Why Would I Create an Intentionally Defective Trust?

When your estate includes substantial assets, minimizing federal gift and estate taxes should be a key consideration in your estate plan. Although it may sound counter-intuitive, one advanced estate planning tool you may find beneficial is an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT). This irrevocable trust is uniquely designed to help transfer wealth to family members during your lifetime while strategically reducing tax liabilities. To help you understand, the Indianapolis attorneys at Frank & Kraft explain how an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust works and how it can be used as part of a comprehensive estate plan.

What Is the Purpose of an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust?

An IDGT is a type of irrevocable trust often created to benefit a Grantor’s (person creating the trust) spouse, children, or other descendants. Its primary goal is to remove the assets placed in the trust from the Grantor’s taxable estate which helps to protect the assets from estate taxes after the Grantor’s death while allowing the trust’s assets to appreciate over time without additional taxation.

What makes an IDGT unique, however, is the ability to freeze its assets for estate tax purposes while keeping the Grantor liable for income taxes generated by those assets. By using provisions within the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) that treat the trust as “defective” for income tax purposes, the trust makes use of this loophole. The result is that the trust’s assets can grow free of gift taxes while avoiding inclusion in the Grantor’s estate for estate tax purposes.

What Makes a Trust “Defective”?

The “defective” part of an IDGT arises from specific provisions in the IRC (sections 671–679). These provisions ensure that while the assets are treated as separate from the Grantor for estate tax purposes, they are not considered separate for income tax purposes. This setup creates an unusual but beneficial scenario wherein the Grantor continues to pay income tax on the trust’s earnings, further reducing the Grantor’s taxable estate without reducing the value of the trust’s assets for the beneficiaries.

To function as intended, the trust must be carefully drafted to include the right provisions. At the same time, it must avoid provisions that could accidentally nullify the Grantor trust status or bring the trust assets back into the Grantor’s estate. The Trustee, typically an independent third party, is also vital in ensuring the trust operates correctly.

Funding an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust

An IDGT can be funded in one of two primary ways, either through a completed gift or via an installment sale. A completed gift is one of the most common methods of funding an IDGT. In this case, the Grantor transfers appreciating assets, such as stocks, real estate, or business interests, into the trust as an irrevocable gift. By doing so, the future growth of these assets occurs within the trust and benefits the beneficiaries without triggering additional estate or gift taxes.

While this strategy is effective, you should be mindful of gift tax rules. Any gift exceeding the annual gift tax exclusion amount ($19,000 per recipient for 2025) will be subject to federal gift tax and may reduce your lifetime exemption; however, the potential tax savings from future appreciation often outweigh the upfront cost of exceeding the exclusion limit.

Another way to fund an IDGT is through an installment sale. In this scenario, the Grantor sells assets to the trust in exchange for a promissory note. The note obligates the trust to make interest-bearing payments to the Grantor over time. Because the trust is considered a grantor trust for income tax purposes, the sale is not recognized as a taxable event, and no capital gains tax is due.

This strategy allows the Grantor to maintain an income stream from the installment payments while transferring future appreciation of the assets to the trust beneficiaries. As long as the value of the assets sold matches the value of the promissory note, there is no immediate gift tax liability.

Should I Include an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust in My Estate Plan?

An IDGT is a powerful estate planning tool, but it requires precise drafting and careful administration to work as intended. Working with an experienced estate planning attorney during the creation and administration of an IDGT is essential to ensure the trust meets your goals and that it complies with all relevant tax laws.

Would Your Estate Plan Benefit from an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust?

For more information, please join us for an upcoming FREE seminar. If you believe that your estate plan might benefit from the inclusion of an Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust, contact the experienced Indianapolis trust attorneys at Frank & Kraft by calling (317) 684-1100 to schedule an appointment.

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