The 31st Annual American Bar Association Real Property, Trusts and Estates National Conference

On Friday, May 10, Farrell Fritz partner Brian Corrigan presented on “The Perilous Pot Trust:  Exploring the Friction among Families, Fiduciary Duties and Flexibility.”

“Pot” trusts which allow a trustee to sprinkle and spray distributions among a class of beneficiaries from a single fund are often promoted as allowing a trustee to manage money in the same way that the grantor would manage money for the family. However, administering a pot trust is rarely straightforward. The trustee’s ability to manage tricky family dynamics, competing interests, and different objectives is critical. This program covered:

■ Planning considerations, such as defining the class of beneficiaries, creation of a single pot versus a division along family lines, and the timing of a division or termination

■ Administration issues, such as balancing divergent interests, risk tolerance, and investment objectives, communication with beneficiaries (or not), and managing (or ignoring) family dynamics

Other panelists included Laura Weintraub Beck of Cummings & Lockwood LLC and Elisa Shevlin Rizzo of Northern Trust Company. One panelist addressed planning issues, another administration issues and Brian presented on litigation issues.

For more information about this event, please click here.