From the Department of the Treasury’s issuance of a new “green book” to the Biden administration’s withdrawal of a proposed Trump-era independent contractor rule, we have recently seen significant developments in estate planning and business law. To ensure that you stay abreast of these legal changes, we have highlighted a few noteworthy developments and analyzed how they may impact your estate planning and business law practice.

In 2003, Mary attempted to engage in elder law planning and executed a deed reserving a life estate for herself and giving her daughter, Carla, a remainder interest in the property. However, the wrong address was listed on the deed. In 1989, Mary, at age 65, began receiving Medicaid benefits through MassHealth. She continued receiving these benefits until her death in 2018. At Mary’s death, Carla noticed the mistaken deed and moved a Massachusetts court to reform the deed on the grounds of mutual mistake. Would the court oblige Carla? The court first theorized that it must decide if reforming the deed would impact the state’s estate recovery efforts.

Can undue influence lead to a Trust Amendment via a Trust Protector who is an independent party? This issue was recently litigated in Arizona. In this case, Austin and Kay were married for 57 years. Near the end of their marriage, Austin was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. Austin became romantically involved with his caretaker, Lindi. Austin and Kary divorced; thereafter, Austin and Lindi married.

During Austin and Kay’s divorce, Austin had his attorney, Paul, create an irrevocable trust. The trust provided for the following distributions upon Austin’s death: 45% to Kay, 45% to their children, and 10% to Lindi. The only person that could amend the trust was the Trust Protector, Paul. Paul was not subordinate to Austin within the meaning of IRC 672(c). After the divorce was finalized, Austin requested that Paul amend the trust. Paul added a no contest clause, eliminated Kay as a beneficiary, made Lindi the sole income beneficiary upon Austin’s death, reduced the children’s’ share, and added Lindi’s sons as remainder beneficiaries.