JURISDICTION OF JUVENILE COURT (SECTION 211.012, 211.438, AND 211.439)

This act clarifies that, for purposes of the law and jurisdiction of the juvenile court, a person shall not be considered a child if at the time of the alleged violation such person was considered an adult according to the then existing law.

This provision is identical to a provision in HCS/SS/SCS/SBs 53 & 60 (2021) and HCS/SCS/SB 91 (2021).

DIVISION OF YOUTH SERVICES (SECTION 211.181)

No court shall require a child to remain in the custody of the Division of Youth Services for a period which exceeds the child's nineteenth birth date except upon a petition filed by the Division of Youth Services.

This provision is identical to a provision in HCS/SS/SCS/SBs 53 & 60 (2021) and HCS/SCS/SB 91 (2021).

JUVENILE JUSTICE PRESERVATION FUND (SECTION 211.435)

This act also modifies provisions relating to the "Juvenile Justice Preservation Fund." This act moves such fund from the state treasury into each county's circuit court for the purpose of implementing and maintaining the expansion of juvenile court jurisdiction to 18 years of age. The funds shall consist of surcharges collected for traffic violations and other donations or appropriations.

Funds currently held by the state treasurer in the Juvenile Justice Preservation Fund shall be payable and revert to the circuit court's fund in the county of origination. Expenditures from the county circuit court fund shall be made at the discretion of the juvenile office for the circuit court and shall be used for the expansion of the juvenile court's jurisdiction. Funds shall not be expended for capital improvements or to replace or reduce the responsibilities of the county or state to provide funding for juvenile treatment services.

This provision is identical to a provision in HCS/SS/SCS/SBs 53 & 60 (2021) and HCS/SCS/SB 91 (2021).

BUSINESS COVENANTS (SECTIONS 431.201 AND 431.202)

This act modifies provisions relating to covenants between business entities and employees, distributors, dealers, franchisees, lessees, licensees, or owners or sellers of assets or interests in a business entity.

Currently, a covenant regarding solicitation, hiring, or otherwise interfering with an employee is enforceable if certain criteria are met. This act modifies that provision and requires that a covenant between an employer and an employee promising not to solicit, recruit, hire, induce, persuade, encourage, or otherwise interfere with an employee is enforceable if the covenant is between employers and employees, excluding secretarial or clerical employees with no interest in the business entity, and the post-employment or post-business duration is no more than two years. Additionally, a covenant regarding interference with an employee shall be conclusively presumed to be reasonable if its post-employment or post-business duration is no more than two years, instead of one year.

This act provides that a reasonable covenant in writing promising not to solicit, induce, persuade, encourage, accept business from, or otherwise interfere with, directly or indirectly, a business entity's customers shall be enforceable if the following requirements are met:

(1) The covenant is limited to customers with whom the employee dealt, as defined in the act; and

(2) The covenant between a business entity and an employee is not associated with the sale or ownership of assets or any interest in a business entity and does not continue for more than two years following the end of employment;

(3) The covenant between a business entity and a distributor, dealer, franchisee, lessee of real or personal property, or licensee of a trademark, trade dress, or service mark is not associated with the sale or ownership of assets or any interest in a business entity and does not continue for more than three years following the end of the business relationship; or

(4) The covenant between a business entity and the owner or seller of assets or interest in a business entity does not continue for more than the longer of either five years or the period during which payments are made as measured from the date of termination, closing, or disposition.

A breach or threatened breach of a covenant between a business entity and the owner or seller of assets or interest in a business entity shall create a presumption of irreparable harm in the absence of injunctive relief without the necessity of establishing evidence of any actual or threatened damages or harm. Additionally, a provision in such a covenant in which an employee promises to provide notice to a business entity of the employee's intent to terminate, sell, or otherwise dispose of an asset or interest is presumed to be enforceable if the notice period is no longer than 30 days and the business entity agrees to pay the employee's regular rate of pay and regular benefits during the notice period.

The reasonableness of a covenant shall be determined by the facts and circumstances pertaining to it. Furthermore, this act provides that a covenant shall be presumed to be reasonable if its post-employment, post-termination, post-business relationship, post-sale, or post-disposition duration does not exceed the duration requirements.

No express reference to geographical area is required for the enforceability of a covenant. Additionally, a covenant that is overbroad, overlong, or otherwise unreasonable to protect legitimate business interests of the person seeking enforcement shall be modified by a court, which shall only grant relief reasonably necessary to protect those interests.

These provisions are identical to SB 181 (2021), HB 1008 (2021), SB 922 (2020) and HB 2684 (2020).

SETTLEMENTS INVOLVING MINORS (SECTIONS 436.700 AND 507.184)

This act creates the "Missouri Statutory Thresholds for Settlements Involving Minors Act" which allows persons having legal custody over a minor to enter into settlement agreements with a person or entity against whom the minor has a claim if following requirements are met:

(1) A conservator or guardian ad litem has not been appointed for the minor;

(2) The total amount of the claim, including reimbursement of medical expenses, liens, reasonable attorneys' fees and costs, is $35,000 or less if paid in cash, by draft, or if paid by the purchase of a premium for an annuity;

(3) The moneys paid pursuant to the settlement follow the requirements of this act; and

(4) The person entering into the settlement agreement completes an affidavit or statement that attests that the person has made a reasonable inquiry and that the minor will be fully compensated by the settlement or that there is no practical way to obtain additional amounts from the person or entity.

The limit of $35,000 for the total amount of the claim shall be increased by inflation every five years beginning January 1, 2027. The affidavit or statement shall be maintained by the attorney representing the person entering into the settlement agreement on behalf of the minor for at least six years in accordance with the Missouri Supreme Court Rules of Professional Conduct.

As set forth in the act, the payments from the settlement agreement shall be deposited into a uniform transfer to minors account for the sole benefit of the minor, shall be paid by direct payment to a provider of an annuity with the minor as the sole beneficiary, or shall be paid into a trust account or trust subaccount established by the Children's Division of the Department of Social Services for those minors in the custody of the state. The moneys in the minor's saving account, trust account, or trust subaccount may not be withdrawn, removed, paid out, or transferred to any person, including the minor, unless pursuant to court order, the minor attains 18 years of age, at the direction of a duly appointed conservator, at the direction of the custodian for the uniform transfer to minors account, or upon the minor's death.

The signature of the person entering into the settlement agreement on behalf of the minor is binding on the minor without the need for further court approval or review and has the same force and effect as if the minor were a competent adult entering into the agreement.

This act provides that a person, including any insurer of a person, acting in good faith in entering into a settlement agreement on behalf of a minor pursuant to this act shall not be liable to the minor for the moneys paid in the settlement or for any other claims arising out of the settlement of the claim. Additionally, any person or entity against whom a minor has a claim that settles the claim with the minor in good faith pursuant to this act shall not be liable to the minor for any claims arising from the settlement of the claim.

The provision of current law regarding settlements contracted by a next friend, guardian ad litem or guardian or conservator shall not be construed as prohibiting settlements made pursuant to this act or as requiring court approval of settlements made pursuant to this act.

This provision is identical to SCS/SB 295 (2021) and a provision in SCS/HB 604 (2021).

INTERPRETATION OF FAMILIAL RELATIONSHIPS IN TRUSTS (SECTION 456.1-114)

For the purposes of interpreting a term of familial relationship in a trust, a child conceived or born during a marriage is presumed to be a child of the married persons unless a judicial proceeding is commenced before the death of the presumed parent and it is determined that the presumed parent is not the parent of the child.

Additionally, this act provides that a child who is not conceived or born in a marriage is presumed to not be a child of a person who did not give birth to such child unless a judicial proceeding determines such parentage or the person openly recognized the child as his or her child and such person has not refused to voluntarily support the child. A trustee shall not be liable to any person for exercising discretion in regards to the sufficiency of recognition and support of a child unless the trustee acted in bad faith or with a reckless indifference to the purposes of the trust or the interests of the beneficiaries. The rights afforded to the child shall not be retroactive, but shall apply from the time the relationship is established.

Under this act, a child adopted prior to 18 years of age is a child of the adopting parent and not of the natural parents, except that adoption by a spouse of a natural parent shall have no effect on the relationship between the child and the natural parent. Additionally, the terms of a trust shall prevail over this provision of the act.

This provision is identical to a provision in SB 338 (2021), HB 758 (2021), and the perfected HB 1008 (2021).

TRUST DECANTING (SECTION 456.4-419)

Under this act, a trustee, other than a settlor, who has discretionary power to make a distribution, may exercise such power by distributing all or part of the income or principal to a trustee of a second trust. The power may be exercised by distributing property from the first trust to one or more second trusts or by modifying the first trust instrument to become one or more second trusts.

This act provides requirements regarding permissible distributees of second trusts, including that at least one permissible distributee of the first trust shall be a permissible distributee of the second trust immediately after the distribution and that only a beneficiary of the first trust may be a beneficiary of the second trust. In addition, this act modifies the use of powers of appointment in the second trust. The second trust instrument may retain, modify, or omit a power of appointment granted by the first trust and the second trust instrument may create a general or nongeneral power of appointment if the powerholder is a beneficiary of the second trust. Furthermore, this act provides that a special-needs fiduciary may exercise the authority to make a distribution to a second trust if the second trust is a special-needs trust that has a beneficiary with a disability and if the fiduciary determines that the exercise of authority will further the purposes of the trust.

The act repeals the current provisions regarding a second trust's beneficiaries, the limitations on a trustee's authority to make distributions from the first trust in certain circumstances, trust contributions treated as gifts, and the exercise of the discretionary power to reduce the income interest of any income beneficiary in certain trusts. The act provides that if the exercise of the distribution authority is limited by an ascertainable standard, under which the trustee exercising such authority is a permissible distributee of the first trust, then the discretionary power shall be subject to at least the same standard as the first trust and the trust instrument for the second trust shall not modify powers of appointment nor grant a power of appointment to a trustee who did not exist in the first trust.

A second trust shall not include or omit terms that would prevent the first trust property from qualifying as a marital deduction, as a charitable deduction, for exclusion from the gift tax, as a qualified subchapter-S trust, or for a zero inclusion ratio for purposes of the generation skipping transfer tax under the Internal Revenue Code. Additionally, if the first trust property includes shares of a S-corporation's stock and the first trust is a permitted shareholder, then the trustee of the first trust may exercise the authority with respect to the S-corporation stock if the second trust is a permitted shareholder.

Currently, a notification must be made at least sixty days prior to making a discretionary distribution to the permissible distributees of the second trust or if none then to the qualified beneficiaries of the second trust. This act requires that the notification be made to the permissible distributees of the first trust and to the permissible distributees of the second trust.

The second trust may have a duration that is the same as the first trust. However, the property of the second trust that is attributable to the first trust is subject to the rules governing maximum perpetuity, accumulation, or suspension of the power of alienation which apply to the property of the first trust. The creation of a general power of appointment in the second trust instrument shall not be precluded by this provision.

In the event that part of the second trust instrument does not comply with this act, the exercise of the discretionary power is effective and the provisions of the second trust instrument that are not permitted in or are required to be in the trust instrument are deemed void or included to the extent necessary to comply.

This provision is identical to a provision in SB 338 (2021),

HB 758 (2021), HB 929 (2021), the perfected HB 1008 (2021), HB 2533 (2020), SB 418 (2019), and HB 1041 (2019).

COMPENSATION OF COURT REPORTERS (SECTION 485.060)

This act provides that the annual salary of each court reporter for a circuit judge shall be adjusted by a percentage based on each court reporter's cumulative years of service with the circuit courts.

This provision is similar to HB 707 (2021), a provision in HCS/SS/SCS/SB 594 (2020), in HCS/SCS/SB 662 (2020), in HCS/SCS/SB 725 (2020), in HCS/HB 1819 (2020), SB 908 (2020), and HB 2191 (2020).

KATIE O'BRIEN