1. 2017 N.D. Laws Ch. 416, § 8.
2. Ashlea Ebeling, Old Money, New Bottle: Decant
If You Don’t Like The Terms Of An Old Trust,
FORBES (Mar. 16, 2017), https://www.forbes.
com/sites/ashleaebeling/2017/03/16/old-money-new-
bottle-decant-if- you-dont-like-the-terms-of-an-old-
trust/#58959997f32a.
3. WEBSTER’S II NEW RIVERSIDE UNIVERSITY
DICTIONARY 352 (1984).
4. William R. Culp, Jr. & Briani Bennett Mellen, Trust
Decanting: An Overview and Introduction to Creative
Planning Opportunities, 45 REAL PROPERTY,
TRUST AND ESTATE LAW JOURNAL, 1, 3
(Spring 2010).
5. See Phipps v. Palm Beach Trust Co., 142 Fla. 782,196
So. 299 (Fla. 1940).
6. See generally N.D.C.C. Ch. 59-16.1. New York enacted
the first trust decanting statute in the early 1990s, with
the intent of avoiding the newly enacted generation
skipping transfer tax (“GST”). See Stewart E. Sterk,
Trust Decanting: A Critical Perspective, 38 Cardozo L.
Rev. 1993, 2004 (2017).
7. “Invaded trust” refers to the initial trust whose principal
is appointed to a second trust under N.D.C.C. Ch.
59-16.1. See N.D.C.C. § 59-16.1-02 (5).
8. “Appointed trust” is defined as “an irrevocable trust
which receives principal from an invaded trust under
[N.D.C.C. Ch. 59-16.1], including a trust created by
the settlor of the invaded trust, under the terms of the
invaded trust or any other trust instrument, or by the
trustees, acting in that capacity, of the invaded trust.”
N.D.C.C. § 59-16.1-02 (1).
9. N.D.C.C. §§ 59-16.1-04; 59-16.1-05.
10. N.D.C.C. § 59-16.1-04; see also N.D.C.C. § 59-
16.1-02 (8) (defining unlimited discretion as “the
unlimited power to distribute principal”)).
11. N.D.C.C. § 59-16.1-05. North Dakota is one of
several states that allow decanting when a trustee does
not have unlimited discretion. See Culp, supra at 38
n.248 (listing states where absolute discretion is not
required) (Spring 2010)).
12. N.D.C.C. § 59-16.1-04.
13. Id. at (1).
14. Id.
15. N.D.C.C. § 59-16.1-02 (8).
16. N.D.C.C. § 59-16.1-05.
17. Melissa J. Willms, Decanting Trusts: Irrevocable, Not
Unchangable, 6 EST. PLAN & COMMUNITY
PROP. L.J. 35, 36 (2013).
18. Myron Kove, James M. Kosakow, 1 IRREVOCABLE
TRUSTS § 1.2 (4th Ed.).
19. Michael J. Skeary, The Power of Trust Decanting: The
Authority for the Power, Its Scope, and the Fiduciary Duty
and Tax Implications of Its Use, 32 PROPERTY &
PROBATE, vol. 5, 23 (October 2018). 20. See, e.g.,
Morse v. Kraft, 466 Mass. 92, 992 N.E.2d 1021 (Mass.
2013) (approving the trustee’s decision to decant the
existing four sub-trusts into four new sub-trusts due
to the beneficiaries’ ages and qualifications to manage
trust property)).
21. See Willms, supra at 40. This list is, of course, not
exhaustive.
22. See N.D.C.C. § 59-16.1-16.
23. N.D.C.C. § 59-16.1-16 (1).
24. Id. at (2).
25. Id. at (3). This limitation is subject to the notice
provisions in § 59-16.1-12 or the approval of a court of
competent jurisdiction.
26. N.D.C.C. § 59-16.1-17.
27. See Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Kim Kamin, Jeffrey M.
Bergman, Estate Planning’s Most Powerful Tool: Powers
of Appointment Refreshed, Redefined, and Reexamined,
47 Real Prop. Tr. & Est. L.J. 529, 555-57 (2013)
(discussion)).
INVESTITURE OF
JUDGE DANIEL BORGEN
Judge Daniel Borgen was recognized
as the newest South Central District
Judge in an investiture ceremony at
the Burleigh County Courthouse on
January 24.
WINTER 2019
15