what kind of trust is this?

[sgeubank]

My father set up a revocable trust. On his death, as directed by the trust, the "final distribution" of the balance in the trust was divided into separate trusts for each of his children. His entire estate did not meet the threshold for the estate tax at the time of his death. I am the trustee of my trust. My father's intention was to support education, health, and maintenance for his grandchildren, but I have "wide discretion as to the payment of income and principal" to myself or my children. The title of the trust document establishing my trust reads "Trust established for the benefit of <my name> pursuant to <my father's name> revocable trust dated <a date in 1990> as amended". My questions are 1) what type of trust is it - living, revocable / irrevocable, generation-skipping, some combination of these terms? 2) Is my father still the "grantor"? 3) Am I the "owner" of the trust? 4) Are my children beneficiaries along with me although they aren't listed in the FBO part? 5) If these questions can only be answered by language in the trust documents, what do I look for?

[M-MTax · Accepted solution]

To answer your last question, you need to look for language stating that you have certain immutable powers and authority, for example, to vest the corpus, in whole or in part, to yourself personally. I strongly recommend that you consult with local legal counsel.

Your father was the grantor but not any longer as the trust became irrevocable upon his passing and is now a separate entity. Again, depending upon the language in the trust, you may be "owner" of part, or all, of the trust corpus. 

Otherwise, with typical trust language, you would be trustee and beneficiary of a complex trust (i.e., one where the trustee has discretion to distribute corpus) and the trust simply has skip persons (or at least potential skip persons).

To reiterate, you need to have the entire document reviewed by a local professional (preferably a local estates/trusts lawyer) to ensure you are discharging your obligations under the trust in accordance with the terms.

[MaryK4]

1. It is now a irrevocable trust.  While your father was alive, the trust was revocable, meaning he could dissolve it at any time.  With a revocable trust, the income etc. is reported on the grantor's individual tax return. At his passing (and condolences, the trusts became irrevocable and so they are separate and independent.  

2. Your father is the grantor, because he established the trust.

3. Your father would still be the owner, as grantor; but as trustee you now have a duty to maintain and follow his wishes.  If you do not want to do so, you must disclaim.  (but in self-interest, check the documents to make sure what happens)

4. Your children are beneficiaries and as trustee you have a fiduciary duty to them and they will succeed you in interest.  

5. With trust documents, they are only as effective as the writer, reader and interpreter.  If you cannot understand any specific part, ask for help- even have another set of eyes look at them.

[M-MTax]

Your father would still be the owner, as grantor; but as trustee you now have a duty to maintain and follow his wishes.  If you do not want to do so, you must disclaim. 

The father can no longer be the owner because he has passed (although he was the grantor). However, that is now largely irrelevant. Also, if @sgeubank does not want to comply with the terms of the trust, @sgeubank should resign as trustee; a disclaimer would be used by a beneficiary to disclaim any right to trust corpus or proceeds.

Your children are beneficiaries and as trustee you have a fiduciary duty to them and they will succeed you in interest.  

We don't know the exact terms of the trust so we can't be absolutely certain of that either. Although it is likely, @sgeubank may have the authority to distribute the corpus to himself and terminate the trust. We just don't know whether the children are contingent or successor beneficiaries or whether the language in the trust that relates to them is merely precatory.