In New York, a revocable trust can be revoked unilaterally by the grantor of the trust whereas the grantor of an irrevocable trust must either receive permission from the beneficiaries under EPTL §7-1.9(a) or satisfy the decanting requirements under EPTL §10-6.6(b). The key difference between a revocable and irrevocable trust lies in how the trust is administered and what purpose it is to serve. A revocable trust is mainly used to avoid probate and provide for administration of the assets if the trust creator (also known as trustor or settlor) becomes incapacitated. The creator can be both the Trustee and beneficiary of the trust. Since the creator has complete control over how the assets are spent, it is a “grantor” trust and all income of the trust is taxed to the grantor. Upon the Testator’s death, the assets are disbursed according to the provisions in the Trust, much like a Will but avoiding the hassle of Surrogate’s Court. An irrevocable trust also avoids probate but is predominantly used for robust asset protection and, in many cases, to move assets outside of an estate to avoid or minimize inheritance tax.  The Trustor is prohibited from acting as Trustee but can retain certain powers – such as the right to change beneficiaries and trustees and the right to an income stream. An irrevocable trust can be drafted as either a grantor trust or a non-grantor trust, by including or avoiding certain grantor rules contained in Internal Code §§ 671, 673, 674, 675, 676, and 677.