Utah rewrote the asset protection trust in Utah statute in 2025, and the new requirements are specific enough that a general irrevocable trust will not qualify. Under Section 75B-1-303 the instrument must be governed by Utah law, must keep at least one Utah trustee at all times, must restrict the settlor’s ability to transfer their interest, and must require 30 days written notice to anyone holding a domestic support obligation before any distribution to the settlor. Miss the structural requirements and no property in the trust is protected at all.
Last updated: September 2026
Key Takeaways
- The governing statute is Title 75B, Chapter 1, Part 3, enacted by Chapter 338 of the 2025 General Session.
- At least one trustee must be a Utah resident or a Utah trust company, at all times.
- The settlor cannot revoke, amend, or withdraw without consent of an adversely affected beneficiary, though a substitution power is allowed.
- No mandatory distributions to the settlor are permitted.
- Saying you want protection from future creditors is expressly not evidence of fraudulent intent.
- A creditor challenging a transfer bears the burden by clear and convincing evidence.
- Failing a structural requirement kills protection for everything; failing a transfer condition kills it only for that transfer.
- Jeremy Eveland builds Utah estate plans for $1,500 (will-based) or $3,500 (trust-based), quoted before work begins.
What an Asset Protection Trust in Utah Is
An asset protection trust in Utah does something ordinary trust law forbids. Ordinarily a settlor cannot protect assets from their own creditors by putting them in a trust for their own benefit. Utah is one of a minority of states that permits it by statute, through what the Code calls an asset protection trust.
The structure is a self-settled irrevocable trust: you transfer property to a trustee, you remain a discretionary beneficiary, and if the statutory conditions are satisfied, your creditors generally cannot reach the trust property or force a distribution.
The current statute is new. Title 75B, Chapter 1, Part 3 was enacted by Chapter 338 of the 2025 General Session, and Section 75B-1-302 provides the governing law rule and describes the protections that apply when the requirements are met.
This is a different instrument from an ordinary revocable living trust, which protects nothing from the settlor’s creditors because the settlor can take the assets back at any time. The comparison is worked through in the revocable and irrevocable trust guide.
The Four Structural Requirements
Every asset protection trust in Utah must satisfy Section 75B-1-303(2)(a), which requires the trust instrument to do four things. All four are mandatory, and Section 75B-1-303(2)(d) helpfully provides that no particular language is required so long as the meaning complies.
The trust instrument shall: (i) provide that the trust is governed by Utah law and is established in accordance with this part; (ii) require that at all times at least one trustee be a Utah resident or Utah trust company; (iii) provide that the settlor, as a beneficiary, may not voluntarily or involuntarily transfer the income or principal of the asset protection trust or any other beneficial interest of the settlor; and (iv) require that the trustee notify in writing every person who has a domestic support obligation against the settlor at least 30 days before paying and delivering any distribution to the settlor as a beneficiary.
Subsection (2)(a)(v) adds that the notice must state the date the distribution will be paid and the amount.
The Utah trustee requirement is the one out-of-state settlors underestimate. It is continuous, not a condition satisfied once at signing. A trust that loses its only Utah trustee has stopped complying.
The transfer restriction in clause (iii) does more work than it appears to. Section 75B-1-303(2)(b) provides that it “is considered a restriction on the transfer of the settlor’s beneficial interest … that is enforceable under applicable nonbankruptcy law within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. Sec. 541(c)(2),” which is the provision that keeps such an interest out of a bankruptcy estate.
The domestic support notice has its own consequence rather than voiding the trust. Under Section 75B-1-303(2)(c), if the trustee fails to send it, the court may authorize an unnotified support obligation holder to attach that distribution or future distributions. But even then, that person may not satisfy a claim out of the settlor’s transfer to the trust or the settlor’s beneficial interest, and may not force the trustee to distribute.
What the Settlor Must Give Up
Two further requirements for an asset protection trust in Utah govern the settlor’s retained powers, and they are where most attempted asset protection trust in Utah structures fail.
Section 75B-1-303(3) prohibits the settlor from having the ability, without the consent of a person with a substantial beneficial interest who would be adversely affected, to revoke, amend, or terminate all or part of the trust, or to withdraw property. One power survives: the settlor may be given the power, without anyone’s approval, to substitute assets of substantially equivalent value.
Section 75B-1-303(4) prohibits the instrument from providing for any mandatory distributions of income or principal to the settlor, subject to narrow exceptions in Sections 75B-1-304(5)(c) and (6).
Read together, those mean the settlor is a discretionary beneficiary at the trustee’s mercy. You can hope for distributions. You cannot demand them, and neither can a creditor standing in your shoes. That is precisely why the protection works, and it is the part clients most often want to negotiate away.
The Transfer Conditions
Structure alone does not make an asset protection trust in Utah work. Each transfer into the trust must also satisfy Section 75B-1-303(5) and (6).
At the time of transfer the settlor may not be in default of making a payment due under a domestic support obligation, and may not intend to hinder, delay, or defraud a known creditor. The transfer may not render the settlor insolvent, and may not be derived from unlawful activities.
Then the provision that distinguishes Utah’s statute from ordinary fraudulent transfer analysis:
Section 75B-1-303(5)(b): “A settlor’s expressed intention to protect assets in the asset protection trust from the settlor’s potential future creditors is not evidence of an intent to hinder, delay, or defraud a known creditor.”
Saying out loud that you want protection from creditors who do not yet exist is not held against you. That distinction, between known creditors at the time of transfer and potential future ones, is the whole architecture of legitimate asset protection planning.
Section 75B-1-303(7) then places the burden where it matters: a creditor “has the burden of proving that the requirement in Subsection (5)(a)(ii) or (6)(a) is not satisfied by clear and convincing evidence.” Not a preponderance. Clear and convincing.
Section 75B-1-307 adds that a cause of action under this part is generally not a claim under Utah’s Uniform Voidable Transactions Act at Title 25, Chapter 6, with an exception for the intent and insolvency conditions.
What Happens When It Fails
An asset protection trust in Utah can fail in two very different ways. Section 75B-1-303(8) grades the consequences, and the distinction is worth understanding before signing anything.
| What went wrong | Consequence | Provision |
|---|---|---|
| No Utah governing law clause, no Utah trustee, or no transfer restriction; or the settlor kept revocation or withdrawal powers; or mandatory distributions were required | No property in the trust is ever protected | 75B-1-303(8)(a) |
| Settlor was in default on a domestic support obligation at the time of transfer | That transferred property is unprotected as to the person holding that obligation | 75B-1-303(8)(b) |
| Intent to hinder, delay, or defraud a known creditor, or the transfer rendered the settlor insolvent, or the property came from unlawful activity | That transferred property is unprotected | 75B-1-303(8)(c) |
The first row is the severe one. A structural defect is not a partial failure. It means none of the property in the trust “will at any time have the benefit of the protections,” including property transferred years earlier when everything was clean.
The second and third rows are asset-by-asset. A single tainted transfer does not destroy protection for everything else.
Who It Fits
An asset protection trust in Utah is a planning tool for people with genuine future exposure and time to plan.
- Physicians, surgeons, and other high-liability professionals, planning years before any claim exists.
- Business owners with personal guarantees or industry exposure.
- Real estate investors whose entities do not cover every risk.
- Anyone with substantial assets and no current claims on the horizon.
An asset protection trust in Utah does not fit anyone reacting to a claim that already exists. A transfer made after a known creditor appears fails Section 75B-1-303(5)(a)(ii), and no jurisdiction cures that.
It also does not fit anyone unwilling to genuinely give up control. Section 75B-1-303(3) and (4) are not drafting preferences; they are conditions.
What It Does Not Do
- It does not reduce income tax. Depending on structure the income may still be reported by the settlor.
- It does not shield you from your own negligence claims retroactively. Timing governs everything.
- It does not defeat Utah’s Medicaid estate recovery in the ordinary case. Section 26B-3-1001(12) defines the recovery estate broadly, and Section 26B-3-1013(5) voids any trust provision denying recovery at the time it is made. Recovery reaches property conveyed through joint tenancy, life estate, or a living trust, and the lien is of indefinite duration.
- It does not protect against domestic support obligations in the way it protects against ordinary creditors, as the notice requirement and Section 75B-1-303(8)(b) make plain.
- It does not avoid the need for the rest of a plan. A will, incapacity documents, and correct beneficiary designations are still required.
Section 75B-1-308 addresses claims against beneficiaries of an asset protection trust, Section 75B-1-309 the liability of a participant, and Section 75B-1-310 distributions. Section 75B-1-306 provides for an affidavit of solvency, which is a practical step at each funding.
The Offshore Comparison
People weighing an asset protection trust in Utah often compare it against a foreign structure. The trade-off is straightforward.
An offshore trust adds jurisdictional friction, since a foreign trustee in a jurisdiction that does not recognize US judgments cannot simply be served. It also adds annual information reporting with penalties that attach to the failure to file rather than to any tax owed, plus foreign trustee fees and local counsel. And a US court retains jurisdiction over a Utah settlor, and can order repatriation and hold the settlor in contempt for refusing.
The domestic version has less friction and vastly less compliance. For a Utah resident with Utah assets and Utah creditors it usually delivers most of the benefit at a fraction of the cost. A US person also remains taxed on worldwide income regardless of where a trust sits, so the offshore version changes reporting rather than tax.
Two ordinary Utah protections are worth knowing before building anything. A spendthrift provision protects a beneficiary’s interest from that beneficiary’s creditors, which handles the next generation without any self-settled structure at all. And Sections 78B-5-505(1)(n) and (2) exempt inherited individual retirement accounts in Utah, the opposite of the general federal bankruptcy result.
The wider planning framework is in the Utah estate planning overview.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Utah allow self-settled asset protection trusts?
Yes. Title 75B, Chapter 1, Part 3, enacted by Chapter 338 of the 2025 General Session, permits a trust protecting the settlor’s own assets if the statutory requirements are met.
Do I need a Utah trustee?
Yes, continuously. Section 75B-1-303(2)(a)(ii) requires that at all times at least one trustee be a Utah resident or a Utah trust company.
Can I still control the trust?
No. Section 75B-1-303(3) bars the settlor from revoking, amending, terminating, or withdrawing without consent of an adversely affected beneficiary, though the settlor may retain a power to substitute assets of substantially equivalent value.
Can I require the trustee to pay me?
No. Section 75B-1-303(4) prohibits mandatory distributions of income or principal to the settlor, subject to narrow exceptions. The settlor is a discretionary beneficiary.
Does saying I want creditor protection hurt me?
No. Section 75B-1-303(5)(b) provides that an expressed intention to protect assets from potential future creditors is not evidence of intent to hinder, delay, or defraud a known creditor.
What must a creditor prove?
Under Section 75B-1-303(7), a creditor bears the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that a transfer was made with intent to hinder, delay, or defraud a known creditor, or that it rendered the settlor insolvent.
What happens if the trust is drafted wrong?
Section 75B-1-303(8)(a) provides that failing certain structural requirements means no property in the trust is ever protected. Failing a transfer condition affects only the property transferred in violation.
Will it protect my home from Medicaid recovery?
Generally not. Section 26B-3-1001(12) defines Utah’s recovery estate broadly, and Section 26B-3-1013(5) voids any trust provision purporting to deny recovery at the time it is made.
Considering an asset protection trust, or holding one drafted before the 2025 statute? The structural requirements changed, and a defect in them costs the protection entirely.
Schedule a consultation or call (801) 613-1472. Offices in Lindon and West Jordan, Utah.
This article is general information about Utah law, not legal advice for your situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Asset protection planning is timing sensitive and should not be attempted in response to an existing claim.