Trust Update Newsletter

Life is full of “first” experiences to be cherished, and “first” experiences we may wish we had avoided.

New “first” experiences continue to arise as we age, from wonderful experiences such as the birth of a grandchild to dreaded experiences such as aching joints and adjusting to new physical limits. But we don’t have to touch the stove to learn that it’s hot, we can learn that from others’ experiences too.

The IRS has established www.irs.gov/coronavirus to provide information specifically related to the pandemic. News releases, statements, and guidance will be collected there. The initial statement concerned health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans. “Health plans that otherwise qualify as HDHPs will not lose that status merely because they cover the cost of testing for or treatment of COVID-19 before plan deductibles have been met.”

Trusts are not as mysterious as most people seem to think, and technological advances have made trust-based financial planning accessible to more and more families. That’s one reason why discussions of trusts seem to be popping up in the popular press more and more.

“This time it’s different.” That’s a phrase we usually associate with market tops. Just before the internet investment bubble burst, for example, we heard rosy economic forecasts and excellent rationalizations for inflated stock values. As we know, markets will right themselves; bubbles will burst. 

Cosden’s revocable trust became irrevocable at her death in 2010. The trustees of the trust were Yvonne’s only Yvonne child, Christopher, and Yvonne’s personal assistant and friend, Joseph Horgan…

Trust income shall be paid to my wife at least annually, and the trust remainder shall be paid to my children at her death.” That common phrase, familiar to generations of trust lawyers, sounds simple, but it is not. What is “income”?