Proposed Legislation Almost Dropped Nevada in Domestic Asset Protection Trust Rankings

Over the last few months in Nevada, trust advisors wereworking overtime to make sure a bill introduced in mid-March didn’taccidentally mess up the chief advantage in asset protection trusts in Nevada.Historically, the state of Nevada has nurtured the trust industry. However, tosome Bill 378 is the exact opposite. Las Vegas attorney Steve Oshins stated,“When I first read the proposed legislation, initial thought was that it musthave been sponsored by one of our competitor first-tier jurisdictions. It wasso anti-Nevada.”

The bill was originally drafted to protect the interests ofwomen and children, but after multiple revisions, Nevada’s asset protectiondoctrine had been substantially removed. In the past, Nevada did not givecreditors privileges to pierce a trust. This general rule applied to spousesand children as well. So long as the spouse did not have any outstanding childor spousal support, the property in the trust could not be reached. However,the bill now has language opening the trust to claims from spouses andchildren. The bill has been killed in committee, and the representatives whowere able to create an alliance to kill the bill are trying to ensure that thiswill not happen again. 

See Scott Martin, Nevada Trust Community Rallies To Fight Stealth Attack on Asset Protection, The Trust Advisor, Jun. 9, 2013.