Article: Creditors’ Rights in Property Subject to a Beneficiary’s Right of Withdrawal

S. Alan Medlin (David W. Robinson Professor of Law at the University of South Carolina School of Law) and F. Ladson Boyle (Charles E. Simons, Jr. Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Federal Law at the University of South Carolina School of Law) recently published an article entitled, Creditor’s Rights in Property Subject to a Beneficiary’s Right of Withdrawal, ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Journal, 2022. Provided below is an abstract of the Article:

Estate plans often give trust beneficiaries powers of withdrawal for both tax and nontax reasons. For tax reasons, these powers of withdrawal are typically limited, such as a “five or five power” or a so-called Crummey power commonly pegged to the annual gift tax exclusion amount. A central issue with limited powers of with-drawal is the right of a beneficiary’s creditor to reach trust property subject to the beneficiary’s power to withdraw. Recent uniform statutes, such as the Uniform Trust Code and the Uniform Power of Appointment Act, as well as the Restatement (Third) of Trusts, provide guidance. This Article discusses the typical reasons for creating powers of withdrawal and the historical and recent treatment of the rights of creditors of trust beneficiaries with powers of withdrawal, along with some planning considerations.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/trusts_estates_prof/2022/09/article-creditors-rights-in-property-subject-to-a-beneficiarys-right-of-withdrawal.html