SECTION 2-214. PROTECTION OF PAYORS AND OTHER THIRD PARTIES. Uniform Probate Code

SECTION 2-214. PROTECTION OF PAYORS AND OTHER THIRD PARTIES. Uniform Probate Code

(a) Although under Section 2-205 a payment, item of property, or other benefit is included in the decedent’s nonprobate transfers to others, a payor or other third party is not liable for having made a payment or transferred an item of property or other benefit to a beneficiary designated in a governing instrument, or for having taken any other action in good faith reliance on the validity of a governing instrument, upon request and satisfactory proof of the decedent’s death, before the payor or other third party received written notice from the surviving spouse or spouse’s representative of an intention to file a petition for the elective share or that a petition for the elective share has been filed. A payor or other third party is liable for payments made or other actions taken after the payor or other third party received written notice of an intention to file a petition for the elective share or that a petition for the elective share has been filed.
(b) A written notice of intention to file a petition for the elective share or that a petition for the elective share has been filed must be mailed to the payor’s or other third party’s main office or home by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or served upon the payor or other third party in the same manner as a summons in a civil action. Upon receipt of written notice of intention to file a petition for the elective share or that a petition for the elective share has been filed, a payor or other third party may pay any amount owed or transfer or deposit any item of property held by it to or with the court having jurisdiction of the probate proceedings relating to the decedent’s estate, or if no proceedings have been commenced, to or with the court having jurisdiction of probate proceedings relating to decedents’ estates located in the county of

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the decedent’s residence. The court shall hold the funds or item of property, and, upon its determination under Section 2-211(d), shall order disbursement in accordance with the determination. If no petition is filed in the court within the specified time under Section 2-211(a) or, if filed, the demand for an elective share is withdrawn under Section 2-211(c), the court shall order disbursement to the designated beneficiary. Payments or transfers to the court or deposits made into court discharge the payor or other third party from all claims for amounts so paid or the value of property so transferred or deposited.
(c) Upon petition to the probate court by the beneficiary designated in a governing instrument, the court may order that all or part of the property be paid to the beneficiary in an amount and subject to conditions consistent with this [part].
Comment
This section provides protection to “payors” and other third parties who made payments or took any other action before receiving written notice of the spouse’s intention to make an election under this part or that an election has been made. The term “payor” is defined in Section 1-201 as meaning “a trustee, insurer, business entity, employer, government, governmental agency or subdivision, or any other person authorized or obligated by law or a governing instrument to make payments.”
Historical Note. Although this Comment was added in 1993, the substance of the Comment previously appeared as the last paragraph of the Comment to Section 2-202, 8 U.L.A. 92, 93 (Supp.1992).