John Wick - What You Need To Know about the Corporate Transparency Act
Once Removed Episode 24: Expressing Goals and Intent for the Trust
Once Removed Episode 23: Naming Guardians for Minor Children
Digital Planning Podcast Episode: Planning for Influencers
A Primer On Trusts - A Podcast with Janathan Allen
Once Removed Episode 12: SLATs and the Case of McKim vs. McKim
Once Removed Episode 11: Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts, or SLATs
Once Removed Episode 10: Trustee Removal and Case Update on Leo Kahn Revocable Trust
Nonprofit Basics: Meeting Minutes Best Practices
Nonprofit Basics: Conflict of Interest Policies and Best Practices for Approving Insider Compensation
The Case of the Disappearing Trust
Protecting Your Estate Plan from Challenges: No-Contest Clause Explained
Estate Planning 101: The Five Most Important Clauses for Wills and Trusts
Law Brief: Alexis Gruttadauria and Rich Schoenstein Discuss Why You Need an Estate Plan
THE PAPER CHASE
Investment Management Update – Exit Strategies
Bill on Bankruptcy: US Airways Need a Merger More than AMR
Bill on Bankruptcy: Supreme Court Cases Will Have Wide Impact
Bill on Bankruptcy: Trustees Sleep Easy after High Court Ruling
Bill on Bankruptcy: ResCap Report, a Bargain at $83 Million
Many of my JDSUPRA postings, a full catalog of which may be found below, are about the doctrinal incoherence that is being inflicted on the institution of the trust by legislative intrusions into equity doctrine, intrusions...more
An incident of the trustee’s duty to be generally prudent, to account (or report) to beneficiaries, and to refrain from breaches of the duty of undivided loyalty, such as engaging in unauthorized self-dealing, is the...more
Many of my prior JDSUPRA postings caution that codification of the law of trusts, such as the Uniform Trust Code (UTC), are only partial codifications. See the catalogue of my prior postings below. There is much prevailing...more
Equity’s maxims have many jurisprudential functions, one critical function being to sinew the equitable principles that regulate the law of trusts. A court that is saddled with sorting out the rights, duties and obligations...more
Recently, Michigan added a new section to the trust code, making it possible for trust settlors to create “quiet” or “silent” trusts in Michigan. As the name implies, in a silent trust arrangement, a trustee is not required...more
The September 2024 Section 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 4.8%, a decrease from the August 2024 rate of 5.2%. The September applicable federal rate (“AFR”) for use...more
Section 17.3, comment f, of the Restatement (Third) of Property (Wills and Other Donative Transfers) explains the difference between a collateral power of appointment and a power of appointment in gross: “In traditional...more
Section 415 of the Uniform Trust Code provides that even in the absence of ambiguity the court may reform the terms of a trust to conform the terms to the settlor’s intention if it is proved by clear and convincing evidence...more
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee approved Public Chapter No. 695 on April 11, 2024, as passed by the Tennessee General Assembly (Trust Bill). The new law became effective on July 1, 2024, and it made several important changes to...more
The federal Corporate Transparency Act (CTA), effective January 1, 2024, whose constitutionality is currently being tested in the courts, follows in the footsteps of the IRC in that it creates a limited statutory exception...more
If the trustee in breach of trust conveys the trust property to a third party to the trust relationship, would the transferee be a necessary party to any action for breach of trust that the trust beneficiaries might bring?...more
Creating a domestic asset protection trust (DAPT) that both has multijurisdictional contacts and is nonvoidable in whole or in part is easier said than done. There are the state conflict-of-laws issues, a few of which I...more
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
In a Sept. 11, 2023 JDSUPRA posting I questioned the doctrinal and practical utility of partial legislative codifications of equity’s principles-based jurisprudence, such as the UTC, the very institution of the trust being a...more
A longstanding and critical incident of a trustee’s fiduciary duty of loyalty is the duty to vigorously defend the trust’s very existence, as well as all its material provisions (hereinafter “existence defense”), unless it...more
When considering how to make a substantial gift to a charitable corporation, one should not rule out making it indirectly via assignment to an independent trustee. First, an independent trusteeship facilitates proper asset...more
The Tennessee legislature continues to take action to maintain Tennessee's status as one of the foremost states in which to situs trusts. The legislature's most recent enhancements to Tennessee's Uniform Trust Code (TN UTC)...more
David F. Johnson will address the complex issues surrounding a trustee’s duty to disclose and will compare Texas law and the Uniform Trust Code on this topic. He will address disclosure requirements under trust documents and...more
David F. Johnson presented to the Tarrant County Probate Bar Association on May 4, 2023, on the topic of “Trust Issues in Divorce Proceedings.” This program discussed some of the many trust issues that arise in divorce...more
The Uniform Trust Code and the Restatement (Third) of Trusts both follow the presumption that trust beneficiaries should be generally kept aware of the existence of the trust, their status as beneficiaries, and their right to...more
This isn’t really a trick question, though it can seem that way - how do you create a trust? In Massachusetts, you can create a trust by transferring your assets to someone else as trustee, by making a will with trust...more
The Massachusetts Uniform Trust Code (MUTC) is still new enough that any higher court decision interpreting it feels like a special day for fiduciary litigators. Well, ’tis the season!...more
Trust beneficiaries often request a corporate trustee to prepare a statutory accounting. The Texas Trust Code in Section 113.151 provides that a beneficiary may request a written statement of accounts....more
When does a trust’s situs, also known as principal place of administration, move? What is enough to trigger a move? Should a trustee be concerned about their trust’s situs? These are all great questions that often get...more
We are seeing an increasing number of clients that want to situs trusts in Wyoming due to its favorable trust law and lack of state income tax, although over the last several months clients have also sought the open spaces of...more