Can an Irrevocable Trust Be Changed or Ended?

Headlines around Rupert Murdoch’s estate battle concern his wish to change an irrevocable trust to give one son an elevated role and more control of his empire. The other siblings have taken their father to court. According to a recent article from Market Watch, “No trust is set in stone. Even irrevocable trusts can have some wiggle room.” What does this mean for regular people who want to change irrevocable trusts?

Trusts are legal structures in which the person creating the trust, the grantor, passes assets to another person or entity, referred to as the beneficiary. Revocable trusts can, as their name implies, be changed by the grantor at any time. Trusts are used to pass wealth to heirs, pass assets without needing to go through probate, maintain privacy and remove assets from the taxable estate.

Irrevocable trusts are intended to be permanent and transfer control of assets when they are created. Many are used for tax planning, while others help families to help a parent become eligible for Medicaid. For blended families, irrevocable trusts ensure that assets are distributed to spouses and biological children as per the wishes of the grantor.

Despite the name, there are ways to make changes to irrevocable trusts by knowledgeable estate planning attorneys. For new irrevocable trusts, careful drafting of the trust with built-in flexibility is critical. Some common provisions today are for the grantor to have the ability to change the trustee, amend terms, change beneficiaries and even revoke the trust.

If the original grantor is incapacitated or dies, a “trust protector” can be named to change the trust.

Decanting the trust is another way to make a change. Just as it sounds, this process involves having the assets in one trust decanted (or poured) into another trust. One example is if a family has created a multi-generation irrevocable trust, and the next generation includes a person with substance abuse issues. The family doesn’t want this person to have access to large sums. The trust is “decanted,” and assets move from the original trust to another with more restrictive provisions.

Consult with an experienced estate planning attorney to be sure that any changes to an irrevocable trust align with your state’s laws. If you are creating a new irrevocable trust, discuss having flexibility built into the trust.

Contact Attorney John Hoffman, Jr. for a free consultation! We proudly serve clients throughout Akron, Copley, Medina, Stow, Hudson, Wadsworth, and beyond.

Reference: Market Watch (Sept. 28, 2024) “No trust is set in stone. Even irrevocable trusts can have some wiggle room.”