Consider the following situation. Settlor owns a thousand acres of land in a domestic-asset- protection haven (DAPT state). While he is alive, he transfers in trust the land to a corporate trustee that does business...more
A living trust, also known as an “inter vivos” trust, is a trust that you create while you are still living. Trusts can be understood as a type of contract between the funder of the trust (“trust grantor”), the trustee, and...more
There is much to commend in O’Brien, Proposing a Model Antilapse Clause, 48 ACTEC L. J. 257 (2023), particularly its flagging of the doctrinal and practical flaws in Uniform Probate Code §2-707, which would apply the...more
In International Rescue Committee v. Trustee of the Wylie Street Emergency Fund, 537 P.3d 30 (2023), the Supreme Court of Idaho cited Black’s Law Dictionary (11th ed. 2019) as authority for the proposition that “a person can...more
In Goepp v. Comerica Bank & Trust, N.A., the settlors created inter vivos trusts and their three children were the remainder beneficiaries. No. 03-19-00485-CV, 2021 Tex. App. LEXIS 5461 (Tex. App.—Austin July 9, 2021, no pet....more
In the next webinar in our Estate Planning 101 series, wealth preservation attorney Whitney Patience O’Reilly will discuss the basics of trusts. She will review the differences between revocable and irrevocable trusts and...more
In Yowell v. Granite Operating Co., the Texas Supreme Court reviewed the validity of an interest in a mineral lease regarding the rule against perpetuities (“Rule”). No. 18-0841, 2020 Tex. LEXIS 425 (Tex. May 15, 2020)....more
Deutsche Bank National Trust Company v. Cope, Case No. 2D18-3696 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020). A legal description on a mortgage is not unenforceably ambiguous if it describes two parcels by lot number and a third by parcel ID....more
California's statutory definition of "security" lists by name two types of trust certificates - collateral trust certificates and voting trust certificates. Cal. Corp. Code § 25109. Both of these certificates are also found...more
On Friday, February 15, 2019, Governor Northam approved House Bill 2526 (“HB2526”), which will change the definition of “resident estate or trust” to no longer include an estate or trust being administered in the...more
Dynasty trusts have nothing to do with the popular soap opera from the 1980s, but everything to do with leaving a lasting legacy. Although this type of trust is often created to reduce estate taxes, it can also provide other...more
A Power of Attorney is an important estate planning tool that allows an individual (the “Agent”) to act on behalf of another person (the “Principal”) in financial and other matters without involving the probate court. A new...more
In Gordon v. Gordon, a man and his wife executed a revocable trust agreement and began to fund the trust. No. 11-14-00086-CV, 2016 Tex. App. LEXIS 3357 (Tex. App.—Eastland March 31, 2016, no pet. history). The couple later...more
There have been a number of changes to EU laws recently that have had, or will have, a direct impact on your clients who have connections with France. There are six stand-out issues that are worth careful and immediate...more
The Anglo-American trust is an invention of the judiciary, specifically the English Court of Chancery. The will, a testamentary instrument, on the other hand, is a creature of statute. The testamentary trust is a product of...more
It is common for the accounting clause of an inter vivos trust instrument to contain a provision along the lines of the following: “The written approval of such an account by the person or persons thus entitled to such...more
Section 603 of the Uniform Trust Code provides that while a trust is revocable and the settlor has capacity to revoke the trust, rights of the beneficiaries, such as the equitable remaindermen, are subject to the control of,...more
The constructive general inter vivos power of appointment is the product of the marriage of power of appointment doctrine and creditors’ rights doctrine. It is a topic that is taken up in §4.1.3 of Loring and Rounds: A...more
Section 25019 of the Corporations Code defines “security” broadly by listing a broad range of items that is substantially, but not exactly, the same found in Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933. See “Security”...more