Todd D. Mayo

On September 29, 2014, the New Hampshire Trust Council hosted its members, as well as other industry leaders and notable guests. Those guests included Senators Lou D’Allesandro and Jeb Bradley, Judge Gary Cassavechia, Bank Commissioner Glenn Perlow, Deputy Bank Commissioner Ingrid White, and Director of Trust Supervision Spencer Culp. The reception afforded members and industry leaders an opportunity to talk informally with key policymakers and officials about issues affecting the state’s trust services sector. In addition, some of the notable guests made remarks. Judge Cassavechia, who is the presiding judge of the state’s trust court, summarized the history of the court’s creation, described the trust court’s initial successes, and shared some thoughts about how the trust court may continue to evolve going forward. Commissioner Perlow commented on his department’s efforts to serve better the trust companies that it oversees, including the appointment of the first director of trust supervision and the department’s participation in modernizing the state’s trust company laws. Senators D’Allesandro and Bradley both spoke about the importance of the trust services sector as a growing part of the state’s economy, as well as the bipartisan support that trust and trust company legislation has earned. As the voice of the trust services sector within New Hampshire, the Trust Council continues to play a leading role in enhancing the state’s laws governing trusts and trust companies, as well as promoting the sector. Heading into 2015, the Trust Council is actively involved in the efforts to modernize the state’s banking laws and is leading the effort to prepare another trust bill. The Trust Council also announced the formation of a marketing committee, which aims to increase national awareness of the state’s favorable environment for trusts and [...]

In "Private Trust Companies Are 'En-Vogue' But Not Appropriate For All Wealthy Families," Eliane Chavagnon of the Family Wealth Report interviews Scott Baker and Todd D. Mayo. Mr. Baker is president of Perspecta Trust LLC, which is a founding member of the Trust Council. Mr. Mayo is a principal of Perspecta Trust. In the interview, Messrs. Baker and May discuss the advantages and alternatives to family trust companies. Baker said private trust companies – essentially family-owned enterprises combining attributes of institutional and individual trustees – are best suited to families with large, privately-held businesses or in cases where a family might have a few dozen individual trusts worth hundreds of millions of dollars, for example. Private trust companies offer families a way to develop strong governance practices by facilitating the centralization of management and administration of all activities carried out within the entity. But Baker said his firm is seeing them prescribed to families in cases where the same flexibility and control could be put in place without the associated costs and complexities by setting up new trusts or moving existing trusts to a jurisdiction like New Hampshire. Full text of the interview.

In an article in the April 16, 2014, issue of the New Hampshire Bar News, Dan Wise draws upon Judge Cassavechia's recent comments before the bar association and summarizes the process by which cases will be assigned to the trust court. He also notes Judge Cassavechia's aspirations to resolve each trust court case within 12 to 18 months. The trust court, which formally is the trust docket of the circuit court’s probate division, officially launched on January 1, 2014. For Mr. Wise's article, see "What Cases Belong on Trust Docket?," New Hampshire Bar News, April 16, 2014, p. 38. For more information on the trust court, see "New Hampshire Establishes Dedicated Trust Court" and "Judges Cassavechia and King Discuss the Trust Court."

The New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration has issued a technical information release, in which it explains the application of the interest and dividends (I&D) tax with respect to grantor and nongrantor trusts. In 2012, New Hampshire enacted legislation, eliminating any I&D tax on nongrantor trusts. As the TIR explains, the I&D tax applies to resident grantors and resident beneficiaries. If the grantor of a grantor trust is a New Hampshire resident, then the grantor must report the trust's interest and dividends. If a beneficiary of nongrantor trust is a New Hampshire resident, then the beneficiary must report the amount of interest and dividends that, for federal tax purposes, the beneficiary reports as receiving from the trust. For a copy of the release, see TIR 2014-002 For more on the tax law change, see New Hampshire Enhances Its Trust Tax Laws.

On March 26, 2014, Judge Gary Cassavechia, who is the presiding judge of New Hampshire's trust court, spoke about his vision for the trust court and his experiences since the trust court's creation at the beginning of this year. Joining Judge Cassavechia were Judge David D. King, who is the Deputy Administrative Judge of the Circuit Court, and Beth H. Kissinger, who is the Circuit Court's newly appointed staff attorney. The trust court, which formally is the trust docket of the circuit court's probate division, officially launched on January 1, 2014. To date, eight cases have been assigned to the trust court. The panelist distributed the following materials: Administrative Order 2014-04 Draft Request for Reassignment Model Assignment Order Frequently Asked Questions  

On March 26, 2014, Judge Gary Cassavechia will speak on the state's newly formed trust court. The specialty court focuses on complex trust disputes. Judge Cassavechia will speak before the New Hampshire Bar Association's Elder Law, Estate Planning & Probate Section. For more information, see the Section Meeting Announcement.

In "When to 'Decant' a Trust," Liz Moyer of the Wall Street Journal describes the uses and advantages of decanting. Ms. Moyer illustrates her points with an anecdote from Joe McDonald, who is an attorney with McDonald & Kanyuk, PLLC, and a founder and director of Concord Trust Company, which is a member of the Trust Council. Joe McDonald, an estate lawyer at McDonald & Kanyuk in Concord, N.H., says he recently decanted a trust set up 25 years ago by a software executive for his three children. The original trust held $50,000 of shares in the executive's then-private company. More than a decade after the trust was created, the company had an initial public offering and the value of the trust assets soared to $150 million. The software executive didn't want his children to get a big financial windfall at too young an age. The trustee agreed to decant it to a new trust that wouldn't pay out until the kids were older, Mr. McDonald says. In her article, Ms. Moyer also describes the advantages of directed trusts. She writes, "some states that allow decanting also permit the trustee's role to be divided among multiple people, including someone to manage the investments, one to handle payments to the beneficiaries and one to deal with the trust paperwork." She notes that, in New Hampshire and certain other states, "trustees can move an old trust with one trustee managing all three roles to a new one with split roles where a family member can become the investment manager and keep a tighter rein on the family's investment holdings." Text of the article.

In a post entitled "New Hampshire Creates a 'Trust Docket,'" Texas Tech Law Professor Gerry W. Beyer marks the creation of the trust court. In his post, Professor Beyer writes that "New Hampshire is the most trust friendly state across the nation due to a series of laws that were recently passed."