new york city estate planning

The World Intellectual Property Organization defines intellectual property as “creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names, and images sued in commerce.” Typically, intellectual property is protected by legal mechanisms such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights that help people achieve and maintain recognition and financial benefits from things they have created. While intellectual property has many specific laws to help govern it and some attorneys choose to focus their practice on intellectual property law, intellectual property is personal property and can be an important part of comprehensive estate planning.

Distributing Intellectual Property

There are several considerations that come into play when determining how to distribute intellectual property. For some people, intellectual property can be the main source of their financial livelihood. Others may have inherited or otherwise acquired certain intellectual property rights throughout their lifetime and use them for supplemental income purposes. Regardless of the way in which you came to possess intellectual property, if you want to continue benefiting from it then you can and should keep personal possession of it until you no longer depend on or desire the income from it. If you do maintain control over intellectual property, make sure that you have provided for its distribution in your estate planning in case of unforeseen circumstances.

Sometimes after setting up a trust, circumstances occur that change our goals for that trust. Recently, we wrote about how to fix a broken trust which occurs when a trust no longer serves the purpose for which it was established. However, a broken trust is not always the only reason a trust might need to be modified. Depending on the circumstances surrounding your trust, there are several factors to consider when deciding whether or not to move a trust.

Common Reasons to Move a Trust

One of the most common reasons for creating a trust is to take advantage of more favorable tax consequences related to trusts. As such, one of the most common reasons to want to move a trust is to take advantage of more favorable tax-related trust laws in another state. Some other reasons for moving a trust might include:

Articles Tagged with new york city estate planning

Estate Planning and Intellectual Property

Understanding the Law – Relocating a Trust