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Wraparound bookshelf

Last month’s GoFisch book club pick was a real life soap opera-esque story of estate planning, inheritance, and complex affairs tied to extreme wealth. This month’s read is also about estate planning, but is a fiction story with the quick pacing of a comedy and dialogue of a melodrama. I bet you could fly though this one while lounging poolside or swinging in the backyard hammock!

The Nest book

The Nest, by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney, follows the dysfunctional Plumb Family siblings around New York City as they deal with the unexpected fallout from the eldest Plumb’s major, costly mistake. All the while, the four adult siblings are the beneficiaries to a trust fund they have deemed “the nest” (like a nest egg, so to speak). The “nest,” thanks to sound investing and a generous market, grew larger than the grantor (the Plumb’s father) ever expected. Indeed, he intended for it to be helpful, but not a pot of gold to depend upon.

Leo’s accident (the oldest brother) and the unintended consequences that follow, puts a “crack” in the nest egg all had come to count on. (All four siblings had to wait to have access to their share of the funds until the youngest child turned 40.) Tensions flare, grudges are dredged up, and each of the Plumb siblings will have to reckon with their own poor financial decisions. Indeed, they were all depending on the trust fund in different ways to help bail them out of their own missteps.

This New York Times bestseller masterfully sets an engaging domestic drama filled with familial love and letdowns midst important estate planning elements. The Nest (at least for me) naturally leads its readers to want to learn more about different types of trusts, explore why estate planning is super important, and to whom they’re leaving their money to and how. It also reminds us that it’s super important to honestly discuss estate planning decisions and intentions with your loved ones who are named in the estate plan, so everyone is on the same page.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this book in the comments below! Did you love this book or not so much? Do you have any recommendations of books (fiction or non) related to Gordon Fischer Law Firm’s core services of estate planningnonprofit formation and guidancenonprofit employment law; or donations and complex gifts? Let me know in the comments or contact me by email or phone.

Top of the morning to you! On this happy St. Patrick’s Day, let’s discuss a great charitable giving tool that we are lucky to have—the Charitable Remainder Trust (CRT).

On this holiday, we see lots of depictions of green clover. Like most clovers, this series will come in three parts. Today, we’ll discuss the very basics of trusts. In Part Two (coming soon), we’ll discuss all the ins and outs of CRTs. Part Three will feature a simple but powerful case study to illustrate how beneficial—both to donors and donee charities—a Charitable Remainder Trust can be.

Why Are Charitable Remainder Trusts So Grand?

When it comes to the legal tool we call “trusts,” I can be said to be like Molly Bloom, the heroine in James Joyce’s Ulysses:

“[my] heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will Yes.”

Why though? What is so great about trusts, anyway?

Trusts come in an almost limitless variety, but some of the key benefits include:

  • Saving taxes
  • Avoiding probate
  • Getting assets to your beneficiaries more quickly and easily
  • Maintaining privacy

Trusts also make challenges to your property more difficult. Since they can be so useful, let’s toast trusts with a pint of Guinness. Sláinte!

Sláinte Scottish Toast

Simplest Terms

In simplest terms, a trust is a legal agreement between three parties: grantor, trustee, and beneficiary. Let’s look at each of these three parties.

Grantor

All trusts have a grantor, sometimes called the “settler” or “trustor.” The grantor creates the trust, and also has legal authority to transfer property to the trust.

Trustee

The trustee can be any person or entity that can take title to property on behalf of a beneficiary. The trustee is responsible for managing the property according to the rules outlined in the trust document, and must do so in the best interests of the beneficiary.

Beneficiary

The beneficiary is the person or entity benefiting from the trust. The beneficiary can be one person/entity or multiple parties (which is also true of grantor and trustee). Multiple trust beneficiaries can have different interests in the trust property. Also, trust beneficiaries don’t have to even exist at the time the trust is created.

Trust property

A trust can be either funded or unfunded. By funded, we mean that property has been placed “inside” the trust. This property is sometimes called the “principal,” “corpus,” or the “res.” By unfunded, we mean that no property has yet been placed inside the trust.

Any Asset

Any asset can be held by a trust. Trust property can be real estate, intangible property, personal property—a farm, building, vacation home, money, publicly traded stocks, closed corporation stocks, bonds, collections (such as say, shamrocks or Guinness mugs), business interests, personal possessions (such as an antique hard owned by Nana), vehicles, and so on.
Glasses of Guinness

“Imaginary Container”

Leprechauns, some may argue, are imaginary. Think of a trust as an “imaginary container.” We speak of putting assets “in” a trust, but assets don’t actually change location. It’s not a geographical place that protects, say, your car, but a form of ownership that holds it for your benefit. For example, on your car title, the owner blank would simply read “The Erin G. Bragh Trust.” It’s common to put real estate such as farms, homes, vacation homes and entire accounts like bank, credit union, and brokerage accounts into a trust.

After the trust is funded, the trust property will still be in the same place before the trust was created—your land where it always was, your car in the garage, your money in the bank, your stamp collection in the study, and so on. But the property will have a different owner: “The Erin G. Bragh Trust,” not Erin G. Bragh.

Transfer of Ownership

Putting property in trust transfers it from personal ownership to the trustee, who holds the property for the beneficiary. The trustee has legal title to the trust property. For most purposes, the law treats trust property as if it were now owned by the trustee. For example, trusts have separate taxpayer identification numbers.

But, trustees are not the full owners of trust property. Trustees have a legal duty to use trust property as provided in the trust agreement and permitted by law. The beneficiaries retain what is known as equitable title, the right to benefit from trust property as specified in the trust.

Assets to Beneficiary

The grantor provides terms in a trust agreement as to how the fund’s assets are to be distributed to a beneficiary. The grantor can provide for the distribution of funds in any way that is not against the law or against public policy.

Almost Limitless Possibilities

The types of trust are almost as limitless as rainbows. Trusts can be classified by their purpose, duration, creation method, or by the nature of the trust property. Next time, let’s look at the specifics of a very helpful trust—the Charitable Remainder Trust. Until then, may the road rise up to meet you!