Trustees and the privilege against self-incrimination
By EsqSocial Corporation 01/06/21
A trust is not a juristic person. Rather it is a fiduciary relationship with respect to property, title to which is in the trustee. That having been said, the federal courts will generally deem even a “common law” trust a “collective entity” when adjudicating availability of the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Thus, a trustee may not, at least via assertion of the privilege, avoid having to comply with a governmental request for trust-related documentation, the privilege...
By: Charles E. Rounds, Jr.