Property Trusts May Stretch to Centuries

By Emily Wagster PettusAssociated Press

JACKSON – Mississippi legislators are advancing a bill that would add centuries to the length of time that property could be put into trust.

Current law allows trusts to last up to about 90 years.

Under a bill that the Senate debated Thursday, a trust could last up to 360 years.

Sen. Sally Doty of Brookhaven and other supporters say the change is needed because some other states allow trusts that are 360 years or longer. Doty says Mississippi banks and attorneys could lose business to those states.

Democratic Sen. Hob Bryan and other opponents say they don’t see the point of allowing people to try to control what happens more than three centuries from now.

House Bill 153 (http://bit.ly/1aNoYfC ) passed the Senate 24-21 Thursday. It will go to final House-Senate negotiations.