Unitrust CLE

The American Bar Association Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law and the ABA Center for Continuing Legal Education are sponsoring a teleconference and live audio webcast on September 11, 2007 entitled Total-Return Unitrusts: Investment Issues, State Developments, and Tax Considerations.

Here is a description of the program:

In the waning years of the twentieth century, most U.S. jurisdictions replaced the prudent-person rule with the prudent-investor rule to govern the investment of trust funds. This change, and certain economic developments, drastically affected the amount currently distributable to the income beneficiaries of trusts, prompting states to consider alternative ways to define “income” for trust purposes. The program will explore the investment, tax, and practical issues surrounding two of these alternatives: the exercise of the power to adjust receipts and disbursements between principal and income under Section 104 of the 1997 Uniform Principal and Income Act and the conversion of an income trust to a total-return unitrust.

The program is a “must listen” for practitioners who work with or advise clients regarding the power to adjust and unitrust statutes.

This teleconference and live audio webcast will cover:

• How the prudent-investor rule differs from the prudent-person rule
• The 1994 Uniform Prudent-Investor Act and the Third Restatement of Trusts
• The development of the power to adjust and the total-return unitrust statutes, the adoption of these statutes throughout the country, and variations among state statutes
• The federal income, GST, and gift tax implications of the exercise of these powers