Can you take money (distributions) out of an irrevocable trust

6 May 2024 · 1 min

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In this video, Jerry Taylor addresses the common question of whether an individual can withdraw cash or take distributions from an irrevocable trust. He begins by distinguishing between revocable and irrevocable trusts, explaining that revocable trusts can be altered or terminated by the grantor during their lifetime, whereas irrevocable trusts are generally fixed once established, with only limited and difficult ways to modify them. The discussion sets the foundation for understanding the constraints on accessing assets held in an irrevocable trust and hints at the typical motivations for creating such a trust, which influence distribution rules.

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The question for today is, if I create an irrevocable trust, can I take distributions from it? Can I take cash out of it? Well, first off, for those of you that are new here, any kind of trust that you hear about is either a revocable trust or an irrevocable trust. A revocable trust is just as it says, revocable. You can do away with it if you wanted to. That typically doesn't happen unless a couple gets divorced, but you can do away with it. You can change it, amend it at any time during your lifetime. An irrevocable trust, on the other hand, is pretty much just the opposite. You cannot change an irrevocable trust once it is created. There is in fact a way to change it, but it's very difficult, and once you create one and put some assets in it, You just need to assume that you're not going to be able to change it going forward. The primary reason you would create a revol—