Fixing the Irrevocable Trust: Decanting, Modification, and Termination After OBBBA

Salvatore J. LaMendola, Shareholder | Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton, P.C

Salvatore J. LaMendola has practiced in the Trusts and Estates Practice Group of Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton, P.C. since 1996. His practice centers on general estate planning and on amending irrevocable trusts through trust decanting, exercises of powers of appointment, and other techniques. He also advises clients on pre-death and post-death planning for IRAs and other retirement plans, and on charitable planning using charitable remainder trusts, charitable lead trusts, and private foundations.

• Education & Credentials

Mr. LaMendola earned his J.D. from the Notre Dame Law School and his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated summa cum laude. He was admitted to practice in Michigan in 1994.

• Recognition & Leadership

In April 2026, the firm’s shareholders approved Mr. LaMendola’s election as a shareholder of Giarmarco, Mullins & Horton, P.C. His firm profile lists Rising Stars recognition in 2008 and from 2014 to 2016. He serves on the Estate Planning Advisory Board for Strafford and on the InterActive Legal Practice Advisory Board.

• Professional Involvement

Mr. LaMendola is a member of the Probate & Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan. He is a regular continuing education presenter for national legal education webinar providers, including Rossdale of Miami, Florida and Strafford of Dallas, Texas.

• Experience

Across nearly three decades at the firm, Mr. LaMendola has concentrated on restructuring irrevocable trusts that no longer serve their intended purposes, using decanting, powers of appointment, and related nonjudicial techniques. His work spans retirement plan benefit planning and charitable structures alongside core estate planning engagements.

SESSION 1 – Choosing and Executing the Right Tool to Fix a Broken Irrevocable Trust | 1:00pm – 2:00pm

This session examines the practical mechanics of selecting and executing the correct remediation tool when an irrevocable trust no longer serves its intended purpose — covering decanting, nonjudicial settlement agreements, judicial modification, and related techniques. Attorneys will learn how to match each tool to a specific trust problem, apply the post-CCA 202352018 framework for evaluating consent and gift-tax risk, and incorporate the OBBBA’s permanent $15M exemption into their re-evaluation of existing trust structures. Attendees leave with a decision framework for advising trustees and beneficiaries on which mechanism minimizes litigation exposure while achieving the client’s planning objectives.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 2 – Tax Consequences of Decanting, Modifying, and Terminating Irrevocable Trusts | 2:10pm – 3:10pm

This session examines the income tax, gift tax, and GST tax consequences of decanting, modifying, and terminating irrevocable trusts in the wake of CCA 202352018, Revenue Ruling 2023-2, and the One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s $15 million exemption. Attendees will analyze how the IRS’s evolving positions on beneficiary consent create gift tax exposure, how the no-basis-step-up rule under IRC § 1014 is driving trust restructuring decisions, and how GST grandfathered status can be preserved or lost through modification. Attorneys will leave with a framework for identifying taxable events across trust modification techniques and a practical approach to protective filing, structuring, and client counseling under current law.