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Bloomberg Tax's Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts Journal has published an article on The New Hampshire Foundation Act, outlining the uses and benefits of New Hampshire Foundations. Please click here to read/download the full article.

This article was previously published in the June 2016 issue of Estate Planning (Thomson Reuters/Tax & Accounting) and in the Q3 2016 issue of Terralex. Authors: STEVEN BURKE, THANDA FIELDS BRASSARD, VON E. SANBORN, AND CONSTANCE E. SHIELDS The State of New Hampshire has some of the most progressive and flexible trust statutes in the United States.  Consequently, it is one of the premier jurisdictions for establishing and administering trusts. Over the last decade, New Hampshire legislators have actively engaged in modernizing New Hampshire’s trust laws so that the state is an attractive safe-haven for both domestic and foreign private wealth. Among other benefits, New Hampshire affords asset protection legislation that is as good as or better than that offered by other U.S. jurisdictions.  New Hampshire law compares favorably to the laws of the few United States jurisdictions that, like New Hampshire, have adopted progressive trust legislation. However, New Hampshire is unique among these states because of its accessible East Coast location, the relatively low cost of trust services in New Hampshire, and its Uniform Trust Code (“UTC”) based code that enables more seamless relocation of other UTC state law trusts to New Hampshire, in contrast to non-UTC states, such as Delaware.  In addition, New Hampshire has a specialized court solely focused on resolving trust disputes. Premium Flexibility in Trust Administration Since 2004, the New Hampshire legislature has continually modernized its trust legislation to make trust administration significantly more efficient and flexible.  New Hampshire trust law now includes favorable provisions permitting, for example non-judicial settlement agreements, trustee decanting, trustee modification, and virtual representation, each of which allows trustees to administer trusts more efficiently and to modify a trust’s operative provisions when circumstances require, without the [...]

New Hampshire Enhances Its Trust Laws by the New Hampshire Trust Council Revised July 28, 2014 In July 2014, New Hampshire enacted a sweeping new trust law. The new law includes: Enhanced protection of settlor intent Lifetime approval of wills and trusts Enforcement of arbitration or other nonjudicial dispute resolution procedures Rejection of the fiduciary exception to the attorney-client privilege Expansion and clarification of the decanting statute Creation of a trustee's power to modify the terms of the trust Procedures for disposing of claims against a settlor or a trust Limitation on the liability of beneficiaries This white paper summarizes those key features of the new law. The Trust Council also has issued a press release announcing the new law's enactment.