Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 3344 – Income tax reimbursement or payment
(a) Unless the terms of the governing instrument expressly provide that a trustor may not be reimbursed by a trust for the trustor’s personal income tax liability, if the trustor of a trust is treated under 26 U.S.C. § 671 et seq. as the owner of all or part of the trust, the trustee (other than a trustee who is the trustor or a person who is a “related or subordinate party” with respect to the trustor within the meaning of 26 U.S.C. § 672(c)) may, in the trustee’s sole discretion, or at the direction or with the consent of an adviser (who is not the trustor or a person who is a “related or subordinate party” with respect to the trustor within the meaning of 26 U.S.C. § 672(c)), reimburse the trustor for any amount of the trustor’s personal federal, state, county, metropolitan-region, city, local, foreign, or other income tax liability that is attributable to the inclusion of the trust’s income, capital gains, deductions, and credits in the calculation of the trustor’s taxable income. The trustee may pay such amount to the trustor directly or may pay such amount to an appropriate taxing authority on the trustor’s behalf, as the trustee determines in the trustee’s sole discretion. No policy of insurance on the trustor’s life held in the trust nor the cash value of any such policy nor the proceeds of any loan secured by an interest in the policy may be used to reimburse the trustor or to pay an appropriate taxing authority on the trustor’s behalf. Neither the trustee’s power to make payments to, or for the benefit of, the trustor under this section, nor the trustee’s decision to exercise such power in favor of the trustor, shall cause the trustor to be treated as a beneficiary of the trust for purposes of § 3536(c) of this title or for other purposes of Delaware law.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 3344
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
- State: means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, a federally recognized Indian tribe, or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 12 Sec. 39A-101
- Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.
- Trustor: The person who makes or creates a trust. Also known as the grantor or settlor.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply if the application of this section would disqualify a trust for, or reduce the amount of, a marital or charitable deduction otherwise available to any person for state or federal income, gift, or estate tax purposes.