A, B, C’s of Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts

The reflex to push assets into an irrevocable trust to beat the estate-tax sunset no longer holds — Congress made the roughly $15 million exemption permanent for 2026, and the revocable-versus-irrevocable decision now turns on Medicaid eligibility, basis step-up, and asset protection rather than a closing window. As clients age into the five-year lookback and long-term care costs climb, Medicaid asset protection planning has only intensified, even while the estate-tax rationale that drove SLATs and aggressive gifting recedes. Attorneys still working from sunset-era templates risk recommending irrevocable structures that surrender step-up and flexibility for a tax benefit most clients no…