This should be an interesting case to watch, depending on the timing of the transfer to trust and his solvency at that time. Not sure, but i believe Massachusetts has yet to pass the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, a variant of which California passed several years ago and which makes asset protection transfers like this even more difficult than under the prior Uniform Fraudulent Conveyance Act, a variant of which apparently still applies in Massachusetts.
Trustee and attorney Matthew Berlin declined to say yesterday when Hernandez created the trust, whether Hernandez is named as a trustee or what worth is at stake. Berlin did confirm any assets protected are “not part of the probate estate” that is currently the target of three wrongful-death lawsuits, tax liens and mounting legal bills.
In his motion to close the hearing, Berlin wrote that Hernandez’s sole heir “is a minor child,” whose right to privacy, along with Hernandez’s confidential wishes, “far outweighs the interest of the public in having access to such information.”
Wakefield estate attorney Mark M. Curley, who is not associated with Hernandez’s case, said once the terms of an irrevocable trust are signed, “It’s virtually set in stone” and cannot be altered.
However, he said, a court can undo a trust under the state’s fraudulent conveyance act “if you squirrel assets away and put someone else in as a trustee and at the time you did it were having credit problems.”
Story here.
