Due to recent changes in North Carolina law, irrevocable trusts are no longer “set in stone.” Irrevocable trusts can now be rewritten for a variety of reasons and in a variety of methods or even terminated. When the terms of an irrevocable trust become troublesome, a beneficiary or trustee of the trust will have the option to remedy a defective or unwanted trust provision or terminate the trust.

Sometimes the best way to fix the trust is simply to replace it. When a beneficiary or trustee experiences trouble in the application of trust terms or becomes aware that the terms are deficient in some respect, the trustee or beneficiary should consider whether tools such as decanting or trust modification may allow trust assets to be administered under different and improved trust terms. When these options are available, they may provide relatively simple, cost-effective ways to modernize an old trust, change a trust’s administrative provisions, improve clarity or correct drafting errors.