JANUARY 2025 | 41 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 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. Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff.
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