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Committee backs bill to move certain water-share transfers into probate process
Summary
Lawmakers advanced House Bill 89, which would require transfers of inherited water shares that would otherwise use a simplified affidavit process (below a $100,000 threshold) to proceed through probate or trust administration to reduce alleged abuses.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Senate Natural Resources committee favorably recommended House Bill 89 (substitute) to the full Senate, a bill changing how ownership of mutual irrigation company water shares can be transferred after death.
Representative Sawyer told the committee current statute allows an owner to use a sworn affidavit to transfer water shares valued at less than $100,000 without probate oversight. Stakeholders, including canal companies and water attorneys, told the sponsor they have seen that affidavit route abused in transfers that, stakeholders allege, exceeded the $100,000 threshold.
The bill would require transfers to proceed through probate or be handled within a trust to ensure appraisal and proper notice, the sponsor said. Bear River Canal Company general manager Trevor Nelson, who testified by phone, described cases where counsel advised clients to use the affidavit process even though shares appeared to be worth far more than $100,000; he said the onus and potential liability then falls on irrigation companies.
Representative Sawyer and stakeholders said the probate process typically costs $5,000–$7,000 but provides legal assurance for high‑value transfers. Terry Camp of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation and Trevor Nelson both told the committee they support the bill. Senator Hankins moved a favorable recommendation; the committee approved the motion by voice vote and the bill advances to the full Senate.
Committee members asked follow-up questions about lost certificates of title and how smaller transfers would be processed; Representative Sawyer said she would follow up with presenters before the bill moved to the Senate floor.
