Two new uniform acts – the Uniform Assignment for Benefit of Creditors Act and the Uniform Judicial Interview of Children Act – have been approved by the American Bar Association's House of Delegates as "appropriate Acts for those states desiring to adopt the specific substantive law suggested therein." The acts were approved by the ABA's House of Delegates at the ABA's 2026 Midyear Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, February 4-9, 2026. These acts were drafted and approved by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC).
Uniform Assignment for Benefit of Creditors Act
An assignment for benefit of creditors (ABC) is a voluntary, debtor-initiated state law alternative to the bankruptcy process, state receiverships and voluntary workouts. An assignment is a liquidation procedure in which the "assignor" voluntarily assigns all of its assets to an "assignee", a fiduciary, which liquidates the assets and distributes the proceeds to the assignor's creditors. The assignment operates through the creation of a fiduciary relationship with the assignor's creditors as the beneficiaries. The Uniform Assignment for Benefit of Creditors Act is intended to provide greater clarity and consistency to the assignment process. The Act provides for a streamlined assignment process, allowing states to modernize their assignment statutes and codify aspects of common law. It sets out a straightforward process for commencing and completing an assignment and provides a scheme for distributions to the assignor's creditors. It lays out the duties and powers of the assignor and assignee, a process for allowing and disputing claims, and limitations on liability for the assignor and assignee. This Act was approved by the ULC in 2025.
Uniform Judicial Interview of Children Act
Existing laws in many states permit judges in certain private civil proceedings to interview children outside of open court to ascertain the child's views. The laws in most states, however, do not provide a comprehensive framework for conducting judicial interviews of children. The Uniform Judicial Interview of Children Act provides procedures and standards relating to such interviews in proceedings regarding child custody, visitation, parenting time, relocation, other custodial rights, and some other ancillary private matters. The Act balances two compelling, but sometimes competing, interests: protecting a child when that child's views are solicited by a judicial officer, and protecting the due process rights of the parties. Under the Act, when a court is conducting a judicial interview, the court must assess the child's maturity and ability to communicate and express views free of parental influence. This Act includes provisions that ensure that a party's due process rights are respected when a child communicates information that impacts a party's fundamental rights. Judicial interviews under this Act provide the child with an effective opportunity to be heard while protecting the due process rights of other parties. While this Act was drafted as a statute, a state may choose to pursue adoption of the Act as a court rule. This Act was approved by the ULC in 2025.
Information on these acts and all current uniform acts is available at the ULC's website at www.uniformlaws.org.
The Uniform Law Commission, now in its 135th year, provides states with balanced, well-conceived and well-drafted legislation that brings clarity and stability to critical areas of state statutory law. The organization comprises more than 300 lawyers, judges, legislators, and law professors, appointed by the states as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, to research, draft and promote enactment of uniform state laws in areas of state law where uniformity is desirable and practical. Since its inception in 1892, the group has promulgated more than 200 acts, among them such bulwarks of state statutory law as the Uniform Commercial Code, the Uniform Probate Code, and the Uniform Partnership Act.
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Contact: Katie Robinson, ULC Senior Director, Strategy & Communications, krobinson@...
Uniform Law Commission / 111 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 1010, Chicago, IL 60602 / 312-450-6600 www.uniformlaws.org
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Katie Robinson
Senior Director for Strategy and Communications
Chicago IL
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