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Experts and bar leaders tell Judiciary committee Vermont should modernize disclaimer law, remove rigid nine‑month rule
Summary
Witnesses at a Judiciary informational session urged passage of S179, the Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interest Act, arguing it would let heirs and fiduciaries disclaim property or powers beyond the old nine‑month window, clarify delivery rules (including email and electronic signatures), and reduce probate and title complications; the bill is revenue-neutral for Vermont and would repeal the existing statute.
The Judiciary committee heard testimony April 1 on S179, the Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interest Act, with practitioners saying the draft will modernize state law on disclaimers and reduce avoidable probate and title disputes.
Mark Langon, head of the trust and estates department at the Deny Law Firm in Burlington and chair of the Vermont Bar Association’s probate and trust law section, said the bill’s central change is to remove the state-level constraint that kept disclaimers strictly to a nine‑month window. "The first and most important thing this thing does is say you're not confined to 9 months," Langon said, adding that federal tax rules still matter for IRS purposes but should not prevent a person from disclaiming a property interest under state law.
Langon reviewed key provisions in the draft, including a broadened scope that treats disclaimers of both property interests and powers (such as powers of…
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