A trust (survivor’s trust)
In an A-B-C plan, the surviving spouse's own revocable trust — typically their half of marital property plus assets they always controlled. Not the same as the marital QTIP (C trust).
| Facet | Detail |
|---|---|
| Also called | Survivor's trust, survivor's revocable trust, A trust |
| A-B / A-B-C role | A in A-B-C; in simple A-B plans the marital side may be A or QTIP |
| When created | Often pre-exists as survivor's RLT; confirmed or funded at first death |
| Revocable | Yes — survivor retains full control |
| Inter vivos / testamentary | Inter vivos (survivor's living trust) |
| Typical beneficiaries | Surviving spouse during life; then children/heirs per survivor's plan |
| Primary purpose | Hold survivor's separate share without mixing with bypass or QTIP |
| Marital deduction | No — this is survivor's own property, not a transfer from first decedent |
| Uses estate exclusion | Uses survivor's exclusion at survivor's death, not first decedent's |
| In survivor's estate | Yes — fully included |
| Basis step-up | Step-up at survivor's death |
| Income tax | Grantor trust while survivor is alive and competent |
| Crummey powers | No |
| GST / dynasty | May pour to dynasty trusts at survivor's death |
| Spendthrift | Weak while revocable |
| See-through (IRA) | Generally poor IRA beneficiary |
| Key tradeoff | Full flexibility for survivor vs no use of first decedent's exclusion for this share |