On August 10, 2012, Illinois Governor Quinn signed into law House Bill 4662, which amends the Illinois
Trusts and Trustees Act to grant trustees of certain trusts a
discretionary power to appoint the principal of one trust to the
trustee of a second trust. Illinois has now joined at least fifteen
other states with so-called "decanting" statutes that
grant this power to trustees. The statute takes effect on January
1, 2013, and it will apply to any trust administered under, or
governed by, Illinois law unless the decanting power is expressly
prohibited by the trust's governing instrument.
Generally, a decanting power allows a trustee, without the
approval of a court or the beneficiaries, to appoint the income or
principal, or both, of a trust to a second trust that may have
different terms. Examples of common uses of a decanting power
include appointing the assets of an older trust to a new trust with
modern administrative provisions, adding a trust advisor or
