Hello,

Do revocable trust accounts automatically convert to irrevocable trust accounts upon the death of the trustor/grantor? Do irrevocable trusts negate the need for an estate account when the trustor dies? We have a revocable trust by husband/wife and the husband died. The wife is both trustee and bnf. What happens to this trust account, does it become irrevocable and stay a separate entity? Please note there is a successor bnf on the original trust account.

I know we went over this in our last seminar Ken but I forgot what we said about this type of case. Huricannes do that to you.<g>

Thank you,
Carolyn

There is no hard and fast answer to what happens to a revocable trust when a grantor dies. Most of them become irrevocable. However, the only way to know what this one does is to read the document.

If the deceased transferred all of his property to the trust prior to death or at the time of death only owned property subject to survivorship provisions outside the trust, it is possible there would be no probate estate. There may, however, be an estate for tax purposes.