Chapter 5805 | Spendthrift Trust Provisions

Section 5805.01 | Validity and effect of spendthrift provisions.

• Effective: September 12, 2008
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 499 - 127th General Assembly

(A) A spendthrift provision is valid only if it restrains both voluntary and involuntary transfer of a beneficiary's interest or if it restrains involuntary transfer of a beneficiary's interest and permits voluntary transfer of a beneficiary's interest only with the consent of a trustee who is not the beneficiary.

(B) A term of a trust providing that the interest of a beneficiary is held subject to a "spendthrift trust," or words of similar import, is sufficient to restrain both voluntary and involuntary transfer of the beneficiary's interest.

(C) A beneficiary may not transfer an interest in a trust in violation of a valid spendthrift provision and, except as otherwise provided in this chapter and in section 5810.04 of the Revised Code, a creditor or assignee of the beneficiary may not reach the interest or a distribution by the trustee before its receipt by the beneficiary. Real property or tangible personal property that is owned by the trust but that is made available for a beneficiary's use or occupancy in accordance with the trustee's authority under the terms of the trust shall not be considered to have been distributed by the trustee or received by the beneficiary for purposes of allowing a creditor or assignee of the beneficiary to reach the property.

Section 5805.02 | Enforceability and enforcement of spendthrift provisions.

• Effective: January 1, 2007
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 416 - 126th General Assembly

(A) As used in this section, "child" includes any person for whom an order or judgment for child support has been entered in this or another state.

(B) Subject to section 5805.03 of the Revised Code, a spendthrift provision is unenforceable against either of the following:

(1) The beneficiary's child or spouse who has a judgment or court order against the beneficiary for support, but only if distributions can be made for the beneficiary's support or the beneficiary is entitled to receive mandatory distributions under the terms of the trust;

(2) A claim of this state or the United States to the extent provided by the Revised Code or federal law.

(C) A spendthrift provision is enforceable against the beneficiary's former spouse.

(D) A claimant described in division (B) of this section may obtain from the court an order attaching present or future distributions to or for the benefit of the beneficiary. The court may limit the award to the relief that is appropriate under the circumstances, considering among any other factors determined appropriate by the court the support needs of the beneficiary, the beneficiary's spouse, and the beneficiary's dependent children or, with respect to a beneficiary who is the recipient of public benefits, the supplemental needs of the beneficiary if the trust was not intended to provide for the beneficiary's basic support.

(E) The only exceptions to the effectiveness of a spendthrift provision are those described in divisions (B) and (D) of this section, in division (B) of section 5805.05 of the Revised Code, and in sections 5805.06 and 5810.04 of the Revised Code.

Section 5805.03 | Creditors of discretionary trust beneficiary may not reach interest.

• Effective: September 12, 2008
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 499 - 127th General Assembly

Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in division (B) of section 5805.02 of the Revised Code, no creditor or assignee of a beneficiary of a wholly discretionary trust may reach the beneficiary's interest in the trust, or a distribution by the trustee before its receipt by the beneficiary, whether by attachment of present or future distributions to or for the benefit of the beneficiary, by judicial sale, by obtaining an order compelling the trustee to make distributions from the trust, or by any other means, regardless of whether the terms of the trust include a spendthrift provision.

Section 5805.04 | Creditor may not compel discretionary distribution - exceptions.

• Effective: January 1, 2007
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 416 - 126th General Assembly

(A) As used in this section, "child" includes any person for whom an order or judgment for child support has been entered in this or any other state.

(B) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (C) and (D) of this section, whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision, a creditor of a beneficiary may not compel a distribution that is subject to the trustee's discretion, even if the discretion is expressed in the form of a standard of distribution or the trustee has abused the discretion.

(C) Division (B) of this section does not apply to this state for any claim for support of a beneficiary in a state institution if the terms of the trust do not include a spendthrift provision and do include a standard for distributions to or for the beneficiary under which the trustee may make distributions for the beneficiary's support.

(D) Unless the settlor has explicitly provided in the trust that the beneficiary's child or spouse or both are excluded from benefiting from the trust, to the extent a trustee of a trust that is not a wholly discretionary trust has not complied with a standard of distribution or has abused a discretion, both of the following apply:

(1) The court may order a distribution to satisfy a judgment or court order against the beneficiary for support of the beneficiary's child or spouse, provided that the court may order the distributions only if distributions can be made for the beneficiary's support under the terms of the trust and that the court may not order any distributions under this division to satisfy a judgment or court order against the beneficiary for support of the beneficiary's former spouse.

(2) The court shall direct the trustee to pay to the child or spouse the amount that is equitable under the circumstances but not more than the amount the trustee would have been required to distribute to or for the benefit of the beneficiary had the trustee complied with the standard or not abused the discretion.

(E) Even if a trust does not contain a spendthrift provision, to the extent a beneficiary's interest in a trust is subject to the exercise of the trustee's discretion, whether or not such discretion is subject to one or more standards of distribution, the interest may not be ordered sold to satisfy or partially satisfy a claim of the beneficiary's creditor or assignee.

(F) If the trustee's or cotrustee's discretion to make distributions for the trustee's or cotrustee's own benefit is limited by an ascertainable standard, a creditor may not reach or compel distribution of the beneficial interest except to the extent the interest would be subject to the creditor's claim if the beneficiary were not acting as trustee or cotrustee.

Section 5805.05 | Attachment of mandatory distributions absent spendthrift provision.

• Effective: January 1, 2007
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 416 - 126th General Assembly

(A) To the extent that a trust that gives a beneficiary the right to receive one or more mandatory distributions does not contain a spendthrift provision, the court may authorize a creditor or assignee of the beneficiary to attach present or future mandatory distributions to or for the benefit of the beneficiary or to reach the beneficiary's interest by other means. The court may limit an award under this section to the relief that is appropriate under the circumstances, considering among any other factors determined appropriate by the court, the support needs of the beneficiary, the beneficiary's spouse, and the beneficiary's dependent children or, with respect to a beneficiary who is the recipient of public benefits, the supplemental needs of the beneficiary if the trust was not intended to provide for the beneficiary's basic support. If in exercising its power under this section the court decides to order either a sale of a beneficiary's interest or that a lien be placed on the interest, in deciding between the two types of action, the court shall consider among any other factors it considers relevant the amount of the claim of the creditor or assignee and the proceeds a sale would produce relative to the potential value of the interest to the beneficiary.

(B) Whether or not a trust contains a spendthrift provision, a creditor or assignee of a beneficiary may reach a mandatory distribution the beneficiary is entitled to receive if the trustee has not made the distribution to the beneficiary within a reasonable time after the designated distribution date.

Section 5805.06 | Rights of settlor's creditors - power of withdrawal.

• Effective: August 17, 2021
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 7 - 134th General Assembly

(A) Whether or not the terms of a trust contain a spendthrift provision, all of the following apply:

(1) During the lifetime of the settlor, the property of a revocable trust is subject to claims of the settlor's creditors.

(2) Except to the extent that a trust is established pursuant to, or otherwise is wholly or partially governed by or subject to Chapter 5816. of the Revised Code, with respect to an irrevocable trust, a creditor or assignee of the settlor may reach the maximum amount that can be distributed to or for the settlor's benefit. If an irrevocable trust has more than one settlor, the amount distributable to or for a settlor's benefit that the creditor or assignee of a particular settlor may reach may not exceed that settlor's interest in the portion of the trust attributable to that settlor's contribution. The right of a creditor or assignee to reach a settlor's interest in an irrevocable trust shall be subject to Chapter 5816. of the Revised Code to the extent that that chapter applies to that trust.

(3) With respect to a trust described in 42 U.S.C. section 1396p(d)(4)(A) or (C), the court may limit the award of a settlor's creditor under division (A)(1) or (2) of this section to the relief that is appropriate under the circumstances, considering among any other factors determined appropriate by the court, the supplemental needs of the beneficiary.

(B) For purposes of this section, all of the following apply:

(1) The holder of a power of withdrawal is treated in the same manner as the settlor of a revocable trust to the extent of the property subject to the power during the period the power may be exercised.

(2) None of the following shall be considered an amount that can be distributed to or for the benefit of the settlor:

(a) Trust property that could be, but has not yet been, distributed to or for the benefit of the settlor only as a result of the exercise of a power of appointment held in a nonfiduciary capacity by any person other than the settlor;

(b) Trust property that could be, but has not yet been, distributed to or for the benefit of the settlor of a trust pursuant to the power of the trustee to make distributions or pursuant to the power of another in a fiduciary capacity to direct distributions, if and to the extent that the distributions could be made from trust property the value of which was included in the gross estate of the settlor's spouse for federal estate tax purposes under section 2041 or 2044 of the Internal Revenue Code or that was treated as a transfer by the settlor's spouse under section 2514 or 2519 of the Internal Revenue Code;

(c) Trust property that, pursuant to the exercise of a discretionary power by a person other than the settlor, could be paid to a taxing authority or to reimburse the settlor for any income tax on trust income or principal that is payable by the settlor under the law imposing the tax.

Last updated May 20, 2021 at 2:22 PM

Section 5805.07 | Trust property not subject to personal obligations of trustee.

• Effective: January 1, 2007
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 416 - 126th General Assembly

Trust property is not subject to personal obligations of the trustee, even if the trustee becomes insolvent or bankrupt.