Did you ever wonder if you can revoke an irrevocable trust? The bigger question is, why would you want to? Didn't the grantor set it up to ensure it's not revoked? All good questions, but you never know.
Many clients' biggest concern with creating irrevocable trusts is, “what if something happens” they never expected. As estate planning attorneys, we are able to calm client fears by expressing that an IPug® trust can permit them, as grantor, to retain rights to the income and continue for their life to continue all their assets and retain the complete authority to distribute the principal to anyone they choose at any time, other than themselves or their spouses (if Medicaid eligibility is a goal). Inevitably, there's always one client who worries they might need it.
A typical response is, they can distribute it to their kids and the kids can give it back. While this is true, it is not a foolproof planning strategy, as we cannot be assured that the children will actually give it to them in the manner the grantor so desired. More commonly, the need to revoke an irrevocable trust occurs if the client falls ill and needs long-term care prior to the five-year look-back period running. To “cure” the transfer to the irrevocable trust, one seeks to revoke the irrevocable trust in whole or in part, to ensure funds are given back to the grantor to pay through any penalty period caused by the transfer of assets that remain in the IPug. The question becomes, can you revoke an irrevocable trust?
The answer is, it depends on your state law. In most states, an irrevocable trust can be modified or revoked (completely or partially) if all of the parties consent. In an IPug trust, however, you do not need all of the parties to consent to modify the trust, as the grantor retains a non-generated power of appointment that allows the grantor the full rights to modify the trust beneficiaries in any way, shape or form, including the ability to modify the timing, manner and method of distribution to the beneficiaries. But one unbending restriction is that the grantor can never change the trust to give himself or herself access to the principal.
So who are considered the parties to the trust? Generally, the parties consist of the grantor, the trustee, and all of the beneficiaries. When drafting an irrevocable IPug trust, the grantor and trustee is traditionally the client. Therefore two out of the three can be accomplished with just the grantor. Further, getting consent of all of the beneficiaries traditionally includes the grantor, as they may be an income beneficiary during their life. The distinction then becomes, who else are the beneficiaries?
When considering those who are responsible to consent to a modification or revocation, one must look to the trust terms to determine if an individual is a present beneficiary, a residuary beneficiary, or a contingent beneficiary. Generally, most states require the consent of the present and residuary beneficiaries. Consent will not be required from any beneficiaries whose interest is not affected by the amendment or revocation. Some states, however, require even the consent of the contingent beneficiaries. Contingent beneficiaries are those who would receive the benefit from the trust if the present interest or residuary beneficiaries were not able to. Typically, this would be the children beneficiaries where a "per stirpes" distribution is provided for.
This can become very problematic if you need contingent beneficiaries’ consent, because most would be a minor and unable to consent. Then you would need to look to state law to see if a parent can consent on behalf of a child. In most states, since it's a property interest, parents do not automatically have the legal right to affect the property interests of their children, just guardianship over their “person.” The strategy with an IPug is to utilize the retained power of appointment to remove all beneficiaries except one, and then get that one named beneficiary to consent to the modification. After the modification is accomplished, the grantor can again modify the trust and rename all of the original beneficiaries if desired. Where it can get complicated is if any of the parties are deceased. Generally speaking, if a party is deceased, then the contingent beneficiaries would be required.
The bigger challenge is if the grantor is deceased. While a strong argument can be made that consent of the beneficiaries who ultimately benefit from the trust should be enough, it is very difficult to overcome a challenge that an irrevocable trust in the absence of the grantor who created it was meant to remain unchanged. It is presumed in the creation of the trust that the intentions of the grantor will be maintained in their absence. If you want to ensure that it can be modified after a grantor’s death or incompetence, your irrevocable trust should authorize a modification with the consent of the beneficiaries in the absence of the grantor by virtue of incompetency or death. You must, however, in all circumstances ensure that no modification can be made to permit the grantor to have access to the principle. Doing so would invalidate all of the protections originally sought by the irrevocable trust.
In a handful of states, consent of the parties is not sufficient to modify an irrevocable trust and consent from the court is required. This is a much more difficult approach, if for no other reason than the time it takes to get the court's consent, and the possible consequences or loss of assets caused by the delay. The cost by utilizing courts can be counter to the client's “protection” goal. That's obviously on a state by state and court by court basis. So if you're doing this planning, know your state's rules. The good news is that it is rare, if ever, that you need to revoke an IPug trust, and if you need to, it is quite simple to do by minimizing the beneficiaries through your power of appointment.
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David J. Zumpano, Esq, CPA, Co-founder Lawyers With Purpose, Founder and Senior Partner of Estate Planning Law Center
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