Trust merger is when the sole trustee and the sole beneficiary of the trust are the same person or institution. When this occurs, there is no longer separation between the trustee’s legal ownership of the trust property and the beneficiary’s interest. The trust “merges” and ceases to exist. Put another way, when the person responsible for managing the trust is the same person as the recipient of the trust benefits, the trust ends.
[Last updated in October of 2021 by the Wex Definitions Team]