ACTEC Amicus Review Committee Chair Meg Lodise & Committee Members File Influential Amicus Brief in Trust Tax Case Before U.S. Supreme Court

As Chair of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) Amicus Review Committee, partner Meg Lodise, orchestrated, with the assistance of committee members and other ACTEC Fellows, the filing of an influential amicus brief in March 2019 for the trust tax case The North Carolina Department of Revenue v. The Kimberly Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust.The case focused on whether a trust can be taxed by a state based solely on the residence of a beneficiary in the state, regardless of whether distributions were or could be made to the beneficiary while a resident. On June 21, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a trust beneficiary’s residence in a state does not establish a necessary connection for the state to tax the trust.

As reported by ACTEC, “The College took no position in the case but instead, as noted in the brief, was filed to ‘assist the court in understanding the history and practice of state fiduciary income taxation as applied to accumulated income in nongrantor trusts and the complexities of such statutes in the context of the multi-state contacts common in today’s mobile society.'”

Lodise commented, “The clarity of this rare 9-0 decision is in part due to the tireless efforts of ACTEC Fellows, in writing an amicus brief that kept the arguments simple and focused. As noted in the brief, many Fellows were involved, all of whom are named in the brief’s introduction. We commend their outstanding work.”

The full brief can be read here. The Supreme Court decision is available here.