Decanting Trusts

Decanting trusts. What the heck does the Decanting Trust mean in Florida trust law? Decanting Trust is a concept that’s been around in Florida for decades, because probably the original trust case on decanting happened right here in Palm Beach County.

Decanting a Florida trust means I’m going to take assets from one trust. And I’m going to put them in another trust. That’s completely permissible. The other trust may have better provisions. More protective provisions and completely different terms, or slightly different terms.

But we need to be careful. We need to notify beneficiary. Speak with our trustee. We may need a court to do it. Most probably we do, and we need to be careful of the income and federal estate, or gift tax implications.