One problem encountered in
setting up long term charitable trusts is the impatience of income and
remainder beneficiaries. All too often,
there is an adversarial relationship among the various beneficiaries of split
interest trusts, each perceiving their needs as more important than the other,
forcing the trustee to weigh competing requests and desires. The nature of a charitable lead or remainder
trust often pits trustees interested in growth against those beneficiaries
attracted to secure or tax-free income.
Just as often, there are trustees who are more concerned about
preserving capital while beneficiaries may be adamant about increasing income
by investing in more diversified growth assets.
One
of the solutions is to spend more time conveying the concept and
responsibilities of the parties involved, especially in testamentary
plans. In a court case described below,
it’s apparent that the decedent didn’t do a very good job briefing his heirs
about what he expected to accomplish with his estate plan. A little prior planning would have avoided a
lot of discord and the expense of taking the estate’s trustees to court. It never hurts to have everyone rowing in
the same direction when these trusts are put to work.
Estate
of Rowe, 712 NYS 2nd 662 (App. Div. 3rd Dept.,
8/10/2000). Mr. Rowe created an 8% CLAT
in 1989 by transferring 30,000 shares of IBM stock worth nearly $3.5 million
designed to pay a fixed dollar annuity to charity for 15 years, and then pass
the remaining balance to his nieces.
Unfortunately, the IBM stock took a hit in the market shortly after the
trust was funded and the trust declined in value, but was still required to pay
out the same annual charitable distribution.
Mr. Rowe’s bank, acting as trustee, decided to hold the stock with the expectation
that it would recover its value. The
trustees counted on “Big Blue”, its history of paying dividends and consistent
growth. The bank argued in court that a
sale in a down market would recognize a loss in value of the trust’s portfolio,
while waiting until the stock recovered before it was sold would protect the
trust better. The nieces argued that a
prudent trustee should have immediately diversified the trust (usually an obligation
in a prudent investor state, but remember that a CLT is a tax-paying trust, so
this has to be done carefully). As a
side note, appreciated stock sold by a CLT would trigger potential capital
gains taxes and with the compression of federal trust tax rates, any ordinary
income in excess of $8,650 is taxed at 39.6%.
The court ruled in favor of the nieces and ordered the bank trustees to refund its commissions and pay $630,249 in damages. The bank appealed, arguing that the trust still had ten years to operate and any “loss of value” was only a hypothetical paper loss and no damages could possibly be assessed until the trust terminated and remaining assets passed to the beneficiaries. The trustees lost; although in hindsight, the IBM stock did rebound and the trust would have done quite well if it had been left alone.
The goal of a non-grantor CLT is to fund charitable gifts and pass assets efficiently to heirs, so selecting solid growth assets is critical to success. However, great strategic planning would give full consideration to any assets transferred into an irrevocable charitable trust, and diversification is critical to surviving market volatility.
Good estate planning should address the potential disputes, map the responsibilities for all the parties in the process and avoid costly conflicts. The secret to success is often good communication.
© 2001 -- Vaughn W. Henry
Gift and Estate Planning Services
Springfield, IL
62703-5314
217.529.1958 -- 217.529.1959 fax
on the web at CRT Planning
