Delaware Bills

This Act amends the Clayton Charter to provide more time between the deadline for filing requirements and Election Day.

Currently, claims that arise at the death of the decedent are treated the same as claims that arise after the decedent's death. This bill changes how claims that arise at the time of decedent's death are treated by including them in the same class of claims that arise during the decedent's lifetime. By making this change, claims that arise at the death of the decedent would need to be based upon the conduct of the decedent rather than the conduct of the personal representative who, at the time of decedent's death, has not yet been appointed.

Under current educational standards, students are no longer required to be taught cursive writing and many schools have abandoned teaching cursive writing to students. As cursive writing is still an imperative skill in many professions, this bill makes teaching cursive writing a requirement for all public schools in Delaware.

This Act establishes a procedure by which a mortgagee that changes its notice address from the notice address as provided in any mortgage or assignment of mortgage may, at its option, provide public notice of its new notice address.

Car theft was the primary impetus behind state codes prohibiting a motor vehicle owner to leave a car unattended with the keys in the ignition; a common habit to warm-up the vehicle during colder months. From 2013 to 2015, a total of 206 cars were stolen in Delaware due to the owner leaving the keys in the car while unattended; of these, 12 went unrecovered. Improved technology, such as remote starters, has instigated changes to these outdated statutes in several states. This Act excludes motor vehicles that are started by a remote starter or other similar device without a key in the ignition and that would be rendered inoperable without the key in the ignition or present within the vehicle.

Section 1 of the Act (i) clarifies that the defined term “agents”, as used in chapter 33 of title 12, consistent with common usage of the term, includes all agents defined as such by the general law of agency; (ii) modifies section 3312 to provide that the rules of that section, permitting certain investments and transactions with affiliates, apply in cases where the investment or counterparty to the transaction is affiliated with an agent having discretionary investment authority over a fund either by reason of a delegation to the agent by a fiduciary or by reason of a direct grant of such discretion to the agent; (iii) adds a new section 3313A, patterned upon section 3313, regarding the duties and liability of a trustee in cases where the trust instrument grants another co-trustee exclusive authority to take specified actions on behalf of the trust; (iv) grants trustees the general power to indemnify lenders as customary commercial loan documents sometimes require such indemnities; (v) clarifies the circumstances in which a trustee may merge trusts pursuant to section 3325(29); (vi) corrects typographical errors in sections 3332 and 3333; (vii) clarifies the circumstances in which certain trust beneficiaries may appoint a successor trustee pursuant to section 3336; (viii) makes section 3338 regarding nonjudicial settlement agreements available to charitable trusts and noncharitable purpose trusts subject to certain limitations described therein; (ix) revises section 3341 to address how a trust merger affects a power of appointment exercisable over property of a trust merged with and into another trust; and (x) revises section 3342 to make certain stylistic changes and address the power of an agent or guardian to consent to a trust modification on behalf of a trustor. Section 2 of the Act (i) revises section 3528 to incorporate a provision, appearing in the recently promulgated Uniform Trust Decanting Act, permitting trustees to effect a trust decanting without creating a new separate trust; (ii) modifies the wording but not the substantive terms of section 3541; (iii) clarifies section 3545 regarding the execution requirements for certain trusts; (iv) corrects a typographical error in section 3546; (v) clarifies that a sale or exchange for full and adequate consideration is not a “disposition” for purposes of Delaware’s asset protection trust legislation meaning that (1) a person engaging in such a transaction does not become a settlor of the trust by reason of the sale or exchange, and (2) such a transaction may not be avoided by a creditor; and (vi) adds a new limitations period for actions against a trustee following the trustee’s departure from office. Section 3 of the Act conforms the tax ordering rules of section 61-107, applicable to express unitrusts, with the tax ordering rules of section 61-106, applicable to unitrusts created by means of the conversion procedure described in that statute. Section 4 of the Act revises Delaware’s “tax trap” legislation (chapter 5 of title 25) to create a new method, in addition to the method already available under current law, by which the donee of a power of appointment over trust property may avoid the application of the general default rule of section 501(a) of title 25 providing that interests in property created by the exercise of such power of appointment are deemed to have been created at the time of the exercise of the power. Section 5 of the Act revises section 1636 of title 30 to create a new rule of application, treating the federal taxable income of an electing small business trust as having been set aside for distribution in future taxable years, for purposes of determining the amount of the trust’s section 1636 deduction for federal taxable income set aside for future distribution to nonresident beneficiaries. Section 6 of the Act provides that it shall apply to trusts whenever created.

This bill corrects an unintended consequence of House Bill No. 15 of the 148th General Assembly, signed into law by the Governor on June 24, 2015, by preventing double taxation of premium ceded to a series captive insurance company or protected cell. This bill also precludes premium taxation of series limited liability companies, exclusive of any series thereof, when premium is written only in the series of such of series limited liability companies.

This legislation eliminates front footage calculations as the sole method of collecting sewer assessments for county sewer users. It provides a broad list of possible methods of determining the amount of the sewer assessment for each property, including, but not limited to front footage, usage, fixtures, Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDUs) or other factors. The methods are the same as those currently in Chapter 67 of the Delaware Code for sewer charges.

The primary purpose of this bill is to provide for an increase in fees collected with annual hazardous chemical inventory reports submitted by facilities. The bill also makes certain technical corrections. Sections 1 and 2 of the bill add the term “safety data sheets,” where applicable, so that the terminology in Chapter 63, Title 16 of the Delaware Code comports with federal and international standards. Section 3 of this bill would increase the current fee per hazardous chemical from $40 to $60, and per extremely hazardous substance from $80 to $100, starting in 2018. Existing fee amounts are maintained for reports submitted late for back years. The fees were originally established in 1991, and have remained unchanged for 26 years. Fees collected are appropriated to the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), and are used primarily to support operation of Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCS). Funds are also used to support emergency response vehicles for decontamination. Section 4 of this bill removes an unneeded provision that conflicts with the purpose of the fees as stated within Chapter 63. Section 5 inserts an exemption provision omitted when Chapter 63 was originally established, and provides alignment with related federal reporting requirements.

The children of parents who divorce or were never married often share a surname with only one parent, which may lead to confusion or hardship when schools, doctors, or others fail to recognize the child’s connection with the parent with whom the child does not share a similar surname. Parents and children in such circumstances have compelling reason to seek to add a second surname to the child’s name. Delaware law currently provides that a petition to change a minor’s surname should be granted if there are no reasons for not granting the petition. This standard applies to changing a minor’s name, regardless of whether the change is to eliminate and replace an existing surname or simply add a second surname, and also puts the burden on the petitioning parent to demonstrate that the petition should be granted. This Act separates circumstance in which a parent seeks to replace a minor’s surname from those in which a parent seeks to add to the minor’s surname, by establishing a presumption in favor of granting a petition to add a parent’s surname to a minor’s surname either as an additional name or hyphenated with the minor’s previously existing surname. The presumption in favor of granting the petition may be overcome by the opposing parent establishing by clear and convincing evidence that the consideration of several, specific factors demonstrate that granting the petition would cause the minor more harm than benefit. The factors specified in this Act are taken from the larger list of factors which Delaware Courts have developed through case law to consider when determining whether to grant a petition to change a minor’s surname and do not include the factors which are relevant only when a parent seeks to replace, rather than add to, the minor’s surname.

This bill clarifies that a Department of Correction's employee who has served for 25 years with at least 20 years as a correction officer is eligible to retire at 25 years.

SB 164 of the 148th General Assembly created a special license plate for professional paramedics and retired professional paramedics. This Act provides an additional officer, at the county level, to verify an applicant's eligibility for this special license plate.