We hire trust lawyers with the intention that they will plan for our estate according to our wishes, but trust lawyers are human, too, and they make mistakes. One of the most common mistakes is not planning upstream, meaning that a trust lawyer should plan for any future inheritances, which could be subject to taxes, creditors, and divorce. It is also important that trust lawyers coordinate planners, so if there are several estate planning documents, make sure their goals are parallel. Additionally, trust lawyers should remember that pot trusts, common trusts with beneficiaries thrown together, only work when children are young because when they get older their lives and needs can be vastly different. Lastly, trust lawyers should be aware of decanting statutes and termination dates, countering decanting statutes with provisions and location, and termination dates with flexibility.
See Richard Nalley, Five Killer Mistakes Trust Lawyers Make, Barron’s Penta, June 18, 2016.
Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.
