Vermont Disclaimer of Interest (Trustee)

This form is a Vermont Disclaimer of Interest set up for a trustee: a written refusal, under the Uniform Disclaimer of Property Interests Act, 14 V.S.A. chapter 83, of an interest in Vermont real property that would otherwise pass into a named trust. One trustee signs, in a representative capacity, and the acknowledgment certificate recites the trustee's authority and the trust on behalf of which the record was signed.

A refusal that keeps property out of the trust

Vermont's disclaimer statute lets a person to whom property devolves, by whatever means, disclaim it in whole or in part by delivering a written disclaimer (14 V.S.A. 1951). When the intended recipient is a trust, the trustee holds the corresponding power on the trust side: the Vermont Trust Code authorizes a trustee to accept or reject additions to the trust property from a settlor or any other person (14A V.S.A. 816(1)). A disclaimed interest never becomes trust property. Under 14 V.S.A. 1954 the property devolves as if the disclaimant had predeceased the decedent or the determinative event, and the disclaimer relates back for all purposes, so the record shows the interest passing directly to whoever stands next under the will or other governing instrument.

One trustee signature, acknowledged in a representative capacity

The form recites a single disclaimant acting solely as trustee of an identified trust and not individually. Its numbered sections collect the trust's name and date, the origin of the interest (the deceased owner or transferor, the date that starts the statutory clock, the will or other instrument creating the interest, and any probate docket), the town, county, street address, and legal description of the land, and the extent of the disclaimer, whole or partial, that 14 V.S.A. 1953 asks the writing to declare. The notary block is the Vermont statutory short form for an acknowledgment in a representative capacity (26 V.S.A. 5368(2)), with its statutory captions printed under the blanks: name, type of authority, and the party on whose behalf the record was signed. A renunciation by an heir or beneficiary acting personally follows a different pattern, with an individual capacity certificate; this form is not set up for that configuration, and it carries no spousal joinder line, because a disclaimer refuses an interest rather than conveying one.

Nine months, three destinations

The statute gives the disclaimer effect through delivery, not signature alone. Delivery runs in person or by registered or certified mail to the persons 14 V.S.A. 1952 identifies, generally within nine months of the death or of the instrument's effective date. Where estate proceedings have been commenced, a copy is filed in the Probate Division of the Superior Court for that district. And where real property is disclaimed, a copy is recorded in the land records of the town where the property lies; Vermont records land by town and city, not by county, and the statewide fee is 15 dollars per page (32 V.S.A. 1671). The completed example walks a Windsor County scenario end to end: a trustee in Woodstock declining a devise of a house lot to a family revocable trust, signed and acknowledged within the statutory window.

Timing that cannot be repaired later

Two features of chapter 83 reward early attention to the record. First, 14 V.S.A. 1955 bars a disclaimer after an acceptance of the interest or a benefit under it, an assignment, conveyance, encumbrance, pledge, or transfer, a written waiver, or a judicial sale, so the disclaimer precedes any act of ownership over the disclaimed land. Second, the Vermont Supreme Court treats a delivered disclaimer as revocable only in limited circumstances (Carvalho v. Estate of Carvalho, 2009 VT 60), and it binds everyone claiming through or under the disclaimant. A disclaimer intended as a qualified disclaimer for federal tax purposes must specifically so state (14 V.S.A. 1952(c)); the form's special provisions section holds that statement when the record presents it.

The download contains three pieces and nothing else: the blank fillable Disclaimer of Interest formatted for Vermont town land records, a completed example showing the trustee configuration entry by entry, and a plain language guide that walks every section, the signing formalities, and the delivery, filing, and recording steps. The materials are informational and are not legal advice; a Vermont attorney can apply chapter 83 to a particular trust or estate.