The Tax and Non-Tax Aspects of Decanting Irrevocable Trusts

This presentation serves as an overview of the gift, estate, income and generation-skipping transfer tax issues to consider when contemplating a trust decanting. There are several tools that are available to practioners to amend an irrevocable trust agreement to better fulfill the objectives of the grantors and the beneficiaries. Decanting has become one of the preferred mechanisms for amending irrevocable trusts. The purpose of this outline, as presented to the Beverly Hills Bar Association Trusts and Estates Section and co-authored with Todd A. Flubacher, Meryl G. Finkelstein and Cynthia D.M. Brown, is to highlight to tax issues to consider when decanting a trust.