By Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished)

Which jurisdiction do you use to situs your trusts?  Let’s look at the most popular trust jurisdictions.

Alaska

If we went back in time about a decade, the Big Four trust jurisdictions were Alaska, Delaware, Nevada and South Dakota.  But somewhere along the way, Alaska seemed to have lost its way.  I haven’t personally heard of even one non-Alaska resident using Alaska law in many, many years.  I’m sure it’s being done, but, if so, it can’t be a lot of trusts.  Alaska hasn’t materially improved its trust laws in so many years that it seems to have been forgotten.  Its laws are still really good, but with minimal marketing, it no longer appears to be a big player in the jurisdictional competition.

Delaware

Delaware will likely always maintain a huge market share of the billion dollar-plus trust industry.  However, it hasn’t materially improved its laws in many years and has fallen well behind Nevada and South Dakota in the race to have the leading trust laws.  The Delaware marketing machine will always be there and will keep Delaware as one of the top trust jurisdictions.  But those of us who know the difference would never use Delaware for a trust when there are other better options like Nevada and South Dakota.  In my opinion, Delaware is the second most overrated trust jurisdiction, with only Wyoming being more undeservedly hyped.  The difference though is that Delaware really is a top 3 or top 4 trust jurisdiction, but just not #1 as the Delaware Kool-Aid drinkers would want you to believe.

Nevada

Nevada and South Dakota laws dominate the trust industry.  Nevada has the leading domestic asset protection trust laws, followed very closely by South Dakota. South Dakota has the leading dynasty trust laws, followed very closely by Nevada.  Nevada and South Dakota have the leading trust decanting laws.  Nevada and South Dakota are the only two states that have no need to improve their laws.

Ohio

Most people don’t realize how good Ohio’s trust laws are.  Ohio is a legitimate top six trust jurisdiction.  I have consistently ranked Ohio very high in my state rankings charts over the past five or ten years.  But until someone in Ohio takes charge and does the necessary marketing to make sure the whole world knows, Ohio will continue to be an afterthought and barely receive any trusts from non-Ohio residents.

South Dakota

South Dakota and Nevada have the best trust laws in the United States.  See the Nevada explanation above.

Tennessee

I have consistently ranked Tennessee as the #3 or #4 trust jurisdiction for the past five or ten years, right up there with Delaware, but firmly behind Nevada and South Dakota.  However, Tennessee has the same issue as Ohio.  Someone in Tennessee needs to take charge and market its trust laws.  Tennessee deserves a greater market share.

Wyoming

I personally find that the Wyoming estate planners do the best cumulative job of marketing their state’s trust laws.  Wyoming is one of the leading dynasty trust jurisdictions and therefore deserves a good piece of the dynasty trust market share.  But it is a very average domestic asset protection trust and trust decanting jurisdiction, yet quite possibly gets the fourth most of that market share behind the Goliaths which are Delaware, Nevada and South Dakota.  Average shouldn’t be good enough when there are so many better options, but whatever the Wyoming estate planners are putting in the Wyoming trust Kool-Aid appears to be working.

Conclusion

There hasn’t been a lot of recent movement among the leading trust jurisdictions.  This article won’t be popular among some estate planners who believe that their home trust jurisdiction is better than it really is.

This article doesn’t go into specifics, but those specifics are very clear if you look at any of my state rankings charts, even those that haven’t been updated for a few years.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steven J. Oshins, Esq., AEP (Distinguished)  is a member of the Law Offices of Oshins & Associates, LLC in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was inducted into the NAEPC Estate Planning Hall of Fame® in 2011. He was named one of the 24 “Elite Estate Planning Attorneys” and the “Top Estate Planning Attorney of 2018” by The Wealth Advisor and one of the Top 100 Attorneys in Worth. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® which also named him Las Vegas Trusts and Estates/Tax Law Lawyer of the Year in 2012, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022 and 2024. He was named the “Estate Planning GOAT (Greatest Of All-Time)” by an internet poll conducted by the Ultimate Estate Planner in March of 2024. He can be reached at 702-341-6000, ext. 2 or soshins@oshins.com. His law firm’s website is www.oshins.com