Podcast Summary: Useful but Overlooked Trusts—A Planner's Guide to When and How to Use Them

Podcast: ACTEC Trust & Estate Talk
Host: ACTEC Fellow Travis Hayes
Guest: ACTEC Fellow Wendy Goff
Date: January 26, 2026

Episode Overview

This episode explores “useful but overlooked” trusts—specialized estate planning tools that are often missed but can be invaluable in the right situations. Host Travis Hayes and guest Wendy Goff examine nuanced trust structures, including Health and Education Exclusion Trusts (HEETs), alimony/maintenance trusts, voting trusts, and blind trusts. The discussion includes detailed explanations, key considerations for use, and practical applications for clients seeking more advanced planning.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Understanding Trusts — Foundations

• Express Trusts:
  Wendy sets the stage by defining a trust—an intentional transfer wherein the legal title is held by a trustee for a beneficiary's enjoyment. There’s a distinction between legal title and beneficial title.
• Legal Entity Trend:
  Historically, trusts are not legal entities—the trustee owns assets. However, “[T]he Restatement of Trust hints that... the trust can be treated as an independent legal entity.” (Wendy Goff, 01:11)

2. Health & Education Exclusion Trust (HEET) [02:27]

• Purpose:
  Designed for clients who've exhausted their GST (Generation-Skipping Transfer) exemption but want to benefit multiple generations and include a charity.
• GST Tax Avoidance:
  A HEET avoids GST tax for distributions directly for education or medical expenses.
• Qualified Transfers:
  • Education: Only tuition payments made directly to an educational institution qualify. Other expenses (room, board, fees) do not.
  • Medical: Must pay provider directly for medical care.
  • “Payments for other educational expenses, such as room and board and fees don’t qualify...and would therefore be subject to GST tax upon distribution.” (Wendy Goff, 03:25)
• Charitable Component:
  The trust must meaningfully benefit a charity each year.
• Risks & Complexity:
  • Separate Share Rule: If the charity's portion becomes its own “share,” GST benefits for other shares may be lost.
  • Solution: Trustee should have broad, discretionary authority over charitable distributions, not tied to set amounts or fractions.
• Practical Caution:
  “Given the complexities...this technique should be considered only by clients who've exhausted their GST exemption, maintain charitable objectives, and seek to create an education and healthcare safety net for future generations.” (Wendy Goff, 05:45)

3. Alimony and Maintenance Trusts [06:00]

• Terminology:
  Washington: “maintenance” vs. “alimony.”
• Protection & Flexibility:
  Still relevant despite tax law changes eliminating income-shifting (repeal of §682).
  • Protects payor against death or insolvency.
  • Ensures residuary beneficiaries receive remaining assets.
  • Places a trustee as neutral third party—lessening conflict.
• Business Owner Application:
  Useful when illiquid business assets are involved.
  “A business owner could fund an alimony trust with equity in the family business, shifting the income generated...to the former spouse for a defined term.” (Wendy Goff, 07:08)
• Reimbursement Clause:
  Practitioners suggest including provisions for the ex-spouse to reimburse the donor spouse for income taxes.

4. Voting Trusts [07:50]

• Function:
  Allows shareholders to transfer voting rights to trustees. Owners retain economic interests.
• Family Business Planning:
  Can smooth generational transition and address shareholder dynamics.
• Distinction from Proxies:
  Voting trusts are durable and broader than voting proxies, which are typically revocable and voting-limited.
• Legal Nuances:
  Time limits vary by state (e.g., 10 years in Washington, none in Delaware).
• ESG and Succession:
  “They also serve as useful mechanisms to carry out environmental, social and governance objectives.” (Wendy Goff, 08:47)

5. Blind Trusts for Executives [09:05]

• Compliance Purpose:
  Enable executives to comply with insider trading regulations.
• Structure:
  Must have an independent trustee; investment guidelines established when the executive is not in possession of material non-public info.

6. Emerging and Novel Trusts [09:19]

• Cutting-edge Examples:
  • Personal revival trusts for cryogenics.
  • Trusts for cryptocurrencies, NFTs, “other blockchain assets.”
  • Trusts to hold digital personas or social media accounts.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the purpose of specialized trusts:
  “Sometimes estate planners need to step outside the usual toolkit and consider more advanced, under the radar trusts.”
  — Travis Hayes, 00:38

• On trust formalities:
  “A trust is not a legal entity, title to assets should be held by the trustee, not the trust.”
  — Wendy Goff, 01:18

• HEET requirements:
  “The catch is that the trust must also provide for charitable distributions in a meaningful way.”
  — Wendy Goff, 04:01

• On voting trusts' strategic value:
  “Voting trusts may also be used to implement multi-generational planning strategies, which are particularly valuable for family businesses, where ownership may be distributed among multiple family members with varying levels of business involvement and expertise.”
  — Wendy Goff, 08:28

• Future of trusts:
  “As we look to the future, we’re seeing fascinating emerging structures... personal revival trusts for cryogenic preservation, trusts for cryptocurrency and NFTs... trusts designed to hold social media accounts and digital personas.”
  — Wendy Goff, 09:19

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:38 — Introduction to “overlooked” trusts
• 01:11 — Foundation: What is a trust?
• 02:27 — Health and Education Exclusion Trusts (HEETs)
• 06:00 — Alimony/Maintenance trusts: utility & design
• 07:50 — Voting trusts: family businesses & succession
• 09:05 — Blind trusts and compliance for executives
• 09:19 — Future and niche trusts (digital assets, cryospan, etc.)

Tone & Style

Practical, highly specialized, and informative, with an emphasis on actionable insights for estate planning professionals. Wendy Goff’s explanations are detailed yet accessible, focused on describing not only how these trusts work, but also their practical uses and important pitfalls. The episode balances technical accuracy and future-looking curiosity, encouraging listeners to update their trust-planning repertoire.