June 25, 2018

Are you contemplating using a tool such as an irrevocable life insurance trust? You need the support of an attorney who has helped many other people. Craft these trusts before to ensure that all of the provisions appropriately protect you and are legally valid. 

Simply put, estate plan attention must be given to your irrevocable life insurance trust. If someone has joint trustees listed on an ILIT, one common question brought forward by clients is whether or not the beneficiaries will be able to keep those funds out of the estates of beneficiaries. While this may seem like a cost-effective step to list two of your children on the ILIT before the second death, it is important that everyone understands the requirements of being a trustee and how to appropriately accomplish them. It might also be beneficial to contemplate transferring the trustee powers to a third party, assuming that the beneficiaries intend to access the funds for their own purposes.

If not, the IRS may determine that this is actually a trust fund inside the personal estate of the beneficiaries. A consultation with an estate planning attorney can go a long way towards addressing issues and questions you may have over the duration of the process.