An Act concerning gifts of securities to minors in the District of Columbia.
PL 84-976 (H.R.11090), enacted 08/03/1956

1028 
PUBLIC L:AW 976-AUG. 3, 1966 
[70 S T A T . 
Public Law 976 
CHAPTER 947 
August 3, 1956 
AN ACT 
[H. R. 11090] 
Concerning gifts of securities to minors in the District of Columbia. 
Gifts of securi-
ties to m i n o r s in 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
_ 
United States of America 
in Congress assembi-ed, That (a) with 
D.'c. 
- —— j.ggpgp^ ^Q ^Yie District of Columbia, any adult person may make a 
gift of securities to a person who has not attained the age of 21 years 
on the date of the gift (hereinafter referred to as the "minor") in the 
following manner: 
Registration. 
M) Securities, if in registered form, shall be registered by the donor 
in nis own name or in the name of any adult member of the minor's 
family or in the name of any guardian of the minor, followed by the 
words "as custodian, for 
,
• 
(Name of minor) 
a minor, under the laws of the District of Columbia", and the secu-
rities shall be delivered to the person in whose name they are thus 
registered as custodian. 
If the securities are thus registered in the 
name of the donor as custodian such registration shall of itself con-
stitute the delivery required by this section. 
of^ftT**^' ****** 
(2) Securities, if in bearer form, shall be delivered by the donor to 
any adult member of the minor's family, other than the donor, or to 
any guardian of the minor, accompanied by a deed of gift duly 
acknowledged in substantially the following form, signed by the donor 
and the person designated therein as custodian: 
DEED OF GIFT UNDER THE LAWS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA 
I, 
, 
do hereby deliver to 
(Name of donor) 
, as custodian for 
(Name of custodian) 
, a minor, under the 
(Name of minor) 
laws of the District of Columbia, the following security (ies) : Principal amount 
$ 
, of the 
(Description of 
Serial number of security 
security) 
or 
Certificate No, 
, representing 
shares of the 
stock of 
(Class or type of stock) 
(Name of company) 
(Signature of donor) 
I, 
, do hereby acknowl-
(Name of custodian) 
edge receipt of the above described security (ies). 
(Signature of custodian) 
Dated: 
(b) The person designated as a custodian under this section is here-
inafter called "the custodian". 
SEC. 2. A gift made in the manner prescribed in the first section of 
this Act shall be irrevocable and shall convey to the minor indefeasibly 
vested legal title to the securities thus delivered, but no guardian of 
the person or property of the minor shall have any rights, duties or 
authority with respect to any property held at any time by the cus-
TO STAT.] 
PUBLIC LAW 976-AUG. 3, 1956 
1D29 
todian under the authoritj^ of this Act unless said guardian shall him-
self be or become custodian in accordance herewith. 
SK!. 3. (a) The custodian shall hold, manage, invest and reinvest et^.^by%ultodill^ 
the property held by him as custodian, including any unexpended 
income therefrom, as hereinafter provided. 
He shall collect the in-
come therefrom and apply so much or the whole thereof and so much 
or the whole of the other property held by him as custodian as he may 
deem advisable for the support, maintenance, education and general 
use and benefit of the minor, in such manner, at such time or times, 
and to such extent as the custodian in his absolute discretion may deem 
suitable and proper, without court order, without regard to the duty 
of any person to support the minor and without regard to any other 
funds which may be applicable or available for the purpose. 
To the 
extent that property held by the custodian and the income thereof is 
not so expended, it shall be delivered or paid over to the minor upon 
the minor's attaining the age of twenty-one years, and in the event 
that the minor dies before attaining the age of twenty-one years it 
shall thereupon be delivered or paid over to the estate of the minor. 
(b) The custodian may sell, exchange, convert, or otherwise dispose 
of any and all of the securities or other property held by him in such 
manner and at such time or times, for such prices and upon such terms 
as he may deem advisable; he shall have the power in his sole and 
absolute discretion to retain any and all securities delivered to him 
within the meaning and under the authority of this Act without ref-
erence to the statutes relating to permissible investments by fidu-
ciaries; he shall invest the minor's property in such securities as 
would be acquired by prudent men of discretion and intelligence who 
are seeking a reasonable income and the preservation of their capital 
without reference to the statutes relating to permissible investments 
by fiduciaries or hold part or all of the same in one or more bank 
accounts in his name as such custodian; he may vote in person or by 
general or limited proxy with respect to any securities held by him; 
he may consent directly or through a committee or other agent to the 
reorganization, consolidation, dissolution or liquidation of any cor-
{)orations, the securities of which may be held by him, or to the sale, 
ease, pledge or mortgage of any property by or to any such corpora-
tion. 
(c) In addition to the foregoing rights, powers, and duties with 
respect to any securities or other property held by the custodian, the 
custodian, in his name as such custodian, shall have all the powers of 
management which a guardian of the property of the minor would 
have. 
(d) The custodian may execute and deliver any and all instruments 
in writing which he may deem advisable to carry out any of the fore-
going powers. No issuer of securities, transfer agent, registrar, or 
bank, or other person acting on the instructions of any person pur-
porting to be a custodian or donor, shall be responsible for determining 
whether any person has been duly designated as a custodian under 
this Act, or whether any purchase, sale, or transfer to or by any person 
as custodian is in accordance with or authorized by this Act, or shall 
be obliged to inquire into the validity under this Act of any instrument 
or instructions executed or given by a person purporting to act as 
custodian or donor, or be bound to see to the application by any person 
purporting to act as custodian of any money or other property paid or 
delivered to him. All registered securities neld by the custodian from 
time to time shall be registered in his name followed by the words 
"as custodian for 
(Name of minor) 
1030 
PUBLIC LAW 976- AUG. 3, 1956 
[70 ST A T . 
R elmbtirs etn ent. 
Liability. 
Resignation. 
D e a t h or Inca-
p a c i t y of custo-
dian. 
Powers of suc-
cessor custodian. 
A c t i o n 
custodian. 
against 
••Security' 
a minor under the laws of the District of Columbia". 
All other 
property held by the custodian for the minor under the authority of 
this Act shall be kept separate and distinct from the custodian's own 
personal funds and property and shall be maintained at all times in 
such a manner as to identify it clearly as the minor's property held by 
the custodian under the authority of this Act. 
SEC. 4. A person acting as custodian, other than a guardian of the 
property of the minor, shall receive no compensation for his services 
but shall be entitled to reimbursement from the property held by him 
as custodian for the reasonable expenses incurred in the performance 
of his duties hereunder. 
A guardian of the property of the minor, 
when acting as custodian under the authority of this Act, may receive 
such additional compensation for his services as guardian as he would 
be entitled to receive if the property held by him as custodian here-
under were held by him in his capacity as guardian, in addition to the 
other property of the minor held by him in that capacity. 
SEC. 5. A custodian who is not compensated for acting as such shall 
be under no obligation to give bond for the faithful performance of 
his duties and shall not be liable for any losses to the property held 
by him except such as are the result of his bad faith or intentional 
wrongdoing or result from his investing the minor's property in a 
manner other than as prescribed in section 3 (b) of this Act. 
SEC. 6. A custodian may resign by (1) executing and duly acknowl-
edging an instrument of resignation designating a successor custodian 
who is an adult member of the minor's family or a guardian of the 
minor, (2) delivering such instrument to the successor custodian, 
(3) causing securities, if in registered form, to be registered in the 
name of the successor custodian as such, and (4) delivering to the 
successor custodian such securities so registered together with all 
other property held by him as custodian. 
SEC. 7. In the event of the death or incapacity of the custodian be-
fore the minor attains the age of twenty-one years, if there is a duly 
appointed and acting general guardian of the property of the minor 
at the time of such death or incapacity of the custodian, he shall 
become the successor custodian, but if there is no duly appointed and 
acting general guardian of the property of the minor at said time, the 
successor custodian shall be the adult member of the minor's family or 
a guardian of the minor, designated by will or duly acknowledged 
instrument of appointment executed by the last acting custodian. 
If no such designation is made by the last acting custodian, his legal 
representative may designate in writing an adult member of the 
minor's family or a guardian of the minor a successor custodian. 
SEC. 8. Any successor custodian shall have all the rights, powers 
and duties of a custodian under the authority of this Act. 
SEC. 9. The next friend or legal representative of a minor, in whose 
behalf securities are held by a custodian under this Act, or the minor 
in his own right, no later than one j^ear after reaching twenty-one 
years of age, shall be entitled to maintain an action in the United 
States District Court for the District of Columbia against such cus-
todian, or his estate for an accounting and delivery of the securities 
and unexpended income, in the event of the death, inability, or neglect 
to act of such custodian. 
SEC. 10. (a) The term "security" as used in this Act means any note, 
stock, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, collateral trust certifi-
cate, transferable share, voting trust certificate, certificate of deposit 
for a security or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly 
known as a security, or any certificate of interest or participation in, 
temporary or interim certificate for, or warrant or right to subscribe 
to or purchase, any of the foregoing. 
70 STAT.1 
PUBLIC LAW 977-AUG. 3, 1956 
ion 
(b) A security is in ''registered form" when its terms specify a person 
entitled to the security or to the rights it evidences and specify that its 
transfer may be registered upon books maintained for that purpose by 
or on behalf of an issuer. 
(c) A security is in "bearer form" when it runs to bearer according 
to its terms and not by reason of any endorsement. 
(d) The term "member of the minor's family" as used in this Act 
means the minor's parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, uncles and 
aunts, whether of the whole blood or the half blood, or by or through 
legal adoption. 
(e) The term "legal representative" as used in this Act means, as 
may be appropriate in the circumstances, the executor, administrator, 
general guardian, or committee (conservator) of the property of the 
person to whose legal representative reference is made. 
(f) A gift made under authority of this Act to a guardian of the 
minor as custodian shall be deemed to have satisfied the requirements 
of this Act if the person to whom delivery has been made is either 
guardian of the person or guardian of the property of the minor, duly 
appointed in the District of Columbia or in the State, Territory or 
country where the minor was domiciled at the time of the delivery of 
the gift. 
SEC. 11. This Act shall not be construed as providing an exclusive 
method for making gifts of securities to minors. 
Approved August 3, 1956. 
" R e g l 8 t e r e d 
form". 
"Bearer form" 
Public Law 977 
CHAPTER 948 
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
August 3, 1956 
To provide for the conveyance of certain real property of the United States to 
[H. R. 10383] 
the city of Vero Beach, Morida. 
Be it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representatives 
of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Adminis-
trator of General Services is authorized and directed to convey, with-
out consideration, to the city of Vero Beach, Florida, all of the right, 
title, and interest of the United States in and to certain real property 
described as follows: 
Lots 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, and the south 15 feet of lot 22 of block 48, 
also known as the city hall block, in the original town of Vero (now 
city of Vero Beach), Florida, according to plat thereof recorded in 
the office of the clerk of the circuit court of Saint Lucie County, 
Florida, situated in Vero Beach, Indian Eiver County, Florida; and 
also all that part of the alleys shown upon the plat of the above-
described property which lie east of lots 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 of the 
above-described block; and also all of the alley as shown upon the 
plat of said above-described block which lies north of the east 25 feet 
of lot 12 and north of lots 13, 14, 15, and 16 of said above-defecribed 
block. 
SEC. 2. (a) The Administrator of General Services is authorized and 
directed to convey to the city of Vero Beach, Florida, in considera-
tion of the payment by such city of an amount equal to the fair mar-
ket value of the property at its highest and best use as determined by 
said Administrator, all of the right, title, and interest of the United 
States in and to certain real property described as follows: 
Lots 6 to 11, inclusive, block 48, also known as the city hall block, in 
the original town of Vero (now city of Vero Beach), Florida, accord-
ing to plat thereof recorded in the office of the clerk of the circuit 
court of Saint Lucie County, Florida, situated in Vero Beach, Indian 
Eiver County, Florida. 
Vero Beach, Fla. 
Conveyance.