Domestic Asset Protection Trusts

Beginning in 1997, when Alaska established the first trust to protect the trust assets from the settlor's credits, DAPTs have become a key part of the estate planner's options to help clients protect their assets. DAPTs provide a domestic alternative to offshore asset-protection trusts while encouraging lifetime estate planning among clients who could benefit from transfer tax planning but could be apprehensive about such planning without possible access to the property transferred in the future.

Providing the wealth of information in our volume on the requirements of and limitations on a DAPT, this comprehensive resource on creating trusts that protect assets from creditors. Written by experienced attorneys with extensive experience with DAPTs and other sophisticated estate planning vehicles, the book initially discusses the regulations of the various states that have enacted DAPT legislation, with additional information in related appendices: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Subsequent chapters examine specific issues involving the law of domestic asset protection trusts, including:

Choosing a DAPT state How to defend--or challenge--a DAPT Attachment of federal tax liens to DAPT assets Trust assets and recovery in bankruptcy