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Ryan will discuss a litigator’s perspective to conflicts that estate planners often encounter, including representing clients with mental capacity that may appear impaired, representing clients who want to make a gift to an individual identified in Probate Code section 21380 thereby invoking the presumption that the gift is the product of fraud or undue influence, and representing clients in circumstances where it appears a child or another may have undue influence over them, particularly where there are any questions of favoritism.

The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act became law on December 22, 2017, with most provisions becoming effective on January 1, 2018. Some provisions are permanent, while others expire. Most significant for gift and estate tax purposes is the temporary doubling of several exemptions.

Spendthrift Trusts, Limited Protection for Deadbeat Beneficiaries. - California law has long recognized a settlor’s right to restrict a beneficiary’s use of trust assets. Restraints on alienation, spendthrift clauses, shutdown clauses and wholly discretionary trusts are a few of the tools settlors may use when creating a trust for the benefit of someone likely to have creditor problems.

Portability has been part of federal estate tax law since 2011. The portability election allows a de[..]

Spendthrift Trusts, Limited Protection for Deadbeat Beneficiaries. - California law has long recognized a settlor’s right to restrict a beneficiary’s use of trust assets. Restraints on alienation, spendthrift clauses, shutdown clauses and wholly discretionary trusts are a few of the tools settlors may use when creating a trust for the benefit of someone likely to have creditor problems.

Many trustees employ counsel to provide advice on dealing with and responding to inquiries from beneficiaries. Trustees may believe that their communications with and advice from counsel are confidential and cannot be disclosed to the beneficiaries without their consent. The recent court decision in Fiduciary Trust International of California v. Klein (2017) 9 Cal. App. 5th 1184 is a cautionary tale that warns trustees against assuming that all communications with an attorney are confidential.