Uniform laws have been part of the legal landscape in Oklahoma for more than a century. The first uniform act was adopted in Oklahoma more than 100 years ago: The Uniform Negotiable Instruments Law of 1896, the first uniform law adopted in every state, was adopted in Oklahoma in 1909. Since then, Oklahoma has enacted more than 140 uniform acts – including the landmark Uniform Commercial Code – and, in recent years, the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, the Uniform Athlete Agents Act, the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act and the Uniform Military and Overseas Voters Act, as well as important revisions to the Uniform Commercial Code.

Uniform laws impact the lives of Oklahoma citizens every day – from a simple transaction, such as a child buying candy, to a complex partnership agreement, these and many more transactions are governed by uniform laws. Although lawyers in Oklahoma use uniform laws every day, many are unfamiliar with the origins of these laws.

Uniform laws are the product of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC or sometimes known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws). The ULC has worked for the uniformity of state laws since 1892. The ULC was originally created by representatives of seven states to consider state law, determine in which areas of the law uniformity is important and then draft uniform and model acts for consideration by the states. Oklahoma has been a member of the ULC since 1895.

Several new acts have been added to the list of uniform acts enacted in Oklahoma. Seven new acts were enacted in the 2024 session of the Oklahoma Legislature and signed into law by Gov. J. Kevin Stitt. These laws went into effect Nov. 1, 2024.

UNIFORM DIRECTED TRUST ACT

The Uniform Directed Trust Act (UDTA)[1] addresses the rise of directed trusts. In a directed trust, a person other than a trustee has power over some aspect of the trust’s administration. Such a person may be called a “trust protector,” “trust adviser” or, in the terminology of the UDTA, a “trust director.” The division of authority between a trust director and a trustee raises difficult questions about how to divide fiduciary power and duty. The UDTA provides clear, functional rules that allow a settlor to freely structure a directed trust while preserving key fiduciary safeguards for beneficiaries. The UDTA also provides sensible default rules for a variety of matters that might be overlooked in the drafting of a directed trust, including information sharing among trustees and trust directors, the procedures for accepting appointment as a trust director, the distinction between a power of direction and a nonfiduciary power of appointment and many other matters.

UNIFORM ELECTRONIC ESTATE PLANNING DOCUMENTS ACT AND THE UNIFORM ELECTRONIC WILLS ACT

The Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act (UEEPDA)[2] fills a gap in the law regarding the execution of certain estate planning documents, including trusts and powers of attorney. The Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA),[3] which was adopted in Oklahoma in 2000, authorizes the electronic execution of bilateral contracts if the parties to a transaction agree. The Uniform Electronic Wills Act (UEWA) authorizes the testator of a will and witnesses to execute a will in electronic form. However, trusts, powers of attorney and some other types of estate planning documents fell into a legal grey area where the law governing electronic execution was ambiguous. The UEEPDA clarifies that these documents may also be executed in electronic form. The UEEPDA was drafted to complement the UEWA and was adopted by Oklahoma simultaneously with that act to comprehensively authorize the electronic execution of wills, trusts, powers of attorney and several other types of common estate planning documents.

UNIFORM FIDUCIARY ACCESS TO DIGITAL ASSETS ACT

A fiduciary is a person appointed to manage the property of another person, subject to strict duties to act in the other person’s best interest. Common types of fiduciaries include executors of a decedent’s estate, trustees, conservators and agents under a power of attorney. The Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (UFADA)[4] extends the traditional power of a fiduciary to manage tangible property to include the management of a person’s digital assets. The UFADA allows fiduciaries to manage digital property – like computer files, web domains and virtual currency – but restricts a fiduciary’s access to electronic communications – such as emails, text messages and social media accounts – unless the original user consented in a will, trust, power of attorney or another record.

UNIFORM SPECIAL DEPOSITS ACT

A special deposit is an account at a bank that holds funds that may be paid upon the occurrence of one or more contingencies. Although such accounts are common, the legal protections afforded to them are uncertain and outdated in the context of modern banking. The Uniform Special Deposits Act (USDA)[5] minimizes these legal uncertainties by providing clear and executable rules. First, the USDA sets forth several elements for when a deposit is considered a “special deposit.” Second, the USDA specifies that a special deposit is a debt owed to the beneficiary after the determination of a stated contingency. Third, the USDA clarifies that a special deposit is remote from a depositor’s bankruptcy estate unless the depositor has a determined right to the special deposit in its capacity as a beneficiary. Finally, the USDA reduces the vulnerability created by the prospect of the bank holding the special deposit, exercising a right of set off against the special deposit for a mature debt of the depositor or a beneficiary. The USDA gives banks and their customers legal certainty that the expectations of special deposit account users will be respected.

AMENDMENTS TO THE UNIFORM COMMERCIAL CODE

The 2022 amendments to the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC)[6] update and modernize the UCC to address emerging technologies. A new UCC Article 12, “Controllable Electronic Records,” governs transactions involving new types of digital assets (such as virtual currencies, electronic money and nonfungible tokens), and corresponding changes to UCC Article 9 address security interests in digital assets. The 2022 amendments also update terminology to account for digital records, electronic signatures and distributed ledger technology; provide rules for electronic negotiable instruments; and clarify the rules for the UCC applicability to hybrid transactions involving both goods and services.

UNIFORM UNREGULATED CHILD CUSTODY TRANSFER ACT

In some cases, parents find that after the birth or adoption of their child, they experience considerable difficulty or even inability to care for or effectively manage the child's behavior, which sometimes leads to families transferring a child to another person outside of the courts and the child welfare system. Without specific regulations directed at these types of unregulated transfers, a transfer of custody might go unnoticed within the child welfare system. The Uniform Unregulated Child Custody Transfer Act[7] addresses the transfer of children in these types of cases.

CONCLUSION

For more than a century, the ULC has helped secure uniformity of state law in legal areas where conflicting laws would obstruct the interests of United States citizens. These laws – such as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, the Uniform Trade Secrets Act and the Uniform Anatomical Gift Act – cover business transactions, trusts, probate, real property family matters and many more. More than 300 ULC acts have been promulgated by the ULC and enacted across the country.

Businesses and individuals benefit from the consistency and certainty ULC acts bring across the nation. States that enact ULC acts keep their commercial laws uniform and current. Family law is continuously improved, conflict between state laws is reduced, and the role and authority of state legislatures and state laws is defended by the ULC. Put simply, each and every day, a ULC act affects citizens in every state.

Working together with other uniform law commissioners through the ULC, Oklahoma joins with every other state to produce the impressive body of laws known as the “Uniform State Laws.”

Information on these recently approved acts, as well as all current uniform acts, can be found on the ULC website at www.uniformlaws.org.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Judge Thad Balkman was appointed district judge for the 21st Judicial District (Cleveland County) in 2013. Judge Balkman currently serves as presiding judge of the Oklahoma Court on the Judiciary, Trial Division, and chairman of the Rules of Professional Responsibility Committee. He has served as president of the Oklahoma Judges Association since 2018, and he is the past president of the Oklahoma Judicial Conference. He is also a member of the Uniform Law Commission.

 

 

 

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ENDNOTES

[1] Approved by the ULC in 2017, HB3962 of 2024; Okla. Stat. tit. 60 §§1201-1217.

[2] Approved by the ULC in 2022, SB468 of 2024; Okla. Stat. tit. 84 §§901-927.

[3] Approved by the ULC in 2019, Okla. Stat. tit. 12A §§15-101 - 15-120.

[4] Approved by the ULC in 2015, HB3778 of 2024; Okla. Stat. tit. 58 §§3101-3119.

[5] Approved by the ULC in 2023, SB1819 of 2024; Okla. Stat. tit. 6 §§910-910.14.

[6] Approved by the ULC in 2022, HB 2776 of 2024; Okla. Stat. tit. 12A §12A-A-101.

[7] Approved by the ULC in 2021, SB1601 of 2024; Okla. Stat. tit. 43 §§561-101–561-402.