Nevada-Based Trusts: Trusted by Billionaires
Oh, you listened to The Rolling Stones before they were cool?
Well, we’ve been recommending Nevada-based Trusts before the Murdoch family put them on the map.
Real-Life Succession Situation
If you haven’t heard, Robert Murdoch, owner of Fox News and News Corp (Wall Street Journal, HarperCollins Publishers, the New York Post & more) has been in the news for trying to amend an Irrevocable Trust (which, as the name suggests, is pretty difficult to do).
The Nevada-based Trust lists four of his six children to receive equal voting shares of his companies upon his death. This was required by his ex-wife, Anna Murdoch Mann, in their 1999 divorce.
Fans of the show Succession are already familiar with this plot line, as the show is inspired largely by this real-life family and the handoff of their patriarch’s media empire that spans continents.
Okay… but why Nevada?
The Australian-born billionaire doesn’t live in Nevada, so why did he establish a Trust there? Good question.
Nevada is considered a “trust-friendly” state, and you don’t have to be a resident of the state or as wealthy as the Murdoch family to take advantage of these benefits:
Option to add a no-contest clause
A shorter statute of limitations
(smaller window of time for anyone to try to bring the Trust into question)No state income tax or state inheritance tax
(your beneficiaries keep more of the money given to them)
Revocable Living Trust vs Irrevocable
A revocable living trust (RLT, or living trust) can be modified at any time up until the grantor’s death.
An irrevocable trust is not meant to be changed after it’s established. To make changes, one usually needs the consent of all beneficiaries.
Murdoch Madness
The irrevocability of this trust is slowing down Rupert Murdoch; his other three children don’t want to give up their claim to the voting rights of this massive media empire. Their reasons can’t be known for sure by anyone outside of themselves, but some of the kids have publicly criticized the direction of Fox news and its strategic decisions.
Maybe they simply want what was owed to them, to get a piece of what their father built. Maybe they want to slow down or redirect Fox News’ foray into ultra-far-right narratives.
What do you think of this Murdoch madness, and how might this kerfuffle affect Rupert’s legacy?
