Statutory Foundation Formation
Wealth Management, Tax Planning, And A Legal Alternative To Marriage
A Wyoming Statutory Foundation (“WSF”) is a new entity that was created in 2019 in Wyoming which is used for wealth management and succession planning and can be used as a legal alternative to marriage. Traditional foundations are often found in common law jurisdictions and are more common in Europe. On the other hand, the WSF combines elements of trust and corporate law with classical foundation law. The result is a flexible entity that can fit many purposes. A WSF can be a private or charitable entity, and both of those options can offer privacy and asset preservation benefits. Private WSFs can have tax and liability advantages that benefit the foundation’s founders, protectors, and beneficiaries. A charitable WSF can make it easier to give to causes, protect assets and liabilities, and can be small or large. In fact, the largest and most famous example of a charitable WSF is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. There is no minimum or maximum amount of assets for a Wyoming Foundation.
Some of the benefits of setting up a WSF include:
- Flexibility in creating the WSF to function similar to a trust, a company, an LLC, or a hybrid.
- WSFs do not have shareholders, and the rules pertaining to shareholders do not apply.
- Unlike a trust, a WSF may exist in perpetuity.
- WSFs have the ability to have founder(s), board(s) of directors, beneficiaries, and sometimes a protector(s) or contributor(s).
- Directors are not personally liable for a WSF’s debts, obligations, acts, omissions, contracts, or torts.
- A WSF can hold various assets, such as real estate, business assets, financial investments and personal assets, intellectual property, or collections.
- Foundations are recognized around the world as a legal and fiscal entity.
- A WSF can be used as a holding vehicle for other entities, e.g., private or public company shares, limited or general partnerships, trust beneficiaries, or beneficiaries of another foundation.
- A WSF can sue or be sued in its own name.
- A WSF can be used for asset protection and tax strategies.
- As an alternative to marriage, a WSF could allow individuals to combine assets and establish beneficiaries while establishing the parameters for a distribution of assets if the foundation were to be dissolved.
These are just a few of the benefits of forming a foundation. Those interested in creating one would benefit from legal counsel from an experienced attorney.
Ryan Wright has experience as a prosecutor and has conducted numerous trials and courtroom hearings. He has worked as a Deputy County Attorney and an Assistant District Attorney at the Laramie County District Attorney’s Office. While working as a prosecutor, Ryan focused on narcotics and complex felonies and misdemeanors from DUI to domestic violence. Prior to becoming a prosecutor, Ryan was in private practice working in the areas of corporate and commercial law in New York. Ryan brings his substantial courtroom and trial experience to every case to fight for a successful outcome for every client.
Ryan practices in appeals, business law, criminal defense, family law, personal injury, and general practice.