Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Michigan joins 15 other states in allowing Domestic Asset Protection Trusts


Governor Snyder has signed into law two bills (effective on March 8, 2017) that now allow a DAPT (Domestic Asset Protection Trust) to be created in Michigan.  Public Act 330 establishes the Qualified Dispositions in Trust Act. Public Act 331, which amends the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, complements Public Act 330. Together, the two laws combine to give Michigan residents another tool for protecting their assets from creditors including tort claimants.
 
If a Michigan DAPT is properly drafted as an irrevocable trust, it can hold a Settlor’s assets, provide the Settlor with accessibility to those assets as a beneficiary and give the Settlor a limited voice on certain decisions, all while protecting the assets from the Settlor’s future creditors. The new law provides that the Settlor’s creditors may not reach assets transferred to the Michigan DAPT after a two year "statute of limitations" starting when the assets are transferred to the trust, and only with very limited exceptions such as a showing of a fraudulent transfer.

The Michigan DAPT is an extremely powerful tool for both estate planning and asset protection.

You can find the statute starting here: 

http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(h1wohgmcx4pmuek3smgzzpjl))/mileg.aspx?page=getobject&objectname=mcl-700-1041-new