For Alabama, South Carolina and Kentucky, the trust must specify a particular person
or entity as the residual beneficiary. In these states, if the trust states that after
death the trust will go to a specifically named person or entity, or if it states
that the trust is to go “to my children, or issue, or descendants”, this is specific enough to identify a person and the trust is irrevocable.
If, on the other hand, the trust language says that after death, the trust will go
“to
my estate” or “to the heirs” of the primary beneficiary (or some other non-specific general term), this is not
sufficient. This trust would be revocable by the grantor because this wording is not
specific enough to identify persons who, upon the person's death, may become the person's
heirs.
For Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee, the above general
principle is not followed.