NEW YORK, Jan. 22, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Moses & Singer LLP attorney Gideon Rothschild, chair of the firm's Trusts & Estates and Asset Protection practice, led a panel discussion at the University of Miami Law School's Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning on January 14, 2015 in Orlando, FL. Heckerling is considered the national gathering place for estate planners, including attorneys, trust officers, accountants, insurance advisors, and wealth management professionals and had a record 3,000 attendees.
The session, entitled "Asset Protection Trusts Under Attack – Views from the Bench and Bar" focused on Domestic Asset Protection Trusts (DAPT). DAPT is an irrevocable trust which allows the settlor of the trust to be a discretionary beneficiary while at the same time protecting the trust assets from the settlor's future creditors.
"DAPT is a great planning tool but only if it is established in the appropriate jurisdiction," Gideon noted. "Depending on the resident's state there are significant differences in the trust's viability. And, if the settlor resides in a non-DAPT state the trust might be attackable by the settlor's creditors." Seventeen years after enactment of the first DAPT laws, the courts have yet to rule in favor of them causing some planners to question their usefulness.
"Financial and legal advisors often turns to DAPTs for the protection afforded from future creditor attacks," Gideon observed. "But it is still uncertain whether they will survive court tests. That's why we always look for supplemental strategies tailored to the client's needs."
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