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Simply because the instrument governing your trust states that it is irrevocable and cannot be amended does not mean it cannot be modified to serve your family’s needs in a better fashion. Delaware law offers an array of options—administrative amendment, decanting, a nonjudicial settlement agreement, consent modification, trust merger, and judicial modification—to facilitate alteration of an existing trust. Learn more about these remedies to determine if one of them will suit your purpose and achieve lasting improvement in your trust’s operation.

In collaboration with a consortium of interested parties, including Holland & Knight attorneys, the Tennessee legislature has made significant strides toward securing and maintaining the state’s status as one of the leading jurisdictions for trust administration.

Being asked to oversee a family trust is a big deal. It’s a huge responsibility, and one you may not feel prepared to accept. Even if you’ve participated in or been exposed to the world of trusts, you may not have the knowledge or skills to be an effective trustee right now.

For the families that are reevaluating and modifying their fiduciary structures, this reference summary of state laws is provided for consideration when establishing wealth transfer plans and structures, including taxation, trust laws, asset protection, and regulated and unregulated private trust companies. This updated summary includes a broader aggregation of top U.S. trust jurisdictions, covering Wyoming, Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Tennessee.

Beginning with the trustee fiduciary duties to the beneficiaries of a trust, attorney Abbey Magnuson of Foley & Lardner’s Estate & Trusts Practice Group discusses ways to mitigate trustee liability in this 10-minute interview with Brian Lucareli. Abbey also emphasizes the role Family Offices play in the administration of trusts and how they can help lessen trustee liability issues. *Download file for a transcript of the interview. Press play to listen.

There are several powerful market forces driving the growing interest in adopting collective investment trusts (CITs) as plan investment options. Given its flexibility and structures that can easily and quickly implement new investment strategies, it's unsurprising that CIT assets are rapidly increasing. With the growing attention and advantages of CITs, governance practices around CITs are emerging as factors that warrant considerations by plan fiduciaries when making plan investment option decisions.

When an irrevocable trust meets all of its goals, it is reflective of following the three essential checklists that focus on the people, the establishment of the trust, and the running of the trust. The ultimate payoff of a well-run irrevocable trust is that it helps you share your wealth with the people and organizations that are most important to you.