The Perpetuities (Amendment) Act, 2024 (the “Act”) has taken effect in the Cayman Islands, providing for the disapplication of the rule against perpetuities for Cayman Islands ordinary trusts. This legislative development...more
Previously, ordinary trusts established under Cayman Islands law were subject to the rule against perpetuities. This means such trusts were required to vest within a perpetuity period of 150 years, at which point the trust...more
In the latest victory for taxpayers, the Tax Court determined that the Treasury failed to follow federal law in enacting a conservation easement perpetuity rule known as the “proceeds regulation.” The majority opinion held...more
There is much to commend in O’Brien, Proposing a Model Antilapse Clause, 48 ACTEC L. J. 257 (2023), particularly its flagging of the doctrinal and practical flaws in Uniform Probate Code §2-707, which would apply the...more
Carole M. Bass and Cara Koss co-authored this article. The authors have long raised as an issue the impact personhood legislation could have on assisted reproduction and, by extension, on estate and trust administration...more
While you were asking ChatGPT to create a 3-course menu for the upcoming book club you’re hosting or to explain the Rule Against Perpetuities, several federal government agencies announced initiatives related to the use of...more
Despite the Rule Against Perpetuities (which basically says a trust can’t go on forever) being repealed in many states, most trusts, as a practical matter, don’t go on forever. In an ideal scenario, the terms of the trust...more
“Déjà vu All Over Again”- The White House last week released the President’s Budget for the Fiscal Year 2023. The Budget is ambitious, but its “investments,” we are told, “are more than paid for with tax reforms focused on...more
David Johnson presented his paper entitled “Fiduciary Litigation Update 2020-2021” to the Texas Bankers Association’s Wealth Management & Trust Conference on September 30, 2021. This presentation covered recent statutory...more
Yowell v. Granite Op. Co. and Apache Corp. v. Peyton Royalties, L.P. is another Rule Against Perpetuities case. Keep reading. The anti-washout protection for your reserved overriding royalty could be at risk....more
The New York State rule against perpetuities is based on the common law rule and provides that “no estate in property shall be valid unless it must vest, if at all, not later than twenty-one years after one or more lives in...more
The Texas Legislatures recently passed a bill that takes effect on September 1, 2021 that extends the rule against perpetuities to 300 years for trusts. The Legislature forwarded the bill (HB 654) to the governor on May 20,...more
Welcome to the fourth edition of our Private Client Bulletin, bringing you the latest private client and trust news and insights from Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, BVI and Asia....more
Disapplying the perpetuity period of a trust can allow deceased settlors to extend their influence down many future generations, almost indefinitely. However, the hand of the deceased settlor can be seen as benign and...more
The IRS has been focused on enforcement efforts targeting conservation easement transactions. And IRS data indicates that more enforcement efforts lie ahead. The Senate Finance Committee, which has been engaged in a...more
In Yowell v. Granite Operating Co., the Texas Supreme Court reviewed the validity of an interest in a mineral lease regarding the rule against perpetuities (“Rule”). No. 18-0841, 2020 Tex. LEXIS 425 (Tex. May 15, 2020)....more
In Yowell v. Granite Operating Co . 557 S.W.3d 794 (Tex. App.—Amarillo 2018, pet. granted), the Texas Court of Appeals for the Seventh District in Amarillo affirmed the trial court’s determination that an “anti-washout”...more
Our first newsletter of the fall summarizes four recent cases of note, including a Massachusetts Appeals Court victory for clients of Goulston & Storrs who successfully defeated an action seeking to remove them as trustees....more
Is an overriding royalty interest lasting beyond the term of a lease-now-in-effect impossible to create? You saw the recent Texas Supreme Court opinion invalidating an anti-washout clause in TRO-X v. Anadarko Petroleum Corp....more
The 2017–18 Georgia legislative session brought numerous changes, including several significant amendments to the Georgia Trust Code and other trust laws. These new changes take effect on July 1, 2018. Below are some of the...more
Recall the Battle of the Bastards: The heroic Lady Sansa and the duplicitous Lord Baelish gallop over the hill to save the foolish Jon Snow from the heinous Ramsey Bolton. In similar fashion, but without the malnourished...more
In Bradley v. Shaffer, family members placed mineral interests they inherited into the trust. No. 11-15-00247-CV, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 11154 (Tex. App.—Eastland November 30, 2017, no pet.). ...more
The Texas Supreme Court recently heard oral argument in three intriguing oil and gas cases. Here’s what you need to know about two of them (We’ll address the third case soon)....more
In Bradley v. Shaffer, Darrell, a beneficiary of a mineral trust established by his grandparents, purported to convey to Bradley his mineral interests that were subject to the trust and any interest held in trust that he...more
In BP America v. Laddex, Ltd. the Texas Supreme Court affirmed that in a lease termination case the trial court cannot limit the jury’s consideration of production in paying quantities to an arbitrary time period. The court...more