Nov 1, 2005 12:00 PM, By Alexander A. Bove, Jr., partner, Bove & Langa, P.C., Boston

By: By Alexander A. Bove, Jr., partner, Bove & Langa, P.C., Boston

Although trusts are, according to many theories, hundreds of years old, their provisions have changed more in the past 30 years than in the previous 300 years. The catalysts are not only increasingly complex laws, but also the fact that trusts are more multi-jurisdictional. Evidence, the recent rise of the trust protector — a term virtually unheard of before the widespread use of international trusts. The problem is that the estate-planning bar has adopted the use of the trust protector a bit too hastily, without adequate research and circumspection. We need to focus on the true role of the trust protector and avoid some of the more serious, but all too common, problems in drafting and practice. And practitioners should consider using what we at my firm call a “Springing Protector,” that is a trust protector that springs into existence only when certain conditions are met and to address specific problems.¹

First, what is a protector? In its use under a trust, a protector is an individual (or a committee of individuals, or an entity) with specified powers over the trust. But this person (committee, entity) is not a trustee and therefore never holds or administers trust property.

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