Charitable trusts usually contain provisions to allow modification of the trust agreement to comply with changes in federal tax or other laws. This type of modification can be accomplished using a document signed by the trustee and all the beneficiaries. Typically, current as well as remainder beneficiaries must sign. A remainder beneficiary is a charitable organization that receives the balance of the trust after its income is distributed to other beneficiaries for a period of time. A court may also order judicial modification of a trust when it’s petitioned to do so by the trustee and/or beneficiaries. If circumstances have changed and made the administration of an irrevocable trust unreasonably expensive or if its purpose has become outdated, the trustee and/or the trust beneficiaries can request that the terms of the trust be modified or that the trust be completely terminated through mutual agreement or judicial modification.
