Which States Allow Dynasty Trusts: Perpetual vs 90-Year Rules

Nearly every state allows some form of dynasty trust, but the maximum length of the trust depends entirely on where you create it. The states that allow dynasty trusts to last the longest — either forever or for several centuries — are Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, and South Dakota (all perpetual), followed by Colorado, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming at 1,000 years, Nevada at 365, Tennessee at 360, and Texas at 300. Roughly two dozen other states cap trusts at 90 years under the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities.

States That Allow Perpetual Dynasty Trusts

Eight states have effectively abolished the Rule Against Perpetuities, so a trust created there can last indefinitely. These states attract most dynasty trust business because nothing forces a distribution or a taxable termination at some future date.

  • Alaska. No state income tax, perpetual duration. One of the most popular jurisdictions.
  • Delaware. Perpetual for personal property. Real estate held directly in the trust is capped at 110 years, but holding it through an LLC inside the trust sidesteps that limit.
  • Idaho. Rule abolished for real and personal property, though the power of alienation cannot be suspended for more than 25 years after a living person’s death unless the trustee can sell trust property.
  • Missouri. The rule does not apply if the trustee has the power to sell trust property beyond the traditional perpetuities timeframe.1Missouri Revisor of Statutes. RSMo Section 456.025
  • New Hampshire. Trusts are exempt when the governing instrument says so and the trustee has the power to sell, mortgage, or lease property.2New Hampshire General Court. New Hampshire Code 564-24 – Exemption from Rule Against Perpetuities
  • Ohio. Rule abolished for trusts where the trustee has the power to sell trust property.
  • Rhode Island. The common-law rule was repealed for interests created after the effective date of the repeal statute.3Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws 34-11-38 – Rule Against Perpetuities
  • South Dakota. No state income tax, perpetual duration. Along with Alaska and Delaware, one of the top three dynasty trust jurisdictions.

Notice how often the trustee’s power to sell trust assets appears in these statutes. Several perpetual states condition the abolition on that power existing in the trust instrument. If your trust document doesn’t grant it, the traditional rule can still apply.

States With Extended Trust Durations

Several states haven’t gone perpetual but have stretched the allowable duration far past the traditional limit. For most family planning purposes, these periods work like perpetual trusts.

How Real Estate Changes the Picture

A recurring theme running through Delaware, Wyoming, and Virginia is that real property held directly in a trust is treated differently from personal property or from real estate held through an entity. If your dynasty trust will own real estate, structuring the ownership through an LLC or similar entity inside the trust is often what unlocks the full extended duration. A trust that plans to hold land, homes, or commercial buildings without that entity layer may not get the century-long or perpetual treatment the state’s statute otherwise offers.

States Still on the 90-Year Framework

A large group of states adopted the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities or comparable legislation, replacing the old lives-in-being calculation with a flat 90-year vesting period. Ninety years can still span three or four generations, but it falls well short of what the perpetual and extended-duration states offer. States generally understood to follow this framework:

Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

This list moves. Utah, Virginia, Colorado, and Missouri all left the 90-year framework in recent years, and any state on the list today could pass similar legislation next session. Verify the current statute in any state you’re considering.

Why Duration Isn’t the Only Factor

Two states that both allow perpetual trusts can produce very different results. A dynasty trust becomes a non-grantor trust for income tax purposes once the grantor dies, meaning the trust itself owes tax on undistributed earnings. Even a modest state income tax rate compounds into a meaningful drag over a trust that lasts centuries.

State Income Tax

Alaska, South Dakota, Nevada, Wyoming, and Tennessee impose no state income tax on trust income. Delaware exempts trust income from state tax when the beneficiaries are non-residents. California and New York, by contrast, can tax trust income based on the trustee’s location, the beneficiaries’ residency, or where the trust was established. The clustering of popular dynasty trust states among those with no state income tax is not a coincidence.

Asset Protection

Dynasty trusts are typically written with spendthrift provisions that block a beneficiary’s creditors from reaching the assets. The strength of those provisions varies by state. A smaller group also permits domestic asset protection trusts, sometimes called self-settled trusts, where the grantor can be a beneficiary while still shielding the assets from the grantor’s own creditors. States that allow these arrangements include Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wyoming, among others. If the grantor wants to keep some beneficial interest, this feature is often the deciding factor.

Trustee Location and Situs

You don’t need to live in a state to create a dynasty trust there, but you generally need a connection. Most dynasty-friendly states require a trustee located in the state, usually a corporate trust company. Some also consider where the trust is administered, where records are kept, or where the governing instrument says the trust is sitused.

Privacy

States differ in how much trust information ends up in the public record. Some require very little disclosure of terms, beneficiaries, or assets in court filings. South Dakota and Nevada are frequently cited for strong trust privacy protections.

The Federal GST Tax Angle

State law controls how long a dynasty trust can last, but the federal tax rules explain why anyone bothers making it last that long. Without a dynasty trust, wealth passing from grandparents to grandchildren and beyond is hit with the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax at each generational level, on top of any estate or gift tax. The GST tax rate equals the top estate tax rate, currently 40%.

A properly funded dynasty trust avoids this. When the grantor allocates their GST exemption to the trust at creation, the trust assets and all future growth pass from generation to generation without triggering additional GST tax. The GST exemption equals the basic exclusion amount, which for 2026 is $15,000,000 per individual.9Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax A married couple can combine exemptions to shelter $30,000,000 from both estate and GST tax.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2631 – GST Exemption The $15 million figure was made permanent by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act signed in July 2025.

Every dollar of growth inside the trust also escapes GST tax at each generational level. Over three or four generations, the tax savings can dwarf the original contribution, which is why the choice of jurisdiction — and the willingness to lock in an irrevocable structure — is worth the planning effort.