Nearly every state now allows some form of dynasty trust, but the permitted duration ranges from 90 years to forever. Among the states that allow dynasty trusts to last in perpetuity are Alaska, Delaware, Idaho, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, Rhode Island, and South Dakota. Another cluster caps trusts at 300 to 1,000 years, and roughly two dozen states still follow a 90-year framework. Duration is the headline number, but state income tax, asset protection, and privacy rules often decide which jurisdiction is actually best for a given family.
States That Allow Perpetual Trusts
These states have eliminated the Rule Against Perpetuities, so a properly drafted trust can theoretically last forever. They attract most of the dynasty trust business because nothing forces a distribution or a taxable termination down the line.
- Alaska. No state income tax and perpetual duration. One of the most popular dynasty trust jurisdictions.
- Delaware. Perpetual for personal property. Real estate held directly in trust is capped at 110 years, but holding real estate through an LLC inside the trust effectively sidesteps that limit.
- Idaho. Abolished the Rule Against Perpetuities for both real and personal property. The power of alienation cannot be suspended for more than 25 years after the death of a living individual unless the trustee has the power to sell trust property.
- Missouri. The Rule Against Perpetuities does not apply if the trustee has the power to sell the trust property during any period beyond the traditional perpetuities timeframe.1Missouri Revisor of Statutes. RSMo Section 456.025
- New Hampshire. Trusts are exempt from the Rule Against Perpetuities when the governing instrument expressly 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. Abolished the Rule Against Perpetuities for trusts where the trustee has the power to sell trust property.
- Rhode Island. Abolished the common-law Rule Against Perpetuities entirely for interests created after the effective date of its repeal statute.3Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws 34-11-38 – Rule Against Perpetuities
- South Dakota. No state income tax and perpetual duration. Along with Alaska and Delaware, considered one of the top three dynasty trust jurisdictions.
Notice the recurring condition: several of these states only abolish the rule when the trustee has the power to sell trust assets. Draft that power out of the instrument and the traditional rule may still apply.
States With Long but Finite Durations
A second tier of states hasn’t abolished the rule but has stretched the permissible duration far beyond the common-law limit. For most planning purposes these terms function like perpetual trusts.
- Colorado. 1,000 years.
- Utah. 1,000 years. Utah amended its statutory rule in 2025 to extend the period from 90 years to 1,000 years for nonvested property interests.4Utah Legislature. Utah Code Title 75 Chapter 2 Part 12 – Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities
- Virginia. 1,000 years for personal property held in trust, effective for interests created on or after July 1, 2024. Real property held directly in trust stays on the 90-year rule, but interests in entities that own real property qualify for the 1,000-year period.5Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia Title 55.1 Chapter 1 Article 2 – Rule Against Perpetuities
- Wyoming. 1,000 years for property other than real property. Real property held directly in trust follows different, shorter rules; real estate held through an entity inside the trust qualifies for the 1,000-year period.6Justia Law. Wyoming Code 34-1-139 – Perpetuities; Time Limits for Vesting
- Nevada. 365 years.7Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 111.1031 – Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities
- Tennessee. 360 years for the vesting of nonvested property interests, which also applies to noncharitable purpose trusts.
- Texas. 300 years for trusts that became irrevocable on or after September 1, 2021. Older trusts follow the traditional lives-in-being-plus-21-years formula.8State of Texas. Texas Code Property Code 112.036 – Rule Against Perpetuities
States Still on the 90-Year Framework
A large group of states adopted the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities or similar legislation that uses a flat 90-year vesting period. Ninety years still covers multiple generations, but it falls well short of centuries. States generally understood to follow this framework include 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 shifts. Utah, Virginia, Colorado, and Missouri all moved beyond the 90-year rule in recent years, and any state here could pass similar legislation. Verifying current law in your target state before you draft is worth the effort.
Real Estate Is Often Treated Differently
Delaware, Virginia, and Wyoming all treat real property held directly in trust differently from personal property. Delaware caps direct real estate at 110 years. Virginia keeps direct real estate on the 90-year rule. Wyoming applies shorter rules to direct real estate. In each state, holding the real estate through an LLC, partnership, or corporation inside the trust converts the asset into a personal property interest for perpetuities purposes and qualifies it for the extended or perpetual term. If a dynasty trust will hold real estate, entity ownership is usually essential to get the full duration the state’s headline number advertises.
Beyond Duration: What Else to Compare
Two states can both allow perpetual trusts and still produce very different outcomes. Once a dynasty trust becomes irrevocable, you cannot easily unwind the choice, so the surrounding rules matter.
State Income Tax on Trust Income
After the grantor dies, a dynasty trust is a non-grantor trust for income tax purposes and pays tax on undistributed earnings itself. 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 not Delaware residents. California and New York can tax trust income based on the trustee’s location, the beneficiaries’ residency, or where the trust was created. Over a trust that lasts a century or more, even a modest state rate compounds into a significant drag on growth, which is why the most popular dynasty trust jurisdictions cluster among the no-income-tax states.
Asset Protection
Dynasty trusts are typically drafted with spendthrift provisions that block a beneficiary’s creditors from reaching trust assets, and the strength of those provisions varies by state. A smaller group of states also permits domestic asset protection trusts, sometimes called self-settled trusts, where the grantor can be a beneficiary while still shielding assets from the grantor’s own creditors. Alaska, Delaware, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wyoming are among the states that allow this structure. If the grantor wants to retain some beneficial interest in the trust, self-settled protection becomes a critical filter.
Trustee and Situs Requirements
You do not need to live in a state to create a dynasty trust there. Most dynasty-friendly states allow non-residents to set up trusts, but they typically require a connection, most commonly a trustee located in the state, usually a corporate trust company. Some also look at where the trust is administered, where records are kept, or how the governing instrument sets situs. Existing trusts in less favorable states can sometimes be moved by appointing a replacement trustee in the new state, transferring assets and records, amending the instrument, or decanting into a new trust governed by the destination state’s law. Beneficiary consent or court approval may be required.
Privacy
States differ in how much trust information ends up in the public record. Some require very little disclosure of trust terms, beneficiaries, or assets in court proceedings. South Dakota and Nevada are frequently cited for strong trust privacy protections.
Why the State Choice Pays Off: The GST Tax
The federal reason to bother with a dynasty trust is the generation-skipping transfer tax. Without one, wealth passing from grandparents to grandchildren or further down the line gets hit at each generational level, on top of any estate or gift tax. The GST rate equals the top estate tax rate, currently 40%, and the compounding effect at every generation is what a dynasty trust is designed to avoid.
When the grantor allocates their GST exemption to the trust at funding, the trust assets and all future growth pass 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 their 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 set by the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act signed in July 2025, which made the higher exemption level permanent.
Every dollar of growth inside the trust also escapes GST tax. Over three or four generations in a state that allows the trust to keep running, the tax savings can dwarf the original contribution. That is the case for shopping jurisdictions carefully rather than defaulting to the state you happen to live in.