Irrevocable Trust

Today TaxMama® hears from RG in the TaxQuips Forum with an oxymoron. “Can an irrevocable living trust be changed by the person that created it?” 

 

Hi RG,  

Well….do you know what irrevocable means?  

It means you cannot revoke the trust. It generally also means that you cannot change the trust without getting the written permission of the beneficiary.  

Can you change any of the terms? I don’t know. You’d have to ask the attorney who created the trust. Or if you created the trust yourself, using boilerplate software… READ THE TERMS OF THE TRUST! This is one of those RTI (read the instructions) questions.  

If your trust contains a provision that allows you change any (or some) of the terms, then yes. If not, no.  

(Incidentally, just curious…are you sure you have an IRrevocable LIVING trust? I thought all living trusts were revocable.)

And remember, you can find answers to all kinds of questions about trusts and other tax and business issues, free. Where? Where else? At www.TaxMama.com.

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