Legislative Approaches to Trust Arbitration in the United States

In the United States, the treatment of mandatory arbitration provisions in trust agreements remains murky. This uncertainty may discourage estate planners from suggesting arbitration, even in cases where it would effectuate the settlor’s goals. A number of US state legislatures have already reformed their trust codes to make this area of law more predictable. Although it is impossible to predict the future, it seems likely that other US states will adopt similar provisions in the coming years and may thereby improve the way in which arbitration is used to resolve internal trust disputes. Therefore, this chapter explores the variety, validity, and viability of various legislative attempts to resolve the uncertainty surrounding mandatory arbitration of internal trust disputes. In so doing, the chapter provides a descriptive and normative analysis of various state legislative approaches regarding arbitration of trust disputes and critiques these efforts so as to help legislators going forward.