Can out-of-state residents use the Family Wealth Preservation Trust Act to protect assets?
As a general rule, the exemptions available in Title 31 of the Oklahoma Statutes are available only to residents.74 The Family Wealth Preservation Trust Act is part of Title 31 of the Oklahoma Statutes, which should subject it to that limitation. The act, however, expressly negates that limitation. It provides, “Notwithstanding Section 3 of Title 31 of the Oklahoma Statutes, the corpus and income of a preservation trust shall be exempt. . . .”75 “Notwithstanding” in this context must mean “despite.” In other words, “Despite what it says in Section 3, the million dollar exemption will apply to non-residents.” Thus, it appears that the Oklahoma Legislature intended to open the exemption to non-residents. Ironically, it also appears that the exemption would apply to a debtor who is in the process of moving out of state or absconding to avoid his creditors.76 The possibility that out-of-state residents might be protected by a preservation trust exemption raises all sorts of interesting iss
