Changing an irrevocable trust: The impossible is now made possible

Lawyers' Forum

By Rita E. Luce

Rita E. Luce is a partner at Harrison & Held LLP. In addition to speaking and publishing on the topic of qualified plans, she has created numerous effective pre- and post-mortem qualified plan beneficiary designations.

Posted November 10, 2014 2:42 PM

Being an irrevocable trust once meant the trust was governed by an unamendable and irrevocable trust agreement. Changing an irrevocable trust was a contradiction in terms. It was often impossible (short of a court order) to amend a trust agreement designed to be unamendable. Under current Illinois law, that is no longer the case; irrevocable does not mean what it used to mean. Today, Illinois has at least four ways to change an irrevocable trust without going to court.Decanting: The Illinois decanting statute (760 …

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