Sen. Brian J. Bushweller

This Act will allow a retired Delaware attorney to satisfy a mortgage that the attorney paid off while in practice. Currently only attorneys still in active practice are permitted to satisfy mortgages under Section 2120. This limitation can leave no practicable way to satisfy a mortgage for which the lender fails to record a satisfaction as required by State law if the attorney who paid off the mortgage subsequently retires. This Act will also expand the scope of Section 2120 to include partial releases of a mortgage where a Delaware attorney made a partial payment to release a portion of the mortgaged property.

This Act allows professional licensing boards and commissions administered by the Division of Professional Regulation to recognize military education, training, and experience of all current and former military personnel when reviewing credentials and issuing licenses. This is a change from the current law, which only allows such boards and commissions to do so for active duty military, members of the National Guard, or military reserves assigned to a duty station in Delaware. This change would recognize the military education, training, and experience of individuals who are retired, a veteran, or are active duty individuals assigned to duty stations located outside this State.

This Act requires health insurance policies to cover any medically appropriate drug approved by the FDA for the treatment of stage 4 metastatic cancer without requiring a patient to first prove that the patient failed to respond to a different drug or drugs. This Act is based on a similar bill in Georgia that was inspired by President Jimmy Carter’s recent battle with cancer.

This Act enacts the Recognition of Emergency Medical Services Personnel Licensure Interstate Compact Act ("REPLICA"). With REPLICA, EMS personnel will be able to respond across state borders within the provision of their duties on a short term, intermittent basis on a privilege to practice under approved circumstances. REPLICA promotes compliance with the laws governing EMS personnel practice in each member state, home and remote, and gives states the ability to hold providers accountable from both. EMS personnel covered by REPLICA include those responding to calls for assistance across state lines as part of their duty, covering large scale planned events such as staffing concerts, sporting events, or large scale unplanned events where federal agencies are dispatched to support details, for example, wildland firefighting teams. REPLICA comes into effect on the date on which the compact statute is enacted into law in the 10th member state. Seven states have enacted REPLICA, including Virginia. Benefits of REPLICA include: REPLICA extends the privilege to practice under authorized circumstances and on a limited basis to EMS Providers; REPLICA enables the ready exchange of information between states through a Coordinated Database regarding EMS personnel licensure, adverse actions, and significant investigatory information; REPLICA promotes the highest level of public protection to patients and to EMS personnel in our state’s EMS System. State EMS Offices will now know who is coming into their state; and REPLICA provides a unique opportunity to support members of the military and their spouses with a clear and timely pathway by which to become licensed.

On June 30, 2016, the Delaware State Senate adopted Senate Resolution No. 19 (“S.R. 19”), requesting the Delaware Department of Insurance (the “Department”) to examine the secondary market for life insurance policies and make recommendations for possible legislation. In response to S.R. 19, the Department issued a report in December 2016 recommending the adoption of the Model Viatical Settlements Act adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”). This bill significantly modifies 18 Del. C. Chapter 75, the Delaware Viatical Settlements Act by adopting the NAIC Model. This bill establishes strong consumer protections while protecting policyholder rights. Key provisions include: • The bill significantly expands the class of persons, known as “viators,” who are permitted to enter into viatical settlement contracts. Under present law, viators are defined as individuals with a catastrophic, life threatening or chronic illness or condition. This physical condition restriction is eliminated in this bill (Section 7502(20)). • A limited 5 year settlement prohibition targeting transactions with characteristics of stranger-originated life insurance, such as non-recourse financing, settlement guarantees, or life expectancy valuations. (Section 7511). • Protection of consumer property rights by permitting any-time settlements for cause such as death of spouse, divorce, disability, bankruptcy, loss of job, or chronic or terminal illness (Section 7511), and by requiring full disclosure to the prospective viator (Section 7508). • Expanded consumer right to rescind a settlement contract for up to 60 days (Section 7510(c)). • Settlement reporting requirements to enable regulators to identify and stop stranger-originated life insurance (Section 7506). • Prohibition on advertising representing that insurance is “free” or at “no cost” (Sections 7512(d) and 7513(e)). • Disclosure to insurers of any plan to originate, renew, or finance a policy prior to or within 5 years of policy issue (Section 7509). • A comprehensive definition of “viatical settlement contract” which includes policy transfers regardless of when they occur if they include indicia of stranger-originated life insurance, and transfers which do not fall within a legitimate settlement exception, such as non-recourse financing arrangements, debt forgiveness, or settlement guarantees (Section 7502(15)). • The bill contains fraud prevention and control measures, grants regulatory authority to the Insurance Commissioner to address violations of the Act through the issuance of cease and desist orders, imposition of civil penalties, petitions for injunctive relief, and other enforcement measures. The bill also allows persons injured by violations of the Act to bring civil actions, and allows the Attorney General to seek criminal penalties for “fraudulent viatical acts,” as defined in the Act. The criminal penalties in the current version of the bill are based on the penalties for theft in 11 Del. C. § 841. The bill expressly states that it does not preempt the authority or relieve the duty of the Attorney General or any other law enforcement or regulatory agencies to investigate, examine, and prosecute suspected violations of law. • Section 7518 of the bill provides that nothing in this chapter preempts any provision of the Delaware Securities Act, as amended, including the regulation of securities transactions in viatical settlement investments and the licensing of any person or entity engaged in the sale of securities. Enactment of the NAIC Model will provide regulators with strong and important tools to combat stranger-originated life insurance and the fraudulent behavior it engenders, while continuing to allow honest policyholders to exercise all of their individual and contractual rights.

Currently, claims that arise at the death of the decedent are treated the same as claims that arise after the decedent's death. This bill changes how claims that arise at the time of decedent's death are treated by including them in the same class of claims that arise during the decedent's lifetime. By making this change, claims that arise at the death of the decedent would need to be based upon the conduct of the decedent rather than the conduct of the personal representative who, at the time of decedent's death, has not yet been appointed.

Section 1 of the Act (i) clarifies that the defined term “agents”, as used in chapter 33 of title 12, consistent with common usage of the term, includes all agents defined as such by the general law of agency; (ii) modifies section 3312 to provide that the rules of that section, permitting certain investments and transactions with affiliates, apply in cases where the investment or counterparty to the transaction is affiliated with an agent having discretionary investment authority over a fund either by reason of a delegation to the agent by a fiduciary or by reason of a direct grant of such discretion to the agent; (iii) adds a new section 3313A, patterned upon section 3313, regarding the duties and liability of a trustee in cases where the trust instrument grants another co-trustee exclusive authority to take specified actions on behalf of the trust; (iv) grants trustees the general power to indemnify lenders as customary commercial loan documents sometimes require such indemnities; (v) clarifies the circumstances in which a trustee may merge trusts pursuant to section 3325(29); (vi) corrects typographical errors in sections 3332 and 3333; (vii) clarifies the circumstances in which certain trust beneficiaries may appoint a successor trustee pursuant to section 3336; (viii) makes section 3338 regarding nonjudicial settlement agreements available to charitable trusts and noncharitable purpose trusts subject to certain limitations described therein; (ix) revises section 3341 to address how a trust merger affects a power of appointment exercisable over property of a trust merged with and into another trust; and (x) revises section 3342 to make certain stylistic changes and address the power of an agent or guardian to consent to a trust modification on behalf of a trustor. Section 2 of the Act (i) revises section 3528 to incorporate a provision, appearing in the recently promulgated Uniform Trust Decanting Act, permitting trustees to effect a trust decanting without creating a new separate trust; (ii) modifies the wording but not the substantive terms of section 3541; (iii) clarifies section 3545 regarding the execution requirements for certain trusts; (iv) corrects a typographical error in section 3546; (v) clarifies that a sale or exchange for full and adequate consideration is not a “disposition” for purposes of Delaware’s asset protection trust legislation meaning that (1) a person engaging in such a transaction does not become a settlor of the trust by reason of the sale or exchange, and (2) such a transaction may not be avoided by a creditor; and (vi) adds a new limitations period for actions against a trustee following the trustee’s departure from office. Section 3 of the Act conforms the tax ordering rules of section 61-107, applicable to express unitrusts, with the tax ordering rules of section 61-106, applicable to unitrusts created by means of the conversion procedure described in that statute. Section 4 of the Act revises Delaware’s “tax trap” legislation (chapter 5 of title 25) to create a new method, in addition to the method already available under current law, by which the donee of a power of appointment over trust property may avoid the application of the general default rule of section 501(a) of title 25 providing that interests in property created by the exercise of such power of appointment are deemed to have been created at the time of the exercise of the power. Section 5 of the Act revises section 1636 of title 30 to create a new rule of application, treating the federal taxable income of an electing small business trust as having been set aside for distribution in future taxable years, for purposes of determining the amount of the trust’s section 1636 deduction for federal taxable income set aside for future distribution to nonresident beneficiaries. Section 6 of the Act provides that it shall apply to trusts whenever created.

This bill corrects an unintended consequence of House Bill No. 15 of the 148th General Assembly, signed into law by the Governor on June 24, 2015, by preventing double taxation of premium ceded to a series captive insurance company or protected cell. This bill also precludes premium taxation of series limited liability companies, exclusive of any series thereof, when premium is written only in the series of such of series limited liability companies.

The primary purpose of this bill is to provide for an increase in fees collected with annual hazardous chemical inventory reports submitted by facilities. The bill also makes certain technical corrections. Sections 1 and 2 of the bill add the term “safety data sheets,” where applicable, so that the terminology in Chapter 63, Title 16 of the Delaware Code comports with federal and international standards. Section 3 of this bill would increase the current fee per hazardous chemical from $40 to $60, and per extremely hazardous substance from $80 to $100, starting in 2018. Existing fee amounts are maintained for reports submitted late for back years. The fees were originally established in 1991, and have remained unchanged for 26 years. Fees collected are appropriated to the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC), and are used primarily to support operation of Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCS). Funds are also used to support emergency response vehicles for decontamination. Section 4 of this bill removes an unneeded provision that conflicts with the purpose of the fees as stated within Chapter 63. Section 5 inserts an exemption provision omitted when Chapter 63 was originally established, and provides alignment with related federal reporting requirements.

This legislation revises § 5006 of the Insurance Code to track the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s Model Holding Company Act with respect to the Commissioner’s power to examine insurers and have access to books and records of insurers in order to ensure compliance with the Holding Company Act.