Publications

September 19, 2023

Modernizing Outdated Delaware Trusts

When establishing a trust, one of the biggest concerns for a family is how the trust instrument, often an irrevocable […]

May 30, 2023

The Trust Instrument: How Trustees Interpret Common Trust Provisions

Many considerations go into the planning and drafting of a trust instrument: For what purpose do you need the trust? […]

Estate Planning Considerations for the Non-Citizen Spouse

When you are planning your estate and your spouse is not a US citizen, there is something very important to […]

Choosing a Fiduciary

It’s well known that a directed trust offers a number of benefits over the traditional model of one fiduciary making […]

April 27, 2021

Trust Loans to Beneficiaries: A Topic of Interest

For estate planning practitioners, loans are a versatile tool which can be utilized to accomplish a broad range of goals. […]

December 21, 2017

Practical Considerations in Drafting Silent Trusts

When a client asks her attorney to draft a trust, they likely will spend most of their time talking about […]

March 15, 2017

New Partnership Audit Rules under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015

Prior to the enactment of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (“BBA”), partnership audits were conducted exclusively under rules set […]

March 3, 2016

Step It Up For Step-Up In Basis

The IRS announced the 2015 annual exclusion amount will rise to $5,430,000. The continued rise of the annual exclusion has […]

January 8, 2016

Feature Article in Trust & Estates December 2015 Issue “Achieving Situs: Why Ongoing Trust Administration is Critical”

We are pleased to announce that Commonwealth Trust Company’s President, Cynthia D.M. Brown, has co-authored a Feature Article in the […]