75-3-916 - Apportionment of estate taxes. - Utah Statutes

75-3-916. Apportionment of estate taxes.
(1) As used in this section:
(a) "Estate" means the gross estate of a decedent as determined for the purpose of federalestate tax and the estate tax payable to this state;
(b) "Fiduciary" means personal representative, executor, administrator of any description,or trustee;
(c) "Person" means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock company,corporation, government, political subdivision, governmental agency, or local governmentalagency;
(d) "Person interested in the estate" means any person, including a personalrepresentative, conservator, guardian, or trustee entitled to receive, or who has received, from adecedent while alive or by reason of the death of a decedent any property or interest in propertyincluded in the decedent's taxable estate;
(e) "State" means any state, territory, or possession of the United States, the District ofColumbia, or the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; and
(f) "Tax" means the federal estate tax and the inheritance, estate, or other death taxpayable to this state and interest and penalties imposed in addition to the tax but specifically doesnot include the federal generation skipping transfer tax.
(2) Unless otherwise provided in the will or other dispositive instrument, the tax shall beapportioned among all persons interested in the estate. The apportionment shall be made in theproportion that the value of the interest of each person interested in the estate bears to the totalvalue of the interests of all persons interested in the estate. The values used in determining the taxshall be used for that purpose. If the decedent's will or other dispositive instrument directs amethod of apportionment of tax different from the method described in this code, the methoddescribed in the will or other dispositive instrument controls.
(3) (a) The court having jurisdiction over the administration of the estate of a decedentshall determine the apportionment of the tax. If there are no probate proceedings, the court of thecounty in which the decedent was domiciled at death shall determine the apportionment of the taxupon the petition of the person required to pay the tax.
(b) If the court finds that it is inequitable to apportion interest and penalties in the mannerprovided in Subsection (2), because of special circumstances, it may direct the apportionment inthe manner it finds equitable.
(c) The expenses reasonably incurred by any fiduciary and by other persons interested inthe estate concerning the determination of the amount and apportionment of the tax shall beapportioned as provided in Subsection (2) and charged and collected as a part of the taxapportioned. If the court finds it is inequitable to apportion the expenses as provided inSubsection (2), it may direct the apportionment equitably.
(d) If the court finds that the assessment of penalties and interest assessed in relation tothe tax is due to delay caused by the negligence of the fiduciary, the court may charge thefiduciary with the amount of the assessed penalties and interest.
(e) In any suit or judicial proceeding to recover from any person interested in the estatethe amount of the tax apportioned to the person in accordance with this code, the determination ofthe court in this regard is prima facie correct.
(4) (a) The fiduciary or other person required to pay the tax may withhold from anyproperty of the decedent in his possession and distributable to any person interested in the estate,

the amount of tax attributable to his interest. If the property in possession of the fiduciary or otherperson required to pay the tax and distributable to any person interested in the estate is insufficientto satisfy the proportionate amount of the tax determined to be due from the person, the fiduciaryor other person required to pay the tax may recover the deficiency from the person interested inthe estate. If the property is not in the possession of the fiduciary or other person required to paythe tax, the fiduciary or the other person required to pay the tax may recover from any personinterested in the estate the amount of the tax apportioned to the person in accordance with thissection.
(b) If property held by the fiduciary or other person required to pay the tax is distributedprior to final apportionment of the tax, the fiduciary or other person may require the distributee toprovide a bond or other security for the apportionment liability in the form and amount prescribedby the fiduciary, with the approval of the court having jurisdiction of the administration of theestate.
(5) (a) In making an apportionment, allowances shall be made for any exemptionsgranted, any classification made of persons interested in the estate, and any deductions and creditsallowed by the law imposing the tax.
(b) Any exemption or deduction allowed by reason of the relationship of any person tothe decedent or by reason of the purposes of the gift inures to the benefit of the person bearingthat relationship or receiving the gift. When an interest is subject to a prior present interest whichis not allowable as a deduction, the tax apportionable against the present interest shall be paidfrom principal.
(c) Any deduction for property previously taxed and any credit for gift taxes or deathtaxes of a foreign country paid by the decedent or his estate inures to the proportionate benefit ofall persons liable to apportionment.
(d) Any credit for inheritance, succession, or estate taxes or taxes of this nature in respectto property or interests includable in the estate inures to the benefit of the persons or interestschargeable with the payment of the tax to the extent that, or in proportion as, the credit reducesthe tax.
(e) To the extent that property passing to or in trust for a surviving spouse or child or anycharitable, public, or similar gift or bequest does not constitute an allowable deduction forpurposes of the tax solely by reason of an inheritance tax or other death tax imposed upon anddeductible from the property, the property shall not be included in the computation provided for inSubsection (2), and to that extent no apportionment shall be made against the property. This doesnot apply in any instance where the result will be to deprive the estate of a deduction otherwiseallowable under Section 2053(d) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 of the United States,relating to deduction for state death taxes on transfers for public, charitable, or religious uses.
(6) No interest in income and no estate for years or for life or other temporary interest inany property or fund is subject to apportionment as between the temporary interest and theremainder. The tax on the temporary interest and the tax, if any, on the remainder is chargeableagainst the corpus of the property or funds subject to the temporary interest and remainder.
(7) Neither the fiduciary nor other person required to pay the tax is under any duty toinstitute any suit or proceeding to recover from any person interested in the estate the amount ofthe tax apportioned to the person until the expiration of the three months next following finaldetermination of the tax. A fiduciary or other person required to pay the tax who institutes the suitor proceeding within a reasonable time after the three months' period is not subject to any liability

or surcharge because any portion of the tax apportioned to any person interested in the estate wascollectible at a time following the death of the decedent but thereafter became uncollectible. If thefiduciary or other person required to pay the tax cannot collect from any person interested in theestate the amount of the tax apportioned to the person, the amount not recoverable shall be paidfrom the residuary estate. To the extent that the residuary estate is not adequate, the balance shallbe equitably apportioned among the other persons interested in the estate who are subject toapportionment.
(8) Subject to this section, a fiduciary acting in another state or a person required to paythe tax who is domiciled in another state may institute an action in the courts of this state and mayrecover a proportionate amount of the federal estate tax, of an estate tax payable to another state,or of a death duty due by a decedent's estate to another state, from a person interested in the estatewho is either domiciled in this state or who owns property in this state subject to attachment orexecution. For the purposes of the action the determination of apportionment by the court havingjurisdiction of the administration of the decedent's estate in the other state is prima facie correct.The provisions of this section apply only if the state in which the determination of apportionmentwas made affords a substantially similar remedy.
(9) This section does not apply to the apportionment of expenses incurred in connectionwith the determination of the amount and apportionment of the taxes due on account of the deathof decedents dying prior to July 1, 1983.

Amended by Chapter 226, 1983 General Session