Considering Quiet Trusts in the Larger Picture of Family GovernanceConsidering Quiet Trusts in the Larger Picture of Family Governance

Although they’re called “quiet” trusts, we hear about these now more than ever. By quiet trusts, I’m referring to trusts that permit keeping the existence of the trust or information about the trust from the beneficiaries. Many times, the statutes permitting quiet trusts also provide that the information can be sent to a surrogate for the beneficiary, and that surrogate will represent and bind the beneficiary. These are also called “silent trusts” or “confidential trusts,” but no matter what you call them, they continue to gain in popularity. I wrote an article in 2016 for Trusts & Estates discussing quiet trusts, in which I mentioned that states such as Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, South Dakota and Wyoming have flexible laws including stat...