2 New Jersey Estate Planning § 27.01

Summary

• [1] Abolition of the Rule Against Perpetuities

  The common law rule known as the “rule against perpetuities” generally provided that a future interest in property was void unless it would necessarily vest or fail to vest within 21 years after the death of some person (or persons) who was alive when the future interest was created. This meant that the duration of a trust could not extend beyond this period. In 1991, New Jersey enacted the Uniform Statutory Rule Against Perpetuities, which modified this common law rule and adopted what is often referred to as a “wait and see” approach. Under this approach, although a future interest (such as the right to receive trust property upon the termination of a trust) would not necessarily vest or fail to vest within the period measured by the lifetime of a person(s) alive at the creation of the interest plus 21 years, the interest would nonetheless be valid if it actually vested or failed to vest within 90 years after its creation (in the latter ...