Decanting Irrevocable Trusts in New York State

While irrevocable trusts - whose terms generally cannot be amended, modified or revoked - have a variety of uses in estate planning, they lack flexibility. Unforeseen events or a change in a client’s estate planning objectives may cause the terms of an existing irrevocable trust to become obsolete. Decanting is a solution to this problem. Trust decanting, as its name would suggest, is an estate planning technique through which a trustee transfers assets from one trust to a second trust. In New York State, decanting is specifically authorized by statute (EPTL 10-6.6).

This first part of the program will review decanting under New York State law. It will provide viewers with useful applications of decanting and the procedure for decanting a trust in New York State. It will also review the limitations of decanting. The second part of the program will examine the potential estate, gift, income, and generation-skipping tax consequences of decanting a trust. The last part of the course will review recent updates in the law that affect decanting.

Learning Objectives:

1. Identify useful applications of trust decanting
2. Review the procedure for decanting a trust under New York State Law
3. Advise clients on the potential tax consequences of decanting