No, the father does not automatically become the successor custodian. Instead, there are a number of rules in the UTMA that govern succession after a custodian dies.

If there has been a designated successor custodian appointed in an “instrument of designation” by the original custodian or the original transferor of the UTMA account funds, you should honor that designation. In the absence of a designated successor custodian, the UTMA permits a minor who is fourteen or older to designate a successor custodian in an instrument of designation. The minor’s selection of a successor custodian must be an adult member of the minor’s family (as defined in the law), the minor’s guardian, or a trust company.

If the minor fails to designate a successor custodian within sixty days after the mother’s death, a minor’s court-appointed guardian (if there is one) automatically becomes the custodian. Here, it is unlikely that a court has appointed a guardian for the minor, since the minor’s father is still alive, in which case any interested party “may petition the court to designate a successor custodian.”

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

• Illinois Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, 760 ILCS 20/19(b) (This subsection permits the UTMA account transferor or a custodian to designate a successor custodian “by executing and dating an instrument of designation.”)

• Illinois Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, 760 ILCS 20/19(d) (“If a custodian . . . dies . . . and no successor has been effectively designated and the minor has attained the age of 14 years, the minor may designate as successor custodian, [by executing and dating an instrument of designation], an adult member of the minor’s family, a guardian of the minor, or a trust company.”)

• Illinois Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, 760 ILCS 20/19(d) (“If the minor . . . fails to act within 60 days after the [custodian’s death], the guardian of the minor becomes successor custodian.”)

• Illinois Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, 760 ILCS 20/19(d) (“If the minor has no guardian . . . the transferor, the representative of the transferor or of the custodian, an adult member of the minor’s family, or any other interested person may petition the court to designate a successor custodian.”)