【正文】
20 of the UTMA would be to add the following wording: To the extent the custodial property is a life insurance policy, no conveyance or delivery to the minor or to the minor’s estate is necessary to terminate the powers or rights of the custodian upon the minor’s attainment of the statutory age, or upon the minor’s death. Until such an exception is made, insurance panies should continue to require cus todians to plete transfer of ownership forms upon minors attaining the statutory age. Further, attorneys practicing family law should be aware of the potential for custodians under UTMA to abuse or violate their dutiesby failing to transfer UTMA property at the appropriate involved with divorceor child custody proceedings would do well to inquire whether any UTMA property exists and if so to ensure that the named custodian is reliable and willing to protect the best interests of the minor. If there is any doubt about a custodian’s willingness to properly exercise his or her duties, an attorney should consider taking preventative steps by having the custodian removed and a succes sor custodian named. 14 CONCLUSION The UTMA can be an effective way for people to transfer property to minors. Nevertheless, life insurance policies require a custodian to plete a misleading transfer of ownership form to transfer possession of intangible personal property rights to a minorturned adult. This forces minors to face the possibility of having to bring a lawsuit against custodians to pel them to transfer possession, which threatens minors with the additional possibility of losing their right to possession entirely by failing to bring an action within the statute of limitations. Furthermore, insurance panies could easily record the termination date of a custodian’s authority over an insurance policy. Given the underlying purpose of the UTMA to promote the safe transfer and possession of property to minors, the UTMA should be modified to allow an exception for possessory interests in insurance policies to be automatically transferred from custodians to minors upon minors attaining the requisite statutory age. Until the UTMA is modified, family law attorneys involved in divorce and child custody proceedings should be vigilant and ascertain whether UTMA property exists and if so ensure that a suitable person is named as custodian. 。 a custodian has a mere possessory interest while acting as a fiduciary/guardian. Therefore, a transfer of ownership form is misleading since no transfer of ownership on an insurance policy takes place once the minor attains the requisite age. Again, the UTMA should allow insurance panies in their internal records to simply make an electronic note that the minor is the proper party to exercise full ownership rights over the policy once the minor attains the required age. This prevents the insurance pany from having to try to contact neglectful or reluctant 13 custodians, prevents custodians from having to plete any additional forms or make further contact with the insurance provider, and allows minorsturned adults to exercise their full ownership and possessory rights without any costly litigation to establish full ownership rights over the policy. Proposed Modi?cation to UTMA To protect the best interests of minors and to allow for more expedient business practices for all parties involved, an exception to the af rmative duty of custodians to transfer property under 167。 a custodian refuses to plete a transfer of ownership form。 9 of the UTMA, a person is able to make a gift to a minor by transferring property to a minor. Such a transfer or gift indefeasibly vests a minor with interest in the property, but the property is temporarily placed under the care of a custodian instead of the minor12 until the minor reaches the requisite age. The type of property that a person may transfer is broad. In fact, a person may transfer any “conceivable legal or equitable interest in property of any kind, including intangible personal property.” One of the types of property that a person may transfer to or vest in a minor is a life insurance policy. The UTMA explicitly allows for a person to transfer ownership of or to name a minor as an owner of a life or endowment insurance policy or annuity. This may be acplished by providing the name of a custodian with the insurance or annuity provider 8