Cuomo Trust Likely Protects $1M From Lawsuit Damages

September 24, 2021

Douglas and other attorneys spoke to Law360 Pulse about the enforceability of Cuomo’s $1 million trust in general terms without knowing its specific provisions or exactly when the money was transferred. The creation of the trust was disclosed by Cuomo’s team this May.

Cuomo campaign spokesman Richard Azzopardi declined to comment. He also didn’t answer questions on Tuesday about when the trust was formed, what kind was used, when money was transferred to it, when Cuomo first made plans to create one, or the terms of the trust.

“In general, trusts can be an effective way to shield property from creditors,” Neil V. Carbone, a trusts and estates and estates litigation partner at Farrell Fritz PC, told Law360 by email. “Depending on the trust’s provisions, it can shield property from the creditors of beneficiaries who are not also the settlor of the trust (i.e., the person who transferred his or her assets into the trust). Certain kinds of trusts, often referred to as ‘asset protection trusts,’ can also shield assets from the creditors of the settlor of the trust, even if the settlor is also a beneficiary of the trust.”

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