Opportunities for Wealth Preservation and Planning for Business Entities, Individuals and Trusts Having a Situs in the State of Wyoming

Christopher M. Reimer Long Reimer Winegar Beppler LLP

1. A leading trade publication, Trusts and Estates, noted Wyoming as among the best jurisdictions to locate a trust or limited liability company.
– Daniel G. Worthington & Mark Merric, Which Situs is Best?, TR. & EST., Jan. 1, 2010, updated; Jan, 2012

2. 2nd Lowest Overall Tax Burden.
 – http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/27181.html

3. 3rd best in the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index
 – http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/topic/68.html

4. 4th best tax system for small business and entrepreneurship
– Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
http://www.sbecouncil.org/news/display.cfm?ID=4316

The Wyoming Advantage

Low state tax burden
– No individual, corporate, or trust income tax
– No gift tax
– No tax on out-of-state retirement income
– No tax on mineral ownership or intangibles
– Low property tax
– Wyoming Constitution art. 15 § 18 makes future income tax unlikely
Expansion of the Rule Against Perpetuities
Strong asset protection laws
Favorable business entity laws, including innovative LLC statutes
Modern trust laws

The Wyoming LLC Advantage

Wyoming was first state to authorize LLCs in 1978
Remains competitive with new 2010 LLC Act
Privacy: number and names of members and managers, amount and nature of capital contributions, etc.
Flexible operating agreements based on contract law
Sole charging order remedy
See Dale W. Cottam, Thomas N. Long, Scott W. Meier, Timothy O. Beppler & Whitney M. Agopian, The 2010 Wyoming Limited Liability Company Act, 11 WYO. L. REV. 49 (2011).

Advantages of Wyoming Trusts
Modified Uniform Trust Code (W.S § 4-10-101 et seq.)
Near Perpetual Trusts
Non-real property interests held in trusts opting out of Rule Against Perpetuities can last for 1,000 years outside federal transfer tax regime (W.S. § 34-1-139)
Wyoming Constitution prohibits outright repeal of Rule Against Perpetuities (Wyo. Const. art. 1, § 30)
No Tax on Income or Capital Gains
Efficient, responsive, and friendly legislature and courts

Privacy: No mandatory trust registration

The Teton mountain peaks are still snowcapped and the wildflowers are starting to peek out around the Jackson Hole valley.

With summer fast approaching, real estate excitement is in the air. It is no surprise that we have seen an increase in unit volume in homes and condos due to the terrific values for buyers, but we are now also seeing a major increase in land sales. In the first four months of 2012 the number of land sales is more than double what they were for the same period in 2011.

Sales volume of vacant land year-to-date is over 4 times that of 2011 with 7 land sales over $1 million and 4 land sales over $4 million. Today, there are an additional 2 land parcels priced over $4 million scheduled to close this month.

With land moving in both the high-end and entry – level price ranges, the outlook for the building market improves. Teton County reports that in March of 2012 it issued more than three times the number of building permits for new homes during March than the same month last year. ??

Between January and March, county staff issued over twice the number permits for new single-family homes versus the same period 2011. By the end of March, the total value for permitted residential work was roughly $27.3 million.