In the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, a uniform act is a proposed

state law State law refers to the law of a federated state, as distinguished from the law of the federation of which it is a part. It is used when the constituent components of a federation are themselves called states. Federations made up of provinces, cant ...

drafted and approved by the

Uniform Law Commission The Uniform Law Commission (ULC), also called the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, is a non-profit, American unincorporated association. Established in 1892, the ULC aims to provide U.S. states (plus the District of Co ...

(ULC), also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL).

Federalism in the United States In the United States, federalism is the constitutional division of power between U.S. state governments and the federal government of the United States. Since the founding of the country, and particularly with the end of the American Civil W ...

traditionally limits the legislative authority of the

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

in favor of the

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. Specifically, the Tenth Amendment of the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

states that "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people". Therefore, state governments are free to enact unique laws in any area beyond the purview of

federal preemption In the law of the United States, federal preemption is the invalidation of a U.S. state law that conflicts with federal law. The rules of preemption seek to restrict it to only where it is explicit or necessary. In the course of adjudicating ...

. Under the doctrine of ''

Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins ''Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins'', , was a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which the Court held that the United States does not have a general federal common law and that U.S. federal courts must apply state law, not federal law, to la ...

'' (1938), federal courts cannot dictate law to states on pure issues of state common law (i.e., almost all of contract, tort, and family law). However, a variety of legal issues regularly transcend state lines, which makes a predictable and relatively uniform set of laws across states a desirable objective. "Uniform acts" are collaboratively written model laws intended to facilitate the enactment of identical or similar laws by the separate states. Such laws are distinct from

interstate compact In the United States, an interstate compact is a pact or agreement between two or more states, or between states and any foreign sub-national government. Description Most early interstate compacts resolved boundary disputes, but since the earl ...

Drafting

The NCCUSL is a body of private and government

lawyers A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as wel ...

, state and federal judges, and

law professor A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a legal practition ...

s who are typically appointed by state governors. It drafts laws on a variety of subjects and proposes them for enactment by each state, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico. NCCUSL was established in 1892. The NCCUSL, while influential, does not have any direct legislative power itself; uniform acts become laws only to the extent they are enacted into law by state legislatures. Among the most influential uniform acts are the

Uniform Commercial Code The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), first published in 1952, is one of a number of uniform acts that have been established as law with the goal of harmonizing the laws of sales and other commercial transactions across the United States through U ...

Uniform Probate Code The Uniform Probate Code ( commonly abbreviated UPC) is a uniform act drafted by National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) governing inheritance and the decedents' estates in the United States. The primary purposes of ...

Uniform Trust Code The Uniform Trust Code is a model law in the United States created by the Uniform Law Commission, which, although not binding, is influential in the states and used by many as a model law. As of October 2022, 36 states and jurisdictions have enac ...

Uniform Partnership Act The Uniform Partnership Act (UPA), which includes revisions that are sometimes called the Revised Uniform Partnership Act (RUPA), is a uniform act (similar to a model statute), proposed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State La ...

Uniform Limited Liability Company Act The Uniform Limited Liability Company Act (ULLCA), which includes a 2006 revision called the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, is a uniform act (similar to a model statute), proposed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Unifo ...

, Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, Uniform Certification of Questions of Law Act,

Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...

Uniform Controlled Substances Act The Uniform Controlled Substances Act was drafted by the United States Department of Justice in 1969 and promulgated in 1970 by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws while the federal Controlled Substances Act was being dr ...

Uniform Arbitration Act The Uniform Arbitration Act was a United States act from 1955 which specified arbitration in the United States law. It was created by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. The law is currently preempted in almost all conte ...

Uniform Environmental Covenants Act The Uniform Environmental Covenants Act (UECA) is one of the uniform acts drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, a non-profit, American unincorporated association. The act is intended to provide clear rules for pe ...

Uniform Conservation Easements Act A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...

Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act A uniform is a variety of costume worn by members of an organization while usually participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency serv ...

Uniform Interstate Family Support Act The Uniform Interstate Family Support Act (UIFSA) is one of the uniform acts drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in the United States. First developed in 1992 the NCCUSL revised the act in 1996 and again in 200 ...

Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act The Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act (UCCJEA) is a Uniform Act drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws in 1997. The UCCJEA has since been adopted by 49 U.S. States, the District of Columbia, ...

, and

Uniform Anatomical Gift Act The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA), and its periodic revisions, is one of the Uniform Acts drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL), also known as the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), in the United States ...

. In total, there are more than 100 uniform acts, which the NCCUSL periodically updates. Recent examples include the Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, Revised Uniform Arbitration Act, Revised Uniform Partnership Act, Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, and the

Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act The Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act (UPMIFA) is a uniform act that provides guidance on investment decisions and endowment expenditures for nonprofit and charitable organizations. As of 2012 UPMIFA is the law in 49 states, th ...

. A state may adopt a uniform act as written by NCCUSL, or a state may adopt a modified version. Unless such changes are minor, they can seriously obstruct the purpose of uniform acts—legal harmonization. Therefore, persons doing business in different states must ''always'' still check local law to ensure that (1) a uniform act was enacted in the state that governs a particular legal issue, and (2) the local act actually conforms to the text promulgated by NCCUSL. For example, in ''Payne v. Stalley ''(1995), a lawyer relied on the official text of the

and failed to check the relevant

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

statute. As a result, the lawyer missed a filing deadline on a multimillion-dollar claim. The court wrote, " cannot rewrite Florida probate law to accommodate a

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

attorney more familiar with the

U.S. Territory of Palmyra Island

Uniform acts enacted in Hawaii after

statehood A state is a political entity that regulates society and the population within a definite territory. Government is considered to form the fundamental apparatus of contemporary states. A country often has a single state, with various administrat ...

in 1959 do not apply in the federal Territory of Palmyra Island. Palmyra Island was in the former

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territories of the United States, organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from Apri ...

but was excluded from the state, and the territorial statutes remain in force there unless superseded by subsequent federal laws or cases.

Model law

Model act A model act, also called a model law or a piece of model legislation, is a suggested example for a law, drafted centrally to be disseminated and suggested for enactment in multiple independent legislatures. The motivation classically has been the ...

, also called a model law or a piece of model legislation, is a suggested example for a law, drafted centrally to be disseminated and suggested for enactment in multiple independent legislatures.

References

External links

The National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State LawsNCCUSL's List of Uniform Acts
{{Law * Law of the United States

Drafting

U.S. Territory of Palmyra Island

Model law

See also

References

External links