About the Firm
Holland & Hart is a full-service law firm with locations in 14 offices. Throughout the Mountain West, from coast to coast and beyond, Holland & Hart provides clients with sharp legal counsel from a vantage like no other. For more information, visit www.hollandhart.com or on Twitter: @HollandHart.
Disclaimer
This publication is designed to provide general information on pertinent legal topics. The statements made are provided for educational purposes only. They do not constitute legal or financial advice nor do they necessarily reflect the views of Holland & Hart LLP or any of its attorneys other than the author. This publication is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship between you and Holland & Hart LLP. Substantive changes in the law subsequent to the date of this publication might affect the analysis or commentary. Similarly, the analysis may differ depending on the jurisdiction or circumstances. If you have specific questions as to the application of the law to your activities, you should seek the advice of your legal counsel.
Privacy Policy
View our privacy policy.
New Uniform Directed Trust Act
/in Administration of Trust, Court Procedures, Fiduciary Discretion, Fiduciary Duties, Fiduciary Litigation, Legislation, Trustee, Will & Trust Constructionby Kelly Dickson Cooper
More and more, I review trust agreements that appoint a trustee, but then appoint other individuals or institutions to perform certain tasks that are normally in the domain of the trustee. They are sometimes referred to as trust protectors, trust advisors, trust directors, special powerholders, investment trustees, or distribution trustees. I most often see these appointments in the areas of investments or distributions.
The trust language that attempts to divide the responsibilities of a trustee among a group is often unclear and give rise to difficult questions as to the scope of each individuals’ responsibilities. There is also the question of whether the trustee is responsible for the actions of the other appointees and if the appointees are fiduciaries. These problems with interpretation are often exacerbated because the laws are not clear about the division of these responsibilities and the liability of each actor. Read more
Beneficiary Designations: They Aren’t Always What They Seem
/in Administration of Estate, Administration of Trust, Legislation, Testamentary Intentby Jody H. Hall, Paralegal
As long as I have been a probate paralegal, and even prior when I worked in financial services, I have spoken about assets with beneficiary designations, including life insurance, retirement accounts and annuities passing outside of probate as if they were a foregone conclusion. Period. End of Story. However, some recent situations have reminded me that the plot of the story may indeed have a surprise ending.
First of all, it bears reminding to our clients, that documents with beneficiary designations do not pass in accordance with the general instructions in the Decedent’s Will. I recently worked with a client that became concerned when we learned that an estranged family member received a portion of an IRA account due to the beneficiary designation. It was very confusing and upsetting to her that this family member received assets in addition to those provided for in the Will.
Secondly, there are situations where the beneficiary designation needs to be reviewed and confirmed, both at the time the designation is made and at the time of the claim. Read more
IRS Rules on Tax Impacts of Trust Modification
/in Administration of Trust, Court Procedures, Fiduciary Litigation, Trusteeby Kelly Dickson Cooper
In my practice, I regularly answer questions regarding the permissibility and advisability of modifying irrevocable trusts. With the enactment of a decanting statute in Colorado in 2016, these types of requests will only increase. One of the major hurdles in modifying irrevocable trusts (and a trap for the unwary) is the potential tax consequences of a modification. We often have to consider estate tax inclusion issues, the possibility of the imposition of gift taxes due to the modification, and the potential loss of generation-skipping transfer tax exemption for a trust. Read more
Fiduciary Duty to Elect Portability
/in Administration of Estate, Court Procedures, Fiduciary Discretion, Fiduciary Duties, Personal Representative, Testamentary Intentby Matthew Skotak
The Oklahoma Supreme Court recently upheld a ruling that has required the Personal Representative of an Estate to take the necessary steps to transfer the deceased spousal unused election (DSUE) to the surviving spouse. The case stems from the rights created by the federal gift and estate tax laws regarding portability. More specifically, beginning in 2010 one spouse was allowed to transfer, at death, his or her unused gift and estate tax exemption to the surviving spouse. Prior to 2010, each spouse had his or her own gift and estate tax exemption, but any portion of that exemption which remained unused by the spouse at death could not be transferred to the surviving spouse.
In In re Estate of Vose, 390 P.3d 238 (Okla. 2017), the Personal Representative of the Estate, one of the children of the decedent by a prior marriage, had refused to make the required election for transfer even though the surviving spouse agreed to pay the cost required to prepare the necessary Federal Estate tax return to do so. Read more
Identity Theft Isn’t Just for the Living
/in Administration of Estate, Taxesby Kimberly K. Rutherford
With income tax season upon us, we are inundated with warnings from the IRS to take extra caution when filing our individual income tax returns with identity theft on the rise. But identity theft also happens to Decedents.
We recently had an estate that filed a final individual income tax return for a Decedent and the estate was expecting a sizeable refund. When the refund check did not arrive, we attempted to track it down with the IRS. All calls to the IRS hit dead-end after dead-end. No agent at the Service would talk with us even though we had the Personal Representative on the phone line with us and all necessary information to validate our identity. Read more
Contracts to Make Wills or Trusts
/in Administration Expenses, Administration of Estate, Administration of Trust, Fiduciary Litigation, Testamentary Intent, Will & Trust Constructionby Carol Warnick
Does the fact that a husband and wife create “mirror-image” wills or trusts mean that they have entered into a contract with their spouse to maintain the dispositive provisions in the document? The law in Colorado is very clear that no contract exists merely because the documents are “mirror-image” or reciprocal.
Pursuant to Colo. Rev. Stat. § 15-11-514, a contract to make a devise may be established only by:
(i) provisions of a will stating material provisions of the contract, (ii) an express reference in a will to a contract and extrinsic evidence proving the terms of the contract, or (iii) a writing signed by the decedent evidencing the contract. The execution of a joint will or mutual wills does not create a presumption of a contract not to revoke the will or wills. (emphasis added).
Read more