Endowment Plan
Each parcel accepted will either be accompanied by an endowment sufficient to pay taxes and reasonable insurance (to prevent forfeiture by court action in a liability suit or through tax lien) or there must be a plan for how the property will generate an endowment fund.
Inclusion in the Endowment Plan of a reasonable sum for capital improvements is desirable, but this can be accrued through a lease fee agreement, as can repair and maintenance funds.
New trusts will thus pull all of their own weight and provide some money to the general support of the ACT organization. This seems the slow but sure way to grow.
Agreement with ACT
All trusts agree to reimburse ACT for all costs encountered in fulfilling our duties as title holder or reversionary interest holder for each parcel. This will be accomplished either through lease fees or through income from interest on the original endowment.
All trusts will enter into mediation/ arbitration agreements at the time of their inception.
Deed
All deeds will spell out major trust intents and requirements. These conditions will also be part of any new deeds generated for the parcel. Conditions permitting any future sale of the property will be specified.
Land Use/ Stewardship Plan
Basic land stewardship plans will be completed before the trust is accepted, with provision for more complete detail to be added as the need arises
Lifetime Tenancy and Family Participation
Whenever the party putting the land in trust wishes to reserve the right to use the land for any present or future members of their family; that right must be spelled out in the original documents. Otherwise, the family will have no special access rights.
Stewardship
All trusts must create a list of the major duties, responsibilities and privileges of the land stewards at the time the trust is created. This list will be used in selecting resident stewards for the property.
Any special requirements for replacing the first generation of stewards, if they are selected by the donor, will be specified, if they differ from ACT's usual selection process.
