In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, a uniform act is a proposed state law drafted and approved by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), also known as the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL).

Federalism in the United States Federalism in the United States 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 War ...

traditionally limits the legislative authority of the federal government in favor of the states. Specifically, the

Tenth Amendment The Tenth Amendment (Amendment X) to the United States Constitution, a part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791. It expresses the principle of federalism, also known as states' rights, by stating that the federal governmen ...

of the United States Constitution 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. Under the doctrine of '' Erie Railroad Co. v. Tompkins'' (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 The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

Drafting

The NCCUSL is a body of private and government lawyers, state and federal judges, and law professors 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 A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Stat ...

. Among the most influential uniform acts are the Uniform Commercial Code,

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, Uniform Partnership Act, Uniform Limited Liability Company Act, Uniform Transfers to Minors Act,

Uniform Certification of Questions of Law Act A uniform is a variety of clothing worn by members of an organization while participating in that organization's activity. Modern uniforms are most often worn by armed forces and paramilitary organizations such as police, emergency services, se ...

, Uniform Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Act, Uniform Controlled Substances Act, Uniform Arbitration Act, Uniform Environmental Covenants Act, Uniform Conservation Easements Act, Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act, Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, and Uniform Anatomical Gift Act. 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. 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 state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

attorney more familiar with the

".672 So.2d at 823.

References

External links

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

Drafting

See also

References

External links