Drafting Irrevocable Silent Trusts: Preserving Privacy of Trust Assets from Spendthrift Beneficiaries

Balancing Fiduciary Duties, Selecting Trust Situs and Type, Protecting Trust Assets, and More

Recording of a 90-minute CLE webinar with Q&A

Conducted on Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Recorded event now available

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Program Materials

This CLE webinar will educate estate planning counsel on structuring irrevocable silent trusts. You will hear from experienced panelists as they discuss types of silent trusts, trust situs and the delicate balance between secrecy and fiduciary duties to the beneficiaries of the trust.

Description

Families with substantial wealth often prefer to maintain discretion over the extent of their wealth from intended beneficiaries of their fortune. Specifically, wealth transfer to younger generations is one of the biggest headaches for estate planning counsel and their clients. Silent trusts are an effective tool to meet the needs of such clients.

Counsel must consider several issues when proposing a silent trust as an estate planning solution to a client's desire for confidentiality. Traditionally, it is the trustee’s duty to provide information to beneficiaries. This creates a daunting balancing act to ensure the trustee meets its responsibilities to protect the integrity of the trust and the beneficiaries’ interests, while still maintaining the client's desired privacy.

Counsel must also know which states do and do not allow silent trusts. While the majority of states allow different forms of silent trusts, counsel must strategically select the appropriate situs and then ensure the trust's structure and documentation complies with the statutory requirements of that situs.

Listen as our experienced panel provides estate planning counsel with best practices in structuring a silent trust. Specifically, they will provide analysis on types of trusts, trust situs, trustee fiduciary duties and solutions to protect the duties owed to the unknowing beneficiaries, modification issues and more.

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Outline

  1. Types of silent trusts
  2. Trust situs
    1. Uniform Trust Code
    2. Types of state silent trust statutes
  3. Trustee fiduciary duties
    1. Trust protectors
  4. Statutes of limitation
  5. Modification and termination
  6. Drafting best practices

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key questions:

  • How can counsel balance the trustee’s duties to the beneficiaries with the client's goal of privacy?
  • What traditional provisions can be structured out of a silent trust?
  • What are the various forms of silent trusts? What factors should be considered in deciding which type of trust is suitable for the client's needs?
  • What is the procedure to modify or terminate a silent trust?

Following the speaker presentations, you'll have an opportunity to get answers to your specific questions during the interactive Q&A.

Faculty

Caitlin LoCascio-King
Caitlin LoCascio-King
Law Office of Caitlin LoCascio-King

Ms. LoCascio-King provides a full-service civil law firm with a concentration on the ever-connecting areas of elder...  |  Read More

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Strafford will process CLE credit for one person on each recording. All formats include program handouts.

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