Decanting breathes new life into an old trust

Description

Abstract: “Decanting” can breathe new life into an irrevocable trust. This process allows a trustee to use his or her distribution powers to “pour” funds from one trust into another trust with different terms, thereby providing the trustee with added flexibility to adapt a trust in light of changing tax laws or family circumstances. But decanting laws vary dramatically from state to state. This article describes some of these differences and their effect on estate planning goals. A sidebar mentions a few of the tax implications of decanting.