A Divorce Court Cannot Interfere With the Terms of a Trust Instrument

With a cat that ate the canary grin, estate planning lawyers will tell you that establishing a trust is the closest you can get to being above the law.  Sign the trust instrument and transfer property to the trust, and it will take on a life of its own, like the broom in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice that continues carrying buckets of water even as the sorcerer’s apprentice tries every strategy he knows to get them to stop.  A judge cannot wave a magic wand or strike a gavel and get the trust to bend to his will.  The court is not the boss of the trust; the trust instrument is.  Yes, the courts have jurisdiction to rule on disputes arising from trusts and, in the event of a legal challenge, to determine whether a trust is legally valid, but they don’t get to pick and choose which trusts get to operate according to the terms of their own trust instruments.  If your ex-spouse is the beneficiary of a trust, you cannot just smash the trust, like you would a piggy bank, and make it pay your ex so much money that you no longer have to pay alimony or give your ex a share of the marital property.  If your ex-spouse is living large as the beneficiary of a trust while you struggle to make ends meet with your share of the marital property, contact a Boca Raton divorce lawyer.

Former Wife Requires Alimony Because She Has Limited Access to Trust Assets

In the 1960s, a girl named Janet lost her father in the Bay of Pigs invasion.  As a result, her family received several million dollars as a settlement.  Janet’s mother placed the money in a trust for the benefit of Janet, her siblings, and their descendants; the trust instrument indicated that the trustee must only disburse the money for medical and educational expenses.

Because of this, Janet and her husband lived comfortably during their marriage.  She left the workforce after the birth of their oldest child, and the trust money enabled the couple to pay their children’s tuition first at private schools and then at university.  Janet and her husband filed for divorce after their children had reached adulthood, and the trust became a contentious issue during the divorce.  Because it was only for medical and educational expenses, Janet could not simply use the money for everyday bills; instead, she needed alimony, employment income, or both.  This meant that she was in the same boat as many middle-aged women who must reenter the workforce after a divorce.  Because of the length of the marriage and the parties’ unequal income, the court ordered her ex-husband to pay alimony, but because Janet was young enough and healthy enough to work, the court imputed employment income to her.

Contact Schwartz | White About Divorcing the Beneficiary of a Trust

A South Florida family law attorney can help you if being the beneficiary of a trust does not solve all your problems.  Contact Schwartz | White in Boca Raton, Florida about your case.

Source:

scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5891405935088147217&q=divorce+juan&hl=en&as_sdt=4,10&as_ylo=2011&as_yhi=2021