Articles tagged: Pfannenstiehl

Revoking the Irrevocable Trust in a Divorce - Or - Never Say Can't, Say Decant! - Part II*

Even with Pfannenstiehl behind us, the complex interplay of the irrevocable trust and divorce continues to vex practitioners. The topic du jour is decanting and divorce -- and the SJC just dove right in with Ferri v. Powell Ferri, 476 Mass. 651 (2017).

Before we go further, a quick primer. “Decanting” is the process of pouring assets from an irrevocable trust into a newly created trust. The big question at the heart of decanting and divorce: what if, during (or anticipating) a divorce, the trustee decanted the assets into a newly created trust that was, say, more divorce-proof than the original trust? But, before we examine that issue, what is the law about decanting generally? When can a trustee decant the assets in an…