowledged and filed in a court of the state whose law is specified in the governing instrument to govern.