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Best Situs for DAPTs in 2021Best Situs for DAPTs in 2021

A ranking of jurisdictions that offer the best asset protection and the UVTA.

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Daniel G. Worthington, Mark Merricand 1 more

December 18, 2020

42 Min Read
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Nineteen states (or 38% of all states) in the United States now have domestic asset protection trust (DAPT) statutes. Some commentators originally thought that DAPT statutes would be limited to smaller populated states, but with Ohio entering the DAPT arena, the DAPT roster gained a populous state that’s also a major banking center. Further, Tennessee, Indiana and Missouri all have DAPT statutes, and they’re the 16th through the 18th most populous states.1 While the history of DAPTs is fairly recent in the United States, beginning with Alaska in 1996,2 it’s anticipated that many more states will adopt DAPT statutes. The two most recent states to adopt DAPT statutes are Indiana and Connecticut. 

DAPT Origins

A DAPT is a powerful tool to hel...

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About the Authors

Daniel G. Worthington

 

Dr. Daniel Glen Worthington is an independent estate planner, consultant, and legal educator with over twenty years of experience in helping meet the estate and financial planning needs of affluent families. Dr. Worthington consults affluent individuals and their families through their law firms, national financial firms and non-profit organizations regarding advanced philanthropic, estate and generation skipping transfer tax issues. He is a lecturer and frequent contributor to national estate planning periodicals and journals, including Trusts and Estates. He is featured in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in American Education.

Dr. Worthington resides in Orlando, Florida and serves as a Senior Wealth Advisor, with his principal office at the Florida Hospital Foundation. He previously served as Assistant Vice President and Trusts and Estates Counsel at the University of Central Florida Foundation. Dr. Worthington is the former Associate Dean of the University of South Dakota School of Law, where he also served as Executive Vice President for the Law School Foundation.

Dr. Worthington is co-founder of the Family Bank Design Center, and is a founding board member of the nationally based South Dakota Trust Company. He also serves on the national editorial boards of both the Planned Giving Design Center and the Endowment Development Corporation. He presently serves the National Committee on Planned Giving (NCPG) as one of the 11 member National Valuation Task Force. He is also serves adjunct faculty member in the Masters of Tax Program at the University of Central Florida.

Mark Merric

Manager

http://www.internationalcounselor.com/

 

Mr. Merric is the manager of the Merric Law Firm, LLC, a manager of the Alliance of International Legal Counselors, LLC, and a manager of China-U.S. Import Export Sourcing Company. He is active in the areas of domestic and offshore asset protection, domestic and international estate planning and international business transactions. Prior to practicing as an attorney, Mark Merric developed a strong business background practicing as a Certified Public Accountant for over twelve years. During this time, he worked for a Final Four Accounting Firm, two local accounting firms, and managed his own accounting firm.

John E. Sullivan

Founder, Sullivan & Sullivan Ltd.

 

John E. Sullivan III is a founding member of the law firm of Sullivan & Sullivan, Ltd.  Mr. Sullivan represents debtors, creditors, and other interested parties in collections, bankruptcy and asset protection matters.  As part of his practice, he advises clients on the use of onshore and offshore trusts and companies as well as the use of U.S. exempt property laws, and is actively involved in structuring and implementing asset protection plans.  He is also involved in estate and probate matters.  Mr. Sullivan frequently speaks on matters related to asset protection and asset recovery, and has numerous publications to his credit, including a law review article cited in the annotations to the Uniform Fraudulent Transfers Act and another law review article cited in the official Commissioner’s Comments to the Uniform Trust Code.