GA Code § 53-12-9 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 53 - Wills, Trusts, and Administration of Estates|Chapter 12 - Trusts|Article 1 - General Provisions|§ 53-12-9. Binding Nonjudicial Settlement Agreement

  Except as provided in subsection (b) of this Code section, the trustee, any trust director, and all other persons whose interests would be affected may enter into a binding nonjudicial settlement agreement with respect to any matter involving the trust.   A nonjudicial settlement agreement:   Shall be valid only to the extent it does not violate a material purpose of the trust and includes terms and conditions that could be properly approved by the court under this Code section or other applicable law; and   Shall not be valid with respect to any modification or termination of an irrevocable trust when the settlor's consent would be required in a proceeding to approve such modification or termination under subsection (b) of Code Section 53-12-61.     The trustee, trust director, and any person whose interests would be affected by a nonjudicial settlement agreement may request that the court approve such agreement, determine whether the representation as provided in Code Section 53-12-8 was adequate, determine whether such agreement violates a material purpose of the trust, determine whether such agreement contains terms and conditions the court could have properly approved, or make any other similar determination.   A nonjudicial settlement agreement entered into in accordance with this Code section shall be final and binding on all parties to such agreement, including individuals not sui juris, unborn beneficiaries, and persons unknown who are represented by a person who may represent and bind such parties under Code Section 53-12-8, as if ordered by a court with competent jurisdiction over the trust, the trust property, and the parties.   Entering into or petitioning a court regarding a nonjudicial settlement agreement under this Code section shall not constitute a violation of a condition in terrorem under Code Section 53-12-22.     (Code 1981, §53-12-9, enacted by Ga. L. 2018, p. 262, § 5/HB 121; Ga. L. 2020, p. 377, § 1-73/HB 865; Ga. L. 2020, p. 493, § 53/SB 429.)    The 2020 amendments.  The first 2020 amendment, effective January 1, 2021, deleted former subsection (a), which read: "As used in this Code section, the term 'interested persons' means the trustee and all other persons whose consent would be required in order to achieve a binding settlement were the settlement to be approved by the court."; redesignated former subsections (b) through (e) as present subsections (a) through (d); in present subsection (a), substituted "subsection (b)" for "subsection (c)", substituted "trustee, any trust director, and all other persons whose interests would be affected" for "interested persons", and substituted "the trust" for "a trust" at the end; in present subsection (b), inserted "section" following "Code" in paragraph (b)(1) and, in paragraph (b)(2), substituted "an irrevocable trust" for "a noncharitable irrevocable trust" and substituted "a proceeding to approve such modification or termination under subsection (b) of Code Section 53-12-61" for "order to achieve a binding settlement, if such settlement were to be approved by a court"; in subsection (c), substituted "The trustee, trust director, and any person whose interests would be affected by" for "Any interested person may request the court approve", inserted "may request that the court approve such agreement", substituted "determine whether such agreement violates a material purpose of the trust," for "or", and added ", or make any other similar determination" at the end; in subsection (d), substituted "A nonjudicial settlement" for "An" at the beginning, substituted "all parties to such agreement, including individuals not sui juris, unborn beneficiaries, and persons unknown who are represented by a person who may represent and bind such parties under Code Section 53-12-8," for "the interested persons", and substituted "parties" for "interested persons"; and added subsection (e). The second 2020 amendment, effective July 29, 2020, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted "this Code section" for "this Code" in paragraph (c)(1) (now (b)(1)).   Law reviews.   - For article on the 2018 enactment of this Code section, see 35 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 219 (2018). For annual survey on wills, trusts, guardianships, and fiduciary administration, see 70 Mercer L. Rev. 275 (2018).