Jay Adkisson has summarized the Cleopatra Cameron Gift Trust cases dealing with the enforcement of a California child support order against a South Dakota Trust.
Mr. Adkisson’s article begins as follows:
Through the gifts and subsequent death of her father, California resident Cleopatra Cameron ended up as the beneficiary of two trusts (collectively, the Trust) which apparently were created in California, but then by no coincidence ended up in South Dakota. In 2009, her husband, Christopher, filed a divorce action against her in California. At this time, Cleopatra was receiving $40,000 per month in distributions from the Trust.
The Trust was joined to the divorce action, and ultimately was made liable for Cleopatra’s judgment $8,863 per month in child support, $14,671 in spousal support, and $50,000 in attorney’s fees. Wells Fargo, as the Trustee, objected on the basis that the California court had no authority to order such payments to be made from the Trust. While appeals were going on in California, the California family law court set Cleopatra’s interim child support obligation at $8,786 and ordered the Trust to pay that amount.
Posted by Lewis J. Saret, Co-General Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal..
