Q: Changing the asset of a QPRT.
I placed my residence in Virginia into a QPRT two years ago splitting it between my two children. My son has since become disabled. I bought a house for me and my husband in California this month and am currently in the process of selling my house in Virginia under the QPRT. I want to buy another property in California for my son with the proceeds of the sale.
Knowing my children, I have certain misgivings about splitting the property between my two children when only one of them will be planning to live there. Is there a way to modify the QPRT so that it only one child is the beneficiary or ideally placing the initial California home into the QPRT instead even though it was purchased before I sold the home in Virginia?
The amount I spent on the home in California is roughly equal to the assessed value of the home in Virginia plus a mortgage. I plan to sell the Virginia home, though for significantly more, however.
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A: This is a question that is best posed directly to the attorney who helped you create the QPRT as he or she knows best what your existing QPRT provides.
A: Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs) are irrevocable trusts, which means they are not easily changeable or dissolvable. Whether or not your QPRT can be modified will depend on the language in your particular document. There is something called "decanting" that might be used to pour the contents of one trust into a brand new trust, but a lawyer would have to read your QPRT to know if that is applicable. It would save you money to go back to the lawyer who drafted your QPRT in the first place, rather than pay a new lawyer to read it. Best wishes!
Andrei Jingan agrees with this answer
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