Robert S. (Rust) Tippett

Email:[email protected]

Areas of Expertise:

  • Estate Planning
  • Exempt Organizations
  • Guardianship/Conservatorship and Elder Law
  • Probate and Trust Litigation
  • Probate, Estate, and Trust Administration
  • Tax
  • Trust and Estate Mediation

Background & Experience:

Robert S. (Rust) Tippett is a partner at Bennett Tueller Johnson & Deere in Salt Lake City.  His practice focuses on all aspects of estate planning, including trusts, probate, estate and gift taxation and conservatorships.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), and is a member of ACTEC’s Asset Protection and Legal Education Committees.

Mr. Tippett holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan.  From 2003 to 2008 he served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southern California (USC) Gould School of Law.  He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the Brigham Young University (BYU) J. Reuben Clark School of Law.

Mr. Tippett was the principal author of Utah’s asset protection trust statute, which was signed into law by the Governor on March 28, 2013.

Mr. Tippett has appeared on the Court Roster of Approved Mediators for the State of Utah, and is a member of the Utah Council on Conflict Resolution. He is available to mediate probate and trust disputes.

Mr. Tippett was selected as one of Utah’s “Legal Elite” by Utah Business Magazine in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.

In addition to authoring The Utah Law of Trusts & Estates (a comprehensive 700-page legal reference treatise) and other materials available at www.utahestateplanning.org, Mr. Tippett has published and presented many articles and papers in the trust and estate field.

Education:

Yale University (B.A., 1984, cum laude)
University of Michigan (J.D., 1987)

 

Professional Experience:

  • Adjunct Professor of Law, J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University (Wills & Estates; Trusts; Advanced Estate Planning) Fall 2009 to the Present
  • Recipient: 2011 BYU Law School Adjunct Professor of the Year Award.
  • Recipient: 2017 BYU Student Bar Association Adjunct Professor of the Year Award.
  • Recipient: 2018 BYU Student Bar Association Adjunct Professor of the Year Award.
  • Recipient: 2020 BYU Student Bar Association Adjunct Professor of the Year Award.
  • Adjunct Professor of Law, Gould School of Law, University of Southern California (Gifts, Wills & Trusts) Spring 2003 through Spring 2008
  • Recipient: 2005 USC Student Bar Association Outstanding Adjunct Professor Award
  • Chair, Utah State Bar Estate Planning Section 2019-2020 (Vice Chair, 2018-2019; Secretary/Treasurer, 2017-2018; Program Chair, 2016-2017)
  • Member, Committee on Legislation, Utah State bar Estate Planning Section, 2011 to Present
  • Chair, Estate Tax Committee, Taxation Section Los Angeles County Bar Association 1999-2000 (Vice Chair, 1998-1999; Secretary, 1997-1998)
  • Clerk to The Honorable Aldon J. Anderson, U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, 1987-1988
  • Member-at-Large, Executive Committee, Taxation Section Los Angeles County Bar Association 2000-2002
  • Member of the Utah and California Bars
  • Member, Salt Lake Estate Planning Council