Should Revocable Trust be Renamed “Irrevocable” When Grantor Dies?
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Question:
My mom passed away. I’m the trustee of her revocable trust. Should the legal name of the trust and its investment accounts now be “revocable” or “irrevocable?”
Response:
Many revocable trusts end upon the grantor’s death. However, many others continue, as appears to be the case with your mother’s trust. Since in most cases only the grantor of a revocable trust has the power to revoke or amend it, the trust becomes irrevocable upon their death. However, the name of the trust may still include the word “revocable,” such as “The Susan Jones Revocable Trust.” This is confusing since the trust has become, in fact, irrevocable. But there’s not much that can be done about it. The name of the trust is the name of the trust and will continue to include “revocable” in its title and on investment accounts held by the trust.
For this reason, in our practice we have stopped using “revocable” in the names of revocable trusts. In our example, we would call the trust simply “The Susan Jones Trust,” not indicating in its title whether it’s revocable or irrevocable. That way there should be less confusion when it switches over from revocable to irrevocable upon the death of the grantor.
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