The Massey Family’s $10M Settlement: A Win, But What’s Next?
Sonya Massey’s tragic death was yet another painful reminder of the deep racial injustices that persist in America. On July 6, 2024, Sonya, a 36-year-old Black mother of two, was shot and killed in her home in Sangamon County, Illinois, by former sheriff’s deputy Sean Grayson. Sonya had called 911 to report a possible prowler outside her residence.1 When officers arrived, she was holding a pot of boiling water in her kitchen. Body camera footage showed that Sonya obeyed commands to put the pot down, yet Grayson fired his weapon, killing her.
National public outrage followed, with protests demanding justice for Sonya and accountability for Grayson. Civil rights leaders pointed to systemic failures in law enforcement hiring practices. Grayson was later charged with first-degree murder, aggravated battery, and official misconduct; he has pleaded not guilty and remains in jail awaiting trial. Sonya’s family sought justice through the legal system by filing a wrongful death lawsuit against Sangamon County and its police department. The county agreed to a $10 million settlement, one of the largest in recent history for a police brutality case.2
While no amount of money can bring Sonya back, the settlement provides her family with a crucial opportunity to secure their financial future. However, without careful estate planning, this wealth could quickly be diminished by taxes, legal challenges, or financial mismanagement. Now, with this significant financial victory, the Massey family faces a new challenge: preserving their wealth for future generations. This is where estate planning—specifically, irrevocable trusts—becomes essential to safeguarding assets, reducing tax liabilities, and ensuring long-term financial stability.
For Black families, settlements like this represent more than just compensation; they are often one of the few opportunities to build generational wealth. However, systemic barriers and a history of economic disenfranchisement have made it difficult to retain and grow wealth over time. Without strategic planning, legal pitfalls and financial mismanagement can quickly erode these gains. As we observe Black History Month, it’s important to highlight the role of estate planning in closing the racial wealth gap and ensuring that financial victories today create lasting legacies for future generations.
Why Irrevocable Trusts Are Key to Long-Term Wealth Protection
An irrevocable trust is a powerful legal tool designed to protect assets while reducing estate taxes and shielding funds from potential creditors. Unlike revocable trusts, which allow the creator to make changes, irrevocable trusts cannot be easily altered or revoked. This level of permanence provides critical protections for high-value settlements like the one received by the Massey family.
Asset Protection from Lawsuits and Creditors
By For families receiving large settlements, financial predators and legal threats often follow. In Texas and Florida, irrevocable trusts serve as strong shields against lawsuits, creditors, and even divorce settlements. Once assets are placed in the trust, they are no longer considered personal property, making them harder for outside parties to seize.
Under Florida law, when an irrevocable trust includes a spendthrift provision, it restricts both voluntary and involuntary transfers of a beneficiary's interest. This means creditors cannot access the beneficiary's interest in the trust before distribution.3 However, Florida does not recognize self-settled asset protection trusts, meaning creditors can reach any amount distributable to the settlor-beneficiary.4 While spendthrift trusts provide strong protection for beneficiaries, settlors (the persons creating the trust) cannot shield their own assets in Florida through such trusts.
Similarly, in Texas, self-settled asset protection trusts generally do not offer creditor protection, however, amendments to the Texas Trust Code in 2013 introduced limited exceptions. Certain trust structures may provide asset protection, such as third-party appointed trusts, where a settlor becomes a beneficiary through another person's exercise of a power of appointment.5 Additionally, spouses can create trusts for each other’s benefit, potentially shielding assets from creditors if structured correctly.
Establishing a Domestic Asset Protection Trust (DAPT) in a state that authorizes such trusts, like Delaware, Nevada or South Dakota, may offer asset protection benefits.6 However, for Illinois residents like the Massey family, utilizing an out-of-state DAPT presents significant challenges. Like Florida and Texas, Illinois law does not recognize self-settled asset protection trusts, and courts may apply Illinois law to assets located within the state, potentially allowing creditors to access those assets despite the out-of-state DAPT. This legal uncertainty makes it crucial for individuals considering a DAPT to work with an experienced estate planning attorney to evaluate risks, explore alternative asset protection strategies, and ensure their plan is tailored to their specific financial situation and jurisdictional considerations.
Minimizing Estate and Gift Taxes
Tax efficiency is another critical reason for establishing an irrevocable trust. In Texas and Florida, there is no state-level estate tax, but Illinois does impose an estate tax on estates exceeding $4 million.7 Additionally, federal estate taxes still apply, with a current exemption of $13.99 million per individual in 2025.8 Large settlements, like the Massey family’s $10 million award, could be subject to substantial taxation if not properly managed, particularly in Illinois, where any amount above the state exemption threshold is taxed at a progressive rate of up to 16%.9
By transferring assets into an irrevocable trust, the settlor effectively removes those assets from their taxable estate, potentially reducing both federal and Illinois estate tax liability. This strategy is especially important for Illinois residents, as assets exceeding the state exemption could trigger significant estate taxes. Additionally, trusts can be structured to distribute wealth strategically, leveraging the annual federal gift tax exclusion ($19,000 in 2025) and other planning tools to minimize tax burdens for beneficiaries. Proper estate planning with an irrevocable trust can help ensure that your family’s wealth is preserved for future generations while optimizing tax efficiency.
Ensuring Wealth Stays Within the Family
For Black families, estate planning is about more than just legal compliance—it’s a tool for breaking cycles of economic disparity. A 2022 survey by Consumer Reports found that 77% of Black Americans don't have an estate plan in place.10 Historically, Black wealth has often been lost due to inadequate planning, predatory financial practices, and systemic inequities.11 Irrevocable trusts can counteract these challenges by ensuring that wealth is preserved and passed down as intended.
A properly structured trust can:
- Designate beneficiaries across multiple generations;
- Prevent reckless spending by including conditions on distributions;
- Protect assets from external influences, such as lawsuits or financial mismanagement; and
- Fund educational opportunities, homeownership, and business ventures for beneficiaries.
In the Massey family’s case, setting up a trust could allow them to support future generations without jeopardizing the security of their settlement.
Estate Planning in Texas & Florida: Navigating the Legal Nuances
Texas and Florida have favorable laws when it comes to estate planning, but proper structuring is essential. Here’s what families in these states should consider when establishing irrevocable trusts:
- Homestead Protection: Florida offers strong homestead protections, but if a primary residence is placed into an irrevocable trust, those protections could be impacted.
- Trustee Selection: Choosing a trustworthy and competent trustee is essential, as they will manage assets according to the trust’s terms.
- Medicaid Planning: In both states, irrevocable trusts can be used for Medicaid planning, ensuring that elderly family members receive care without depleting family assets.
Protecting Black Wealth Through Thoughtful Estate Planning
The Massey family’s settlement is a hard-earned victory, but wealth preservation requires proactive planning. Irrevocable trusts provide a crucial framework for protecting financial gains, ensuring tax efficiency, and fostering intergenerational wealth transfer. Black families have historically faced barriers to financial security, from discriminatory lending practices to lack of access to estate planning resources. By leveraging legal tools like irrevocable trusts, families can take control of their financial futures and contribute to a legacy of economic empowerment.
If you or your loved ones have received a settlement, inheritance, or other financial windfall, now is the time to act. Protect your assets, minimize tax liabilities, and secure your family’s future with a customized estate plan. Contact Fleurinord Law today to explore your options and build a strategy tailored to your needs.
Your wealth is worth protecting—let’s make sure it lasts for generations.
1Family of Sonya Massey to Receive $10M Settlement, Chicago Crusader (Feb. 17, 2025), https://chicagocrusader.com/family-of-sonya-massey-to-receive-10m-settlement/ (last visited Feb. 17, 2025).
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3
See Fla. Stat. § 736.0502.
4 See Fla. Stat. § 736.0505.
5 See Tex. Property Code § 112.035.
612 De l. C. §§ 3570 et seq.; NRS 166.040; and S.D. Codified Laws § 55-16-1 et seq.
7Ill. Att’y Gen., Instruction & Fact Sheet (2023), https://illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/Page-Attachments/InstructionFactSheet2023.pdf (last visited Feb. 11, 2025).
8 Internal Revenue Service, IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2025 (Oct. 22, 2024), https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-releases-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2025 (last visited Feb. 11, 2025).
9Christy Bieber, J.D., Illinois Estate Tax: How Does Estate Tax In Illinois Work?, Forbes (Oct. 9, 2024), https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/estate-law/illinois-estate-tax/ (last visited Feb. 11, 2025).
10See Althea Chang-Cook, Why People of Color Are Less Likely to Have a Will, Consumer Reports (Aug. 10, 2022), https://www.consumerreports.org/money/estate-planning/why-people-of-color-are-less-likely-to-have-a-will-a6742820557/ (last visited Feb. 12, 2025).
11 See James H. Carr and Michela Zonta, Heirs’ Property in the United States: Its Destabilizing Structure and Contribution to Black Property and Wealth Erosion, Nat’l Ass’n of Real Est. Brokers (Jan. 14, 2025), https://narebblackwealthtour.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Heirs-Property-in-the-United-States_Final_Web.pdf (last visited Feb. 12, 2025).
