All revocable trusts become irrevocable when the Grantor, the person who had the power to revoke it, becomes incapacitated or dies. At that point they need their own tax identification and must file their own tax return.
When doing estate planning, you can decide if you want an irrevocable trust that will hold all of the deceased spouse's assets (but usually benefit the surviving spouse) at the first death or simply allow all assets to pass to a revocable trust for the surviving spouse. Some people make the choice to divide the trust assets for tax reasons. Even if there isn't a tax reason, other people make the choice to divide the trust based on a desire to lock up the assets as much as possible for their chosen beneficiaries or to protect from their spouse's creditors or bad influencers.
At the death of the surviving spouse, some families prefer that the assets go outright to their beneficiaries, while other families want the assets to stay in a trust for a certain number of years or even for the beneficiary's entire lifetime. Some choose this for tax reasons, because the child has special needs, or simply because they want the child to benefit from protection against creditors, bankruptcy, and divorce.
We've created this video to help you choose what is right for your family.
