§ 53-12-425 - Deferred compensation, annuities, and similar payments - Georgia Statutes

O.C.G.A. 53-12-425 (2010)
53-12-425. Deferred compensation, annuities, and similar payments

(a) As used in this Code section, the term:

(1) "Payment" means a payment that a trustee may receive over a fixed number of years or during the life of one or more individuals because of services rendered or property transferred to the payer in exchange for future payments. Such term includes a payment made in money or property from the payer's general assets or from a separate fund created by the payer. Such term also includes any payment from a separate fund, regardless of the reason for the payment.

(2) "Separate fund" includes a private or commercial annuity, an individual retirement account, and a pension, profit-sharing, stock-bonus, or stock-ownership plan.

(b) To the extent that a payment is characterized as interest or a dividend or a payment made in lieu of interest or a dividend, a trustee shall allocate it to income. The trustee shall allocate to principal the balance of the payment and any other payment received in the same accounting period that is not characterized as interest, a dividend, or an equivalent payment.

(c) If no part of a payment is characterized as interest, a dividend, or an equivalent payment, and all or part of the payment is required to be made, a trustee shall allocate to income 10 percent of the part that is required to be made during the accounting period and the balance to principal. If no part of a payment is required to be made or the payment received is the entire amount to which the trustee is entitled, the trustee shall allocate the entire payment to principal. For purposes of this subsection, a payment shall not be required to be made to the extent that it is made because the trustee exercises a right of withdrawal.

(d) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (e) of this Code section, subsections (f) and (g) of this Code section shall apply, and subsections (b) and (c) of this Code section shall not apply, in determining the allocation of a payment made from a separate fund to:

(1) A trust to which an election to qualify for a marital deduction under Section 2056(b)(7) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986 has been made; or

(2) A trust that qualifies for the marital deduction under Section 2056(b)(5) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(e) Subsections (d), (f), and (g) of this Code section shall not apply if and to the extent that the series of payments would, without the application of subsection (d) of this Code section, qualify for the marital deduction under Section 2056(b)(7)(C) of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986.

(f) A trustee shall determine the internal income of each separate fund for the accounting period as if the separate fund were a trust subject to this article. Upon request of the surviving spouse, the trustee shall demand of the person administering the separate fund that this internal income be distributed to the trust. The trustee shall allocate a payment from the separate fund to income to the extent of the internal income of the separate fund and distribute that amount to the surviving spouse. The trustee shall allocate the balance to principal. Upon request of the surviving spouse, the trustee shall allocate principal to income to the extent the internal income of the separate fund exceeds payments made from the separate fund to the trust during the accounting period.

(g) If a trustee cannot determine the internal income of a separate fund but can determine the value of such separate fund, the internal income of such separate fund shall be deemed to be equal to 4 percent of the fund's value, according to the most recent statement of value preceding the beginning of the accounting period. If the trustee can determine neither the internal income of the separate fund nor the fund's value, the internal income of the fund shall be deemed to equal the product of the interest rate and the present value of the expected future payments, as determined under Section 7520 of the federal Internal Revenue Code of 1986 for the month preceding the accounting period for which the computation is made.

(h) This Code section shall not apply to payments to which Code Section 53-12-426 applies.