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In New Hampshire We Trust?
listen:
 Legislation has passed both the House and Senate and is waiting approval from Governor Lynch that would change New Hampshire's trust laws in an attempt to make the Granite State the premier place to locate both trusts and trust companies from out of state. We'll talk about what the Trust Modernization and Competitiveness Act intends to do, what that means for the regular Joe or Jane and why New Hampshire has been picked to top the list when it comes to trust law. Laura's guests are Peter Hildreth, Commissioner for the State of New Hampshire Banking Department, who worked closely with the legislature on this bill, Susan Leahy, an estate planning and trust attorney at the McLane law firm, and Bill Ardinger, Attorney with Rath, Young and Pignatelli. Ardinger is also their Treasurer and heads up the Tax Practice Group and represented the Trust New Hampshire First group before the legislature in regards to this legislation. We'll also hear from Tom Fahey, State House Bureau Chief for the New Hampshire Union Leader, John Duncan, a Chicago-based attorney who helped draft the initial legislation for the Trust Modernization and Competitiveness Act, and Robert Sitkoff, Professor of Law at New York University School of Law. Sitkoff co-authored a study on the competitiveness of states in terms of trust funds. Web resources:
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What are the specific advantages NH provides trusts, and can an existing trust be transferred here if the current fiduciary has an existing office here, or does the trust itself have to be changed to transfer here.
Carol,
While every family's circumstances are different and every trust is as well and can have language preventing a transfer, it is generally possible to transfer a trust from one state to another by changing the trustee or moving the administration of the trust from a trustee's office in one state to its office in another state.
Merely by doing that, the trust will benefit from some of the new (and old) advantages of New Hampshire law. However, to get the full benefits, the trust should provide that it should be governed by New Hampshire law. If it does not now, it may be possible to amend it, but that will depend on the current governing law and usually whether the probate court will go along (New Hampshire court, once it's moved to a New Hampshire trustee). If the trust is not irrevocable, the grantor/settlor can change it without court approval. Under the new New Hampshire law, if it were governed by New Hampshire law already, it could be amended by the beneficiaries, all together, without requiring court approval.
Hope this helps.
Best,
John P.C. Duncan, Esq.
DUNCAN ASSOCIATES
Attorneys and Counselors, P.C.
180 North LaSalle Street, Suite 3850
Chicago, Illinois 60601
312-580-4949 (general)
312-580-0097 (fax)
jpcd@DuncanCounsel.com
www.DuncanCounsel.com
IRS Circular 230 Disclosur
The Devil is in the details.
1. "Sort of a registered office" could also mean offshore customer service in India or elsewhere. One NH job - a technician monitoring servers and telecommunications equipment. Is there anything in the bill requiring customer service in NH and not off-shore?
2. What are the tax advanatges to the State of NH to host these companies? How much did the General Court "give away" to get these companies to come? The only thing I heard was a mixed prognosis on the number of potential jobs and "meetings at the Mt. Washington Hotel," now owned by out of state interests. They will potentially handle BILLIONS of dollars worth of assets, make Billions in fees, fatten hundreds of attornys, etc. But what does the State of NH get out of having these companies here other than the potential jobs? No new taxes on these companies?
3. N Dakota and Delaware were mentioned as states that have similar laws. They host gorillas like Citi Corp and Capital One for credit card processing. These States hve NO LAWS on usurious interest rates, allowing them to charge 20 -30% in interest rates, huge fees, etc. Frankly, we don't want these guys in NH in my view. This is the 21st Century equivalent of using kids in Textile mills for 12 hour days at 5 cents per hour. I understand they are not coming to do credit card processing, but these same horses do not change their color. They also use "off shore" cust. service.(I wonder if the new law addresses credit card processing hidden somewhere in it??)
4. NH can be a "babe in the woods" for these new laws, written probably by out of state Lawyers and lobbyists. It is clear they are trying to do good oversight by the Banking Dept., but realize that these "out of town" interests hire the smartest people, and are "no match" generally for our well intended public servants and appointed people. The same thing happens at the PUC. Consumers are constantly "outgunned" by the big guys, and no one wants to speak about this.
So I hope you can revisit this issue, or pass on these comments to someone appropriate. If you use the changes in the "medical insurance" laws as one example of "well meaning" but ill advised legislation over perhaps the last 6 years, I think you can see that the "Devil is indeed in the details," and the lobbists and big guys always win, and the consumer always loses.
Let us hope this is not just another example of the "school of unintended consequences" led by well meaning legislators, and elected and appointed officials.