Reading the Trust Instrument - 2026

2 IRS CE/CTEC/NASBA CPE*

Trust documents land on practitioners' desks for ordinary reasons: setting up a 1041, allocating DNI on K-1s, confirming grantor trust status, assessing a §2041 inclusion, or just identifying the right EIN. Misreading the instrument has consequences that run from a wrong taxpayer ID to a missed estate inclusion to advice that contradicts the document the client signed. The skill is unglamorous and rarely taught directly.

The program walks through the architecture of a trust instrument — identifying the grantor, trustees, and current and contingent beneficiaries, and the order in which dispositive provisions operate. It covers language used in revocable and irrevocable trusts, common children's provisions (pot trusts, separate shares, per stirpes vs. per capita at each generation), general versus limited powers of appointment with the §§ 2041, 2514, 674(a), 676, and 678 consequences that follow, and tax-payment clauses. Three sample trusts pulled from a public registry of deeds anchor the discussion so the reading happens against real drafting, not idealized forms.

For EAs, CPAs, and tax attorneys who prepare 1041s, advise trustees, or handle estate and gift tax matters and want a methodical approach to working through an unfamiliar instrument.

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*Self-Study recording not available for NASBA CPE credit.

NASBA Field of Study: Taxes

IRS Program #: 7Q3WU-T-
CTEC Course #: 6248-CE-