DESCRIPTION
Incentive Trusts: The Promise & Limits of “Do What I Want & I’ll Reward You”
Incentive trusts are a mechanism by which the settlor tries to “incentivize” or seek to control the behavior of beneficiaries. Settlors may want to encourage children or grandchildren to achieve certain educational milestones, maintain a job, get married or have children, or remain free of substance abuse or other risky behaviors. But there are serious limits – limits of what the law will allow a settlor to demand of a beneficiary or a trustee to enforce. There are also practical limits, including how to objectively judge a beneficiary’s behavior when making distributions. Incentive trusts are decidedly a mixed bag. This program will provide you with a real-world guide to drafting incentive trusts, counseling clients about their effectiveness and limits, and understanding what the law will (or won’t) allow.
- Uses and limitations – practical and legal – of incentive trusts
- Types of incentive trusts – and rates of success or failure in achieving settlor goals
- Structuring incentives so they can be objectively measured and administered by trustees
- Drafting distribution provisions
- Counseling clients about downsides of incentive trusts and alternatives
Speaker:
John A. Warnick is an attorney and wealth counselor in Denver, Colorado, with a national estate and trust planning practice. He is widely recognized for his counseling of high net worth families on purposeful giving, the process of not only transferring wealth but creating a lasting legacy. He is also the managing collaborator of the Purposeful Planning Institute and a wealth consultant with Family Wealth and Transition Solutions. Mr. Warnick is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and formerly practiced law with Holme, Roberts & Owen, LLP in Denver.
Disclaimer: All views or opinions expressed by any presenter during the course of this CLE is that of the presenter alone and not an opinion of the Oklahoma Bar Association, the employers, or affiliates of the presenters unless specifically stated. Additionally, any materials, including the legal research, are the product of the individual contributor, not the Oklahoma Bar Association. The Oklahoma Bar Association makes no warranty, express or implied, relating to the accuracy or content of these materials.