Nebraska § 30-3815 - (UTC 204) Venue.

§ 30-3815. (UTC 204) Venue.

(UTC 204) (a) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (b) and (c) of this section, venue for a judicial proceeding involving a trust is in the county of this state in which the trust's principal place of administration is or will be located and, if the trust is created by will and the estate is not yet closed, in the county in which the decedent's estate is being administered.

(b) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, if a trust has no trustee, venue for a judicial proceeding for the appointment of a trustee is in a county of this state in which a beneficiary resides, in a county in which any trust property is located, in a county in which the trust's principal place of administration was located before a vacancy in the office of trustee occurred, and if the trust is created by will, in the county in which the decedent's estate was or is being administered.

(c) If a trust is registered in Nebraska, unless the registration has been released, the venue is in the court in which the trust is registered, even if there is no trustee.

(d)(i) Where a proceeding under the Nebraska Uniform Trust Code could be maintained in more than one place in this state, the court in which the proceeding is first commenced has the exclusive right to proceed.

(ii) If proceedings concerning the same trust are commenced in more than one court of this state, the court in which the proceeding was first commenced shall continue to hear the matter, and the other courts shall hold the matter in abeyance until the question of venue is decided, and if the ruling court determines that venue is properly in another court, it shall transfer the proceeding to the other court.

(iii) If a court finds that in the interest of justice a proceeding or a file should be located in another court of this state, the court making the finding may transfer the proceeding or file to the other court.

In a declaratory judgment action concerning the inheritance tax consequences of a girlfriend's rights to the settlor's house that he devised to her, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in transferring venue from the county where the house was located to the county where the trust was registered. In re Hessler Living Trust, 316 Neb. 600, 5 N.W.3d 723 (2024).