Irrevocable Trust Services permanent asset protection and estate planning through an irrevocable trust.

An irrevocable trust is a trust in which the settlor permanently transfers assets to the trustee, giving up all rights to recover or control those assets. Unlike a revocable trust, the assets in an irrevocable trust are no longer part of the settlor's legal estate — they are fully owned by the trust for the benefit of the designated beneficiaries. This makes the irrevocable trust the most powerful structure for asset protection from the settlor's future creditors, succession planning, and — in a charitable context — for tax-efficient giving through properly structured public trusts.

In India, irrevocable trusts are used for several distinct purposes: protecting family assets from the settlor's business liabilities and creditors, transferring wealth to the next generation in a controlled manner while minimising estate-related disputes, setting up offshore trusts through the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS) for NRIs seeking global asset protection, and creating charitable endowments where the founder intends a permanent, long-term giving structure. The Income Tax Act treats irrevocable trusts differently from revocable trusts — income of an irrevocable trust with specific beneficiaries is taxed at the applicable rates of each beneficiary, while income of a discretionary irrevocable trust is taxed at the maximum marginal rate.

Our irrevocable trust practice covers objective-specific structure advisory, drafting of irrevocable trust deed with comprehensive trustee powers, beneficiary protective provisions, spendthrift clauses, protector role, investment mandate, and succession of trustees, stamp duty and registration, post-registration income tax compliance, offshore trust advisory for NRIs under the FEMA framework, and advisory on the implications of irrevocability for estate tax planning in jurisdictions where the beneficiaries reside.