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#805 - 02/28/01 02:44 PM UTMA Accounts
Susan Offline
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Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 0
I have a question regarding UTMA accounts and what account types they can be...we have several UTMA accounts at our bank and they are always classified as a savings account. We recently had a CSR ask if an UTMA account could be classified as a checking account or a CD. I can not find anything that designates what type of account an UTMA can or can not be classified as. However, I would think that a checking account would not be advisable; I can't think of any reason that a CD would not be acceptable. Any thoughts on this or can anyone point me to where I can find additional information on this? Thank you.

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General Discussion
#806 - 02/28/01 10:32 PM Re: UTMA Accounts
Anonymous
Unregistered

My bank has had both CD's and MMA's set up as UTMAs. The minors received dividend checks which were deposited into the MMA. They work the same way as a savings account. The custodian has signing authority until the minor is of legal age.

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#807 - 03/06/01 03:55 PM Re: UTMA Accounts
Anonymous
Unregistered

I was taught that UTMA are not accounts but account stylings. In fact I open CDs for quite a few customers using this style.

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#808 - 03/06/01 06:23 PM Re: UTMA Accounts
Bear Collector, CRCM Offline
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Bear Collector, CRCM
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,830
District of Columbia
I am not an attorney, but I do know that an UTMA account is a type of fiduciary account that provides a framework for money or other property to be irrevocably transferred to a minor, but subject to the control of a custodian. Virtually every state has adopted its own version of UTMA, so your best course of action would be to check with your state's laws concerning those accounts. (In Maryland, UTMA accounts are found in the Estates and Trusts Article of the Maryland Code).
As a rule, most UTMA accounts established in my bank are done so as savings or money market accounts; occasionally as certificates of deposit. We seldon use checking accounts as UTMAs, although I do not believe the law stipulates that we can't. In fact, in instances where the custodian is ordered by the court to make certain payments on behalf of the minor, a checking account might be the best way to accomplish this.
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#809 - 03/07/01 01:09 PM Re: UTMA Accounts
RVFlyboy Offline
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RVFlyboy
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,991
Soaring over Georgia
Wait a minute - if every state has adopted its own version, what in the world does the "U" in UTMA stand for? :-)

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#810 - 03/07/01 03:37 PM Re: UTMA Accounts
Lucy Griffin Offline

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Lucy Griffin
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 1,544
Ah, Jim, well may you ask. Actually, I'm sure you actually know, but here's an answer for the record. The "uniform" in the title of uniform laws only means that the law was uniform when drafted by the committee of lawyers that wrote it. Because the subjects of the uniform laws are state-governed, the uniform draft is then handed over and introduced into each state where the individual state legislators have their way with it. Although the result remains uniform in principle, you always have to be wary of individual spins that one state may have inserted before enactment. That's always a favorite trap in law school exams.

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#811 - 03/07/01 08:18 PM Re: UTMA Accounts
John Burnett Offline
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John Burnett
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 40,086
Cape Cod
Compare the "Uniform" Commercial Code, which is also enacted in each state in mostly similar, but sometimes varying form.

Some of these things are "managed" (for lack of a better word) by a commission on uniform state laws. They are written at the state level because in some areas, congress is loath (constitution considerations) to tread on states' rights to govern intra-state commerce.

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#812 - 03/07/01 08:59 PM Re: UTMA Accounts
Andy_Z Offline
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Andy_Z
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 27,748
On the Net
In Texas we call the UCC the Texas Business and Commerce Code. We aren't uniform.

I thought the "U" as usually written in these things was addressing who had to follow it, as in "Better U than I" or "U'll have your hands full of this". : )

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Andy Zavoina
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#813 - 03/07/01 09:03 PM Re: UTMA Accounts
Al Miller Offline
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Al Miller
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 2,416
Pleasanton CA USA
And I thought that Texans always said "y'all" instead of "U". Live and learn.

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