South Dakota Trust Services
South Dakota is consistently rated as the best state in the country to establish a trust. South Dakota trust laws provide flexibility, enhanced privacy and asset protection benefits for you and your family. No matter where you live, our team can help you access these benefits and navigate the process of establishing a South Dakota trust through our affiliate company, BTC Trust Company of South Dakota. Bankers Trust clients can rest assured they will receive the same commitment to exceptional client service when choosing to work with BTC Trust Company of South Dakota.
With a focus on relationships, our knowledgeable, experienced professionals will put your best interests first in every interaction. Our team has the technical expertise to work with you, your attorneys or other trusted advisors, resulting in a smooth and personalized experience that meets your unique circumstances. Reach out to our team today to learn more about how we can help you protect and grow your wealth, while you retain your most trusted advisors.
How the South Dakota Directed Trust Structure Works
With South Dakota’s flexible statutes, you can separate the traditional three trust management roles to give the right roles and responsibilities to those who have the right skills. This Directed Trust structure gives families the control that is lost through traditional trust structures.
Administrative Trustee
The administrative trustee is a South Dakota Trustee that provides access to South Dakota’s laws, handles the contributions and distributions, creates and maintains the books of the trust, and files the required trust tax returns. This role is filled by BTC Trust Company of South Dakota and our team of capable trust administrators.
Investment Trust Advisor
A person or group of people selected by you to manage the assets held in trust. Investment advisors and other financial professionals who have been with the family since the beginning can serve in this role, thereby continuing to manage the family investments in the same way they have throughout prior years. This structure gives wide latitude to the family to decide what type of assets to hold in their trusts. This provides flexibility around concentrated positions, low basis holdings, unique assets, and planning with family business assets.
Distributions Trust Advisor
This person or group of people will decide who receives funds, and for what purposes, thereby eliminating the traditional friction that may exist regarding distributions. South Dakota law allows families to control the distribution decisions in a manner that recognizes the unique family dynamic. A combination of family, advisors, and even health professionals, can be engaged to fulfill this role.
Why choose South Dakota trust services?
Asset Protection in Perpetuity
Structuring trusts in South Dakota provides a great deal of protection for personal assets from litigious individuals. Trust assets held in Limited Liability Companies (LLC) are not subject to judicial foreclosure. Charging orders are the sole remedy available. BTC Trust Company of South Dakota can help your trust distributions be further protected with proper discretionary distribution provisions, which are specifically provided in South Dakota statutes.
Further, South Dakota has eliminated the Rule Against Perpetuities, which means that you can continue to grow, manage, and transfer your wealth held in trust to future generations, with no restriction on how long the trust can exist.
Limited Taxation
South Dakota does not have a state income tax, estate tax, or capital gains tax. Trusts that are administered by BTC Trust Company of South Dakota only pay federal tax and taxes in states in which the trust does business.
Privacy and Anonymity
Intensely personal decisions are made in trust documents and families’ desire to keep these items private can be respected in South Dakota as well. South Dakota is one of only a small number of states that has a silent statute. This law allows the grantors of a trust to limit disclosure of information to beneficiaries, including restricting or eliminating the need for accounting statements to be sent to beneficiaries. This incredibly powerful tool allows a grantor to determine at what age or under what circumstances a beneficiary will learn of the trust’s existence.
Automatic Perpetual Seal
All trusts in South Dakota are automatically sealed in perpetuity. Most states require a court petition and may limit the duration of a seal; however, South Dakota does not leave this to judicial discretion. This means that any legal dispute regarding trust assets is completely private and confidential. All trust proceedings in South Dakota are sealed from the public.
Limited Liability Companies (LLC) organized by the trust can provide additional anonymity, and the trust can serve as the organizer and the registered agent. There are no annual filings, and no public records listing the family connection to the LLC.
Modification and Decanting
Some families have limited their trust planning out of concern that the decisions were too permanent. South Dakota addressed this concern by providing a great deal of flexibility to make changes to existing trusts. Families can update plans to reflect changes in the economy, laws, and family dynamic. Old trusts that have become difficult to administer can be moved to South Dakota and adjusted to improve management, administrative efficiency, and take advantage of the other benefits of South Dakota law
Connect with us today
South Dakota Trust Services Contacts
Matthew J. Abel, JD, MPA
President
5032 South Bur Oak Place
Sioux Falls, SD 57108
(605) 221-3094
[email protected]
Simon Duquemin
VP, Senior Trust Officer
5032 South Bur Oak Place
Sioux Falls, SD 57108
(605) 221-3093
[email protected]
Matt Spolum, JD, MBA
AVP, Trust Officer
5032 South Bur Oak Place
Sioux Falls, SD 57108
(605) 221-3092
[email protected]