Carl King Discusses Post-Kaestner Trusts & Estates Developments at ACTEC National Fall Meeting

On October 17th, Womble Bond Dickinson Private Wealth Partner Carl King spoke on “State Income Tax Planning and Post-Kaestner Updates” at the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) National Fall Meeting in Denver.  

In this presentation, King reviewed North Carolina's new 2026 statutory response to Kaestner, including the state’s transition from beneficiary-based fiduciary income taxation to a source-income regime and the practical implications for trustees, advisors, and multistate trusts.

King is a national authority on the constitutionality of state fiduciary income taxes.  In 2018, he was a primary drafter of the ACTEC amicus (“friend of the court”) brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in the Kaestner case, in which the taxpayer prevailed. He has spoken and written widely about income taxation of trusts and estates; and he has worked tirelessly to revise poor tax statues in states across the U.S.  

This summer, seven years following its defeat in the high court, North Carolina significantly revised its tax statute. King was honored to work on the legislative subcommittee of the N.C. Bar Association and serve as the liaison with the N.C. Bankers Association to encourage the passage of the new statute, which broadly benefits many trusts and estates residing in North Carolina.

You can view the PowerPoint Presentation here.