Have you been named as beneficiary of a family trust? Does it feel overwhelming? Are you looking for some practical information to get up to speed fast? Here's an essential guidebook for you. Written by an expert who has more than 25 years' experience working with families to create, administer, and benefit from trusts, this primer is a "go to" resource for anyone who has been named as a beneficiary. The text incorporates a worksheet throughout that can help you organize information, thoughts, and questions, to set you up for a positive, productive experience. Key concepts are distilled to their essential elements. The tone is encouraging and easy to read while maintaining a sense of the seriousness, and importance, of the beneficiary's role. Also helpful for anyone setting up a trust as part of an estate plan or for a trustee of a family trust.
An insightful and practical guide to family trusts Family Trusts is a step-by-step guide for anyone involved in family trusts: trust creators, trustees, beneficiaries, and advisors. It will help families create and administer a culture that recognizes trusts as a gift of love. Marrying the practical and emotional aspects of family wealth, this book provides a hands-on primer that focuses on fostering positive relationships, and structuring the trust appropriately for the situation and the people involved. It tackles difficult topics with frank and honest discussion, from the first beneficiary meeting to working with addictions, and more. Written by a team of experts in family wealth, this information is becoming increasingly crucial to the successful execution of a trust; you'll learn what type of person makes the best trustee, how to be an excellent beneficiary, and the technical aspects that help you build a better trust from the very beginning. There's been a staggering increase in trustee/beneficiary litigation and hostility, but that doesn't mean it's inevitable. Plenty of trusts are running smoothly, with positive experiences on all sides. This book shows you how to set up your trust to succeed from the start, with step-by-step guidance and expert insight. Express clear and thoughtful intent for the trust Create a healthy and supportive culture Select the right trustee, trust protector, and trust advisor Take the time to prepare before initially meeting the beneficiary Conduct a productive first meeting to set a tone for the relationship Historically, there has been little consideration given to the culture of trusts, and this oversight may be a key driver of the behavior that's becoming more prevalent. Family Trusts explores the nature of these relationships, and shows you how to build a trust that retains the nature and spirit with which it was intended.
In the years of expanding state authority following the Black Death, English common law permitted the leasing of parishes by their rectors and vicars, who then pursued interests elsewhere and left the parish in the control of lay lessees. But a series of statutes enacted by Henry VIII between 1529 and 1540 effectively reduced such clerical absenteeism. Robert Palmer examines this transformation of the English parish and argues that it was an important part of the English Reformation. Palmer analyzes an extensive set of data drawn from common law records to reveal a vigorous and effective effort by the laity to enforce the new statutes. Motivated by both economic and traditional ideals, the litigants made the commercial activities of leaseholding and buying for resale and profit the exclusive domain of the laity and acquired the power to regulate the clergy. According to Palmer, these parish-level reformations presaged and complemented other initiatives of the crown that have long been considered central to the reign of Henry VIII.
TrustWorthy is a collection of 25 personal -- and positive -- stories told by beneficiaries, trustees and their advisors. The book speaks to the human side of personal trusts, leaving the technical side (legal, tax, investments) to others. The book's objective? To begin to transform the most complex, conflicted and difficult relationship known under the law -- the "arranged marriage" between beneficiary and trustee -- by supplanting prevailing negative assumptions and behaviors. Readers are given a peek at "what other families do." Storytellers tackle big questions, for example: How can trusts be used to promote beneficiaries' maturity? What should I look for in a trustee? How can beneficiaries successfully integrate inheritances into their lives? How can trustees, prudently and within legal and other constraints, administer trusts in a way that enhances beneficiaries' lives? How can the widespread dissatisfaction, and all the talk of "problem" beneficiaries and "problem" trustees, give way to more creative and productive relationships? Hartley Goldstone, J.D. and MBA, delights in being surprised by profound questions, having served families for 30 years at attorney, trustee and planner. Today, he is an accomplished speaker, educator and coach for trustees, inheritors in all stages of life, their families and advisors. Kathy Wiseman, MBA and faculty at the Bowen Center for the Study of Family systems, assists people with the legacy potential of their family business, foundation and wealth. She educates families and their professionals about the human assets that underlie success for any trust/estate. Here's what others say about TrustWorthy: You are about to go on the positive journey that is the ongoing effort of Hartley and Kathy to reengineer the beneficiary/trustee relationship toward its higher functioning... -From the Foreword to TrustWorthy, by James E. Hughes Jr., author of The Cycle of the Gift and Family Wealth This is the one book to read this year if you are creating your estate plan, if you are a trustee or a beneficiary, or if you advise families of wealth. You will not think about trusts in the same way again. -Charles W. Collier, Former Senior Philanthropic Advisor at Harvard University and author of Wealth in Families TrustWorthy should be required reading not only for trustees and beneficiaries, but also for grantors and trusted family advisors. Hartley and Kathy's decision to use storytelling to reveal the vast potential in the trustee and beneficiary relationship was a stroke of genius. The stories in this book are inspiring and do a great job of demonstrating how trusts can be used not only to transfer financial wealth, but also to transfer legacy from one generation to the next. -Sara Hamilton, CEO and Founder, Family Office Exchange
