Uniform Acts - Drafting

Drafting

The NCCUSL is a body of lawyers, both private practitioners and government attorneys; judges, both state and federal; and law professors, typically appointed by the governor of each state. The NCCUSL drafts laws on a variety of subjects and proposes them for enactment by each state, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. NCCUSL was established in 1892. The NCCUSL, while influential, does not have any direct legislative power itself; uniform acts become laws only to the extent they are enacted into law by state legislatures.

Among the most influential uniform acts are the Uniform Commercial Code, Uniform Probate Code, Uniform Trust Code, Uniform Partnership Act, Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, Uniform Certification of Questions of Law Act, Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, Uniform Controlled Substances Act, Uniform Arbitration Act, Uniform Environmental Covenants Act, Uniform Conservation Easements Act, Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act, Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, and Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. However, there are well over 100 uniform acts. NCCUSL periodically updates these acts. Recent examples include the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, Revised Uniform Arbitration Act, Revised Uniform Partnership Act, Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, and the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act. The NCCUSL website should be consulted for the latest uniform acts or revisions thereof.

A state may adopt a uniform act as written by NCCUSL, or a state may adopt it with specific changes. Unless such changes are minor, they can seriously obstruct the goal of the uniform acts of promoting uniformity of law among the various states. Therefore, persons doing business in different states must always still check local law to ensure that (1) a uniform act was enacted in the state that governs a particular legal issue and (2) the local act actually conforms to the text promulgated by NCCUSL.

For example, in Payne v. Stalley, a lawyer relied on the official text of the Uniform Probate Code and failed to check the relevant Florida statute. As a result, the lawyer missed a filing deadline on a multi-million dollar claim. The court wrote, "e cannot rewrite Florida probate law to accommodate a Michigan attorney more familiar with the Uniform Probate Code."