William and Meredith Zutavern had four children: Shawn, Shayne, Kelly and Maria. They owned 22,000 acres of Sandhills real estate where they had a cattle ranch.
William created a revocable trust in 2008. He died in 2011. Meredith was the successor trustee. At the time of William's death, two trusts were created. One trust (the Family Trust) would be funded in the maximum tax free amount under the federal estate tax. The other trust was solely for the benefit of his wife and was her property absolutely. The Family Trust would pay Meredith income for her life.
Although not exactly clear from the opinion, the real estate and cattle were ...
Read More
The Largest Judgment in Nebraska History: The Streck case
The number is $723 million dollars. Of that, $467 million for 52% of the company and $256 million in prejudgment interest. It involved the valuation of the private (and "S" corporation) Streck, Inc. Streck was founded in 1971 by Dr. Wayne L. Ryan. Dr. Ryan earned two degrees from Creighton University. He was a brilliant scientist and pioneer in the hematology field. He built a business that had sales of $102 million in 2014, adjusted EBITDA of $54 million and a gross profit of 77%. These are outstanding numbers.
Every lawsuit has a legal and personal aspect to it. In this case, the personal aspect is way more interesting than the legal ...
Read More
Irrevocable spendthrift trusts in Nebraska
What is a spendthrift trust? The Nebraska Supreme Court says it is a trust that restrains both a voluntary or involuntary transfer of a beneficiary's interest. That means that the beneficiary can't sell it or give it away nor can his creditors or predators reach it.
One thing to appreciate about trusts is that a court will enforce the provisions of that document according to your written wishes. Your survivors and beneficiaries can't change the terms of a trust if the proposed change violates a material purpose of the trust. If the purposes of the trust are lawful, not contrary to public policy and are for the benefit of the its ...
Read More
