2014 Asset Protection Developments

2014 was a year of many important developments in asset protection planning. Here are a few of the developments from the past year:

• The Qualified Disposition in Trust Act signed by Mississippi’s Governor on July 1, 2014 created a heavier burden of proof for creditors and stronger creditor protection for self-settled trusts.
• Tennessee passed legislation this year allowing tenancy by entirety trusts, which allows creditor protection even after the non-debtor spouse dies.
• The decision in Clark v. Rameker removed creditor protection for inherited IRAs.
• A Connecticut Superior Court ruled the use of decanting to modify a trust as invalid if the beneficiaries have withdrawal rights from the settlor.
• The Wyly brothers’ case illustrated that beneficiaries exercising too much control or influence over trustees can create serious problems under the substance-over-form doctrine used by the court.

See Gideon Rothschild, Another Notable Year in Asset Protection, Wealth Management, Dec. 22, 2014.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention