An Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) can be a powerful tool for preserving life insurance proceeds for heirs while managing estate tax and creditor exposure. At the Law Offices of Robert P. Bergman, we assist families in Santa Cruz County in understanding how an ILIT works, how it interacts with other estate planning documents such as revocable living trusts and pour-over wills, and how to structure ownership and beneficiary designations to align with long-term goals. This overview helps you identify whether an ILIT may make sense for your circumstances and how it fits into a broader estate plan for asset continuity and family care.
Deciding whether to place a policy into an ILIT involves careful consideration of ownership transfer rules, gift tax implications, and the timing of trust formation relative to policy transfers. We explain the typical components of an ILIT including trustees, beneficiaries, trust funding mechanics, and the interactions with financial powers and health care directives. Our goal is to make technical concepts approachable so you can make well-informed decisions about protecting proceeds, providing for minor or vulnerable beneficiaries, and preserving retirement and other assets for intended recipients over time.
An ILIT offers several practical benefits for families seeking to manage wealth transfer efficiently and discreetly. By removing a life insurance policy from the insured’s taxable estate, an ILIT can reduce potential estate tax exposure and help ensure that proceeds pass directly to designated beneficiaries without probate delay. In addition, an ILIT can provide creditor protection for trust assets and allow for controlled distributions to beneficiaries according to your directions. Properly drafted trust provisions can accommodate educational support, healthcare needs, and special distribution schedules for younger family members or those with unique financial needs.
The Law Offices of Robert P. Bergman assists clients across Santa Cruz County and the greater Bay Area with estate planning and trust administration matters. Our approach emphasizes clear communication, careful document drafting, and practical planning to align legal tools with each client’s family circumstances and financial objectives. We help clients integrate ILITs with revocable living trusts, wills, powers of attorney, and health care directives to form a cohesive plan that reflects individual priorities while addressing tax, creditor, and administrative concerns that often arise when life insurance proceeds are involved.
An ILIT is a separate legal entity created to own a life insurance policy and receive its proceeds at the insured person’s death. The trust document sets out who will serve as trustee, who the beneficiaries are, and how distributions will be made after the insurance proceeds are received. Establishing an ILIT typically requires formal trust drafting, funding instructions, and coordination with the insurance carrier to change policy ownership and beneficiary designations. The trust’s terms govern how funds are used, which can include income for surviving dependents, education funding, or purchases of assets to provide ongoing support.
Key considerations in forming an ILIT include timing of the transfer, possible gift tax consequences when a policy is moved into the trust, and how to handle premium payments once the trust owns the policy. If the insured transfers an existing policy, federal rules may include a three-year inclusion period that can affect estate tax outcomes. Premiums may be paid by the trust or by family members making gifts to the trust, and the trust document can include provisions to accept or manage those contributions. Planning also looks at successor trustees and how to administer proceeds after the insured’s death.
An ILIT is a trust that cannot be revoked by the grantor and is designed specifically to hold life insurance policies outside the insured’s estate. Once the trust owns the policy, the trustee manages it according to the trust terms and distributes the proceeds to beneficiaries as directed. The irrevocable nature means the grantor gives up control over the policy and the trust property, which helps achieve the goal of estate removal. Trust provisions typically address trustee powers, distribution standards, and contingencies such as minor beneficiaries or dependent care needs while ensuring compliance with applicable tax and probate rules.
Implementing an ILIT involves drafting the trust instrument, selecting a trustee, transferring ownership of an existing policy or directing a new policy to be issued to the trust, and arranging for ongoing premium payments. The trust document often includes provisions to allow the trustee to accept gifts, manage investments, and make discretionary or mandatory distributions. Administrative processes include coordinating with insurance carriers to change ownership and beneficiary designations, recording transfers when necessary, and maintaining trust records. Effective coordination with other estate planning documents helps ensure the ILIT functions as intended within the overall plan.
Understanding the specialized terminology used in life insurance trust planning helps you make smart decisions and communicate clearly with advisors. Common terms include grantor, trustee, beneficiary, gift tax, estate inclusion, pour-over will, and Heggstad petition, among others. Familiarity with these concepts makes it easier to follow drafting options, recognize timing and tax issues, and grasp the roles of different documents such as powers of attorney and health care directives. This glossary provides plain-language explanations so clients can weigh choices and ask focused questions during the planning process.
The grantor is the person who creates the trust and transfers property into it. In the context of an ILIT, the grantor is typically the insured who establishes the trust and arranges for the policy to be owned by the trust. Once the grantor transfers ownership into an irrevocable trust, the grantor generally gives up the ability to control or revoke the trust, which is important for achieving removal of the policy proceeds from the taxable estate. Legal counsel can help ensure the transfer is properly documented and timed to meet intended estate planning goals.
The trustee is the person or institution appointed to administer the trust according to its terms. Trustees manage the life insurance policy, handle premium payments if the trust is funding the policy, and distribute proceeds when the policy pays out. A trustee has fiduciary responsibilities to act in the best interests of the beneficiaries and must follow the trust document’s distribution standards and administrative procedures. Choosing an appropriate trustee involves evaluating reliability, recordkeeping capacity, and familiarity with trust administration duties.
A beneficiary is the individual or entity designated to receive benefits from the trust, such as life insurance proceeds. Beneficiaries can be family members, charitable organizations, or other persons or entities. The trust document can describe how and when beneficiaries receive distributions, whether as outright payments, scheduled installments, or for specific purposes like education or health care. Clear beneficiary provisions help avoid disputes and ensure proceeds are used as intended to provide for heirs and other intended recipients.
A Heggstad petition is a legal request to the probate court seeking recognition and enforcement of a trust transfer or to resolve discrepancies where property remains titled in the grantor’s name despite being intended for trust ownership. In ILIT planning, a Heggstad petition can be useful when formal transfer steps were overlooked or when an asset appears to be part of the probate estate but was meant to be held by the trust. Filing such a petition asks the court to honor transfer intent and to avoid unnecessary probate administration when appropriate evidence is presented.
When considering life insurance within an estate plan, clients should weigh options such as keeping a policy in a personal estate, transferring it to a revocable living trust, or moving it into an ILIT. Each approach has tradeoffs related to control, tax treatment, probate exposure, and creditor protection. A policy that remains in the insured’s estate may be simpler but could increase estate tax exposure and subject proceeds to creditor claims and probate delay. Conversely, placing the policy in an ILIT reduces estate inclusion but requires irrevocable transfer and thoughtful administration to address funding and timing concerns.
A limited approach to life insurance ownership may be appropriate for individuals with smaller estates or straightforward beneficiary plans where estate tax exposure is unlikely. For people whose primary interest is to ensure that a surviving spouse or dependent receives liquidity quickly without complex distribution instructions, keeping the policy in the insured’s name or using beneficiary designations can be a simple and effective choice. This path requires less administrative complexity and fewer formal trust management duties while still providing death benefit proceeds to intended recipients.
If the main goal is to provide immediate cash to cover final expenses, mortgage payments, or short-term needs for survivors, a more limited arrangement can be suitable. Maintaining straightforward beneficiary designations or keeping the policy within a revocable arrangement can facilitate direct payment to loved ones without trust administration steps. However, while this approach may meet short-term liquidity needs, it does not offer the same level of long-term creditor protection or estate tax planning benefits that an ILIT can provide, so the choice depends on broader financial and family priorities.
A comprehensive approach that includes an ILIT alongside other planning tools helps preserve life insurance proceeds from estate inclusion and potential creditor claims. When policy proceeds are owned by the trust, those assets are more likely to pass pursuant to the trust terms without probate delays and public administration. This structure is particularly meaningful for families seeking to protect inheritances for children, beneficiaries with special needs, or heirs who might face creditor or creditor-related judgments. Thoughtful drafting can specify distribution conditions that reflect long-term intentions and protect legacy assets for intended recipients.
Comprehensive planning coordinates an ILIT with retirement plan trusts, pour-over wills, powers of attorney, and other documents to ensure consistent outcomes across different asset types. This coordination reduces the risk of unintended consequences such as conflicting beneficiary designations or gaps in liquidity planning. Combining these tools can create a more resilient estate plan that addresses tax efficiency, distribution timing, and care for vulnerable beneficiaries, aligning lifetime management strategies with post-death administration procedures to reduce stress and family disputes during difficult times.
A comprehensive estate plan that includes an ILIT helps create certainty around how life insurance proceeds will be handled, reducing administrative friction and potential disputes. By setting clear trustee powers and distribution standards, the plan can provide steady financial support to survivors, address special needs or education goals, and ensure that proceeds are used in line with the grantor’s wishes. An integrated plan also reduces the likelihood that assets will be tied up in probate, enabling faster access to funds for necessary expenses and ongoing support of dependents.
Beyond probate and liquidity benefits, a coordinated plan supports tax planning objectives and creditor protection considerations. When life insurance is properly owned by an ILIT and other assets are arranged through trusts and beneficiary designations, families gain flexibility in managing distributions and preserving wealth across generations. Regular reviews ensure the ILIT and accompanying documents continue to reflect changing life circumstances such as marriage, divorce, births, deaths, or shifts in financial status, which helps keep the plan effective and aligned with personal priorities over time.
Integrating an ILIT within a broader estate plan provides more nuanced control over how and when beneficiaries receive funds. Trust terms can create phased distributions, require trustee oversight for large sums, or designate funds for particular uses such as education and medical care. These mechanisms help reduce the risk that inheritances are misused or dissipated quickly and allow the grantor to protect vulnerable beneficiaries. The trustee’s role in administering proceeds replaces the default probate distribution rules with a customized plan that reflects family needs and long-term intentions.
When life insurance proceeds are channeled through an ILIT, distributions are handled privately according to the trust instrument rather than through public probate proceedings. This privacy helps families manage sensitive financial transitions without public scrutiny and can streamline administration by relying on trustee authority rather than court intervention. Reduced probate involvement often means quicker access to resources for survivors and lowers the administrative burden during grieving periods, making the transition smoother and more manageable for family members responsible for administering the estate.
Begin ILIT planning by clarifying who will own the policy and who will receive proceeds under the trust. Changing ownership requires coordination with the insurance carrier and careful documentation to avoid unintended tax or estate consequences. Designating clear beneficiaries and successor trustees in the trust document prevents confusion and helps ensure that proceeds are distributed in accordance with your wishes. Taking these steps early reduces the risk of disputes and simplifies trust administration after the insured’s death, especially when paired with complementary documents like a pour-over will and trust certification.
Ensure your ILIT works seamlessly with your revocable living trust, pour-over will, powers of attorney, and health care directives. Coordination avoids conflicts between beneficiary designations and trust terms, and helps ensure that any assets intended for the trust ultimately reach the proper destination. Regular reviews of the entire estate plan are important after life events such as births, marriages, divorces, or significant changes in financial circumstances. Updating documents and beneficiary designations as circumstances change preserves plan effectiveness and honors your long-term objectives.
Consider an ILIT if you want life insurance proceeds to pass to beneficiaries outside of probate and with protections from potential creditor claims. An ILIT is often appropriate for individuals who want to provide for minor children, family members with disabilities, or beneficiaries who would benefit from managed distributions rather than lump-sum payouts. The trust can also be part of a strategy to reduce estate tax exposure for larger estates by removing the policy from the gross estate, helping the grantor preserve wealth for heirs and charitable intentions without subjecting the proceeds to public probate processes.
You may also consider an ILIT when coordinating life insurance with retirement plan trusts and other legacy planning measures. Families with blended households or creditors, or those seeking to create structured distributions for education, healthcare, or long-term support, often value the control and privacy that an ILIT can provide. Legal and financial planning together can identify the best timing for transfers, whether to form the ILIT before purchasing new coverage or when transferring an existing policy, and how to structure trustee powers to meet your family’s needs across generations.
Typical circumstances that prompt ILIT planning include planning for estate tax mitigation, protecting proceeds from creditor claims, providing structured distributions for minor or disabled beneficiaries, and aligning life insurance with broader trust arrangements. An ILIT is also useful for ensuring proceeds go to heirs in the preferred manner rather than passing through probate. Families facing complex beneficiary situations, such as second marriages or special needs scenarios, can use ILIT provisions to preserve benefits while directing distributions to meet intended goals under carefully drafted trustee instructions.
An ILIT can be structured to hold life insurance proceeds and provide for the care, education, and support of minor children or other dependents. Trust terms allow the grantor to set ages or milestones for distributions, require trustee oversight for large disbursements, and direct funds for specific purposes like schooling or medical care. This structure helps prevent unintended depletion of assets and ensures that appointed trustees can manage funds responsibly until beneficiaries reach maturity or meet conditions set by the grantor.
Families concerned about potential creditor claims or litigation can use an ILIT to create a degree of separation between the insured’s estate and life insurance proceeds. While no planning eliminates all risk, owning the policy through an irrevocable trust can reduce the likelihood that proceeds will be subject to creditor claims against the insured or the estate. Appropriate drafting and administration of the trust, combined with timing considerations for transfers, help increase the effectiveness of these protective measures in alignment with state and federal rules.
An ILIT is commonly used alongside retirement plan trusts, pour-over wills, and revocable living trusts to create a unified plan for retirement accounts, real property, and insurance proceeds. Coordination ensures that beneficiary designations and trust provisions work together to accomplish intended transfers and liquidity needs, reducing the risk of assets falling through the cracks or creating unplanned tax outcomes. Careful review of account designations and trust terms keeps the estate plan aligned with current family dynamics and financial objectives.
The Law Offices of Robert P. Bergman is available to help Ben Lomond and Santa Cruz County residents navigate ILIT formation and coordination with broader estate plans. We provide practical guidance on trust drafting, ownership transfers, and ongoing administration to help you achieve your objectives while reducing unnecessary delays or risks. We aim to explain options clearly, prepare the necessary documents, and coordinate with insurance carriers and financial advisors so your ILIT functions as intended when needed most.
Clients work with our office because we focus on careful document drafting, thoughtful planning, and coordinated administration across trusts, wills, and related instruments. We help clients translate family goals into clear trust provisions, establishing trusteeship arrangements and funding mechanisms that reflect practical realities and personal preferences. This attention to detail helps reduce misunderstandings, supports trustee decision-making, and promotes efficient administration when the life insurance proceeds are payable to trust beneficiaries.
Our work includes reviewing existing estate planning documents, advising on ownership and beneficiary changes, and preparing any supplemental instruments such as certification of trust or pour-over wills. We also help clients understand the implications of transferring existing policies versus issuing new coverage in the trust’s name, addressing timing and gift tax considerations. This collaborative process ensures the ILIT dovetails with retirement plan trusts, powers of attorney, and health care directives to create a cohesive overall plan.
We emphasize client education, clear instructions for trustees, and practical administration steps so that the trust can be operated smoothly when needed. Our approach includes preparing clear trust language addressing distribution standards, successor trustee appointment, and trust recordkeeping to minimize friction after a death event. The result is a durable plan intended to preserve value for beneficiaries while aligning with the grantor’s wishes and family circumstances.
Our process begins with a focused information-gathering conversation to understand family dynamics, policy status, and financial goals. We then outline options for forming or funding an ILIT, explain timing and tax considerations, and prepare a draft trust for review. Once documents are finalized and signed, we coordinate ownership change with insurance carriers and prepare supporting instruments such as a certification of trust and pour-over will if needed. We remain available to assist trustees with administration tasks and to update documents as circumstances evolve.
In the first step we collect relevant details about your life insurance policies, existing estate documents, family needs, and financial goals. This discussion clarifies whether forming a new ILIT, transferring an existing policy, or using alternative mechanisms best suits your situation. We explain immediate and longer-term implications so you can make informed choices about trust terms, trustee selection, and premium funding strategies. Accurate information at this stage supports effective drafting and coordination with carriers and advisors.
We review current life insurance policies, beneficiary designations, and trust or will documents to identify conflicts or gaps. This review helps determine whether a direct transfer to an ILIT is advisable or whether other steps are needed to align estate documents. By evaluating policy ownership, cash value status, and any assignment provisions, we can design a plan that meets the client’s objectives while reducing the risk of unintended tax or administrative consequences.
Drafting trust provisions requires careful attention to distribution standards, trustee powers, and contingencies. We help craft language that addresses educational funding, support for family members with special needs, and durable instructions for successor trustees. Clear definitions and practical administration steps help ensure trustees can act promptly and in accordance with the grantor’s intent, minimizing disputes and administrative delays when the trust becomes operative.
After selecting trust provisions and confirming funding strategies, we prepare the formal ILIT instrument and any related documents such as certification of trust, pour-over will, and supporting powers of attorney. We guide clients through execution formalities, witness requirements, and notarial steps to ensure the documents are legally effective. Proper execution helps reduce future challenges and supports the trust’s intended asset protections and distribution plan for policy proceeds.
Changing policy ownership to the ILIT requires timely communication with the insurance company, submission of assignment forms, and confirmation of beneficiary designations. We assist in preparing the necessary carrier paperwork and verifying that the trust is properly named as owner and beneficiary as appropriate. This coordination helps ensure there are no lapses in coverage or misunderstandings that could jeopardize the trust’s ability to receive proceeds when the policy pays out.
We advise on practical options for paying premiums after the trust owns the policy, including methods for making gifts to the trust, setting up trust-owned bank accounts, or arranging trustee-led payment plans. Properly designed funding mechanisms keep the policy in force and preserve the planning benefits of the ILIT. Documentation of premium payments and gift receipts is also important for recordkeeping and potential tax reporting needs.
Once the ILIT is in place, ongoing administration and occasional reviews are important to maintain effectiveness. Trustees should keep accurate records of premium payments, trust receipts, and distributions. Periodic reviews address life changes that may require updates to trust provisions, beneficiary instructions, or coordination with other estate planning documents. We provide guidance to trustees and beneficiaries on administrative duties and help clients update documents as family or financial circumstances evolve to preserve intended outcomes.
Trustees must maintain detailed records of trust activities, including premium payments, receipts of gifts, and any distributions made. We can guide trustees on best practices for recordkeeping and reporting and provide assistance with communications to beneficiaries. Thoughtful administrative procedures support transparency and help reduce the chance of disputes or misunderstandings about trust operations over time.
Life events such as births, deaths, marriage, divorce, or significant changes in financial status may require modifications to related estate planning documents. We recommend periodic reviews to ensure that the ILIT, pour-over will, living trust, and beneficiary designations remain aligned with your objectives. These reviews help identify necessary amendments, address tax law updates, and confirm that trustee appointments and funding mechanisms continue to meet the family’s needs.
An Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust is a trust created to own and receive the proceeds of a life insurance policy. Once established, the trust becomes the legal owner of the policy and the trustee is responsible for managing the policy and distributing proceeds to the named beneficiaries according to the trust terms. The irrevocable nature of the trust means the grantor cannot revoke it or unilaterally regain ownership, which serves the planning purpose of removing the policy from the grantor’s taxable estate and providing structured distribution rules. Setting up an ILIT requires careful drafting, selection of an appropriate trustee, and coordination with the insurance carrier to change ownership and beneficiary designations. The trust document sets out distribution standards, trustee powers, and administrative processes. Proper execution and funding steps help ensure the ILIT performs as intended, offering probate avoidance for the insurance proceeds and potential protection from creditor claims while aligning with the grantor’s broader estate plan.
Transferring a life insurance policy into an ILIT can be treated as a gift for federal gift tax purposes, particularly when the transfer involves an existing policy. The value of the gift is generally the fair market value of the policy or the cash surrender value, depending on the circumstances, and may require reporting if it exceeds applicable exclusion amounts. When setting up an ILIT, timing and documentation are important for understanding potential gift tax consequences and leveraging available annual exclusions for premium gifts from family members. If the grantor funds the trust to cover premiums, annual exclusion gifts can be used to fund those premium payments without immediate gift tax consequences, provided the trustee follows procedures for gift acceptance. Thoughtful planning and coordination with tax advisors can help structure premium funding in a way that minimizes potential gift tax exposure while maintaining the intended estate planning benefits of the ILIT.
An ILIT generally functions alongside a revocable living trust rather than replacing it. The revocable living trust typically holds most other estate assets and manages lifetime property administration, while the ILIT specifically owns life insurance policies and handles their proceeds outside the revocable trust. Coordination between these documents helps ensure consistent beneficiary designations, clear distribution instructions, and a plan for assets not already in trust that may require pour-over mechanisms to reach the intended trust structure. When documents are drafted together, attorneys ensure that terms do not conflict and that beneficiary designations align with the grantor’s broader intentions. This coordination often includes preparing supporting instruments like pour-over wills, certification of trust, and instructions for successor trustees so both trusts operate in harmony and achieve the grantor’s goals for asset management and legacy planning.
A trustee of an ILIT should be someone or an institution capable of managing trust administrative duties, communicating with beneficiaries, and making distribution decisions in accordance with the trust terms. Trustee responsibilities include maintaining the policy, managing premium payments if required, keeping accurate records, and making distributions to beneficiaries as directed. The trustee acts under fiduciary duties and must follow the trust’s provisions while acting in the beneficiaries’ best interests. Choosing a trustee involves balancing trustworthiness, availability, and administrative competence. Some clients select a trusted family member with financial acumen, while others prefer a corporate trustee for continuity and professional recordkeeping. Naming successor trustees and describing backup procedures in the trust instrument helps ensure ongoing administration if the original trustee is unable to serve.
An ILIT can be drafted to provide for a beneficiary with impairments while preserving eligibility for public benefits, but careful drafting is required. Using a properly structured special needs trust or including distribution standards that support supplemental needs without counting as income for benefits can help maintain eligibility. The trust language must clearly specify that distributions are for supplemental care, not basic support, and should include trustee discretion to make distributions that enhance quality of life without jeopardizing public assistance. Coordination with benefits counsel and careful drafting are key to success. The ILIT can be an effective vehicle to hold life insurance proceeds and direct funds for supplemental needs while other protective instruments such as a dedicated special needs trust or appropriate beneficiary designations are used to safeguard public benefits. Planning also addresses trustee selection and reporting to ensure distributions align with eligibility requirements.
Federal rules provide a potential inclusion period for policies transferred shortly before death, which can affect whether the policy proceeds are included in the insured’s estate for tax purposes. If an insured transfers an existing life insurance policy to an ILIT and dies within a specified period after the transfer, the proceeds may be included in the insured’s estate. This timing consideration is important when transferring existing policies and can influence the decision to purchase a new policy owned by the trust instead of transferring an existing one. Because the timing rules can have significant tax consequences, careful planning is needed to determine the optimal approach for each situation. Where timing presents concerns, clients may consider alternatives such as issuing a new policy purchased by the trust or planning transfers well in advance of any anticipated estate events, always in consultation with legal and tax advisors to align the approach with individual circumstances.
Premium payments after the trust owns a policy can be handled through trust assets or by family members making gifts to the trust specifically for premium payment. The trust document should allow the trustee to accept gifts and apply them toward premiums, or a separate mechanism can be set up to ensure premiums are paid in a timely manner. Proper documentation of gifts and premium payments is important for recordkeeping and potential tax reporting reasons, and the trust should include instructions for the trustee on how to manage payment logistics. Many clients utilize annual exclusion gifting to cover premium payments without immediate gift tax consequences, provided the trustee receives and records the gifts properly. Coordination with financial advisors and clear trust provisions help trustees maintain coverage and preserve the ILIT’s benefits. Trustees should keep accurate records of each premium payment and corresponding gifts to support the trust’s administration and future accounting needs.
Transferring an existing life insurance policy into an ILIT is often possible, but it requires consideration of cash value, assignment procedures, and the potential for inclusion in the estate if the insured dies within a particular period after transfer. In some cases, purchasing a new policy owned by the trust may simplify matters and avoid complications related to transfers. The decision depends on policy terms, underwriting considerations, and whether the trust can fund premium payments reliably. When evaluating the choice, we review the policy’s current status, premium requirements, and potential tax implications to recommend a path that balances practicality with planning goals. Coordination with the insurance carrier and documentation of ownership changes are essential steps when transferring an existing policy to the ILIT to ensure the trust obtains the intended rights and benefits.
A pour-over will is a will that directs any assets not already in a trust at the time of death to be transferred into the grantor’s revocable trust. While a pour-over will does not directly affect the ILIT, it complements a coordinated estate plan by ensuring assets not previously retitled or placed in trust are channeled into the primary trust structure for administration. This instrument helps avoid unintended intestate distribution of assets and supports a more complete trust-based estate plan. With an ILIT in place, a pour-over will can serve as a backstop for non-trust assets, making sure they ultimately enter the trust administration process established by the grantor. Combining a pour-over will with adequate beneficiary designations and trust-owned policies helps create a seamless transition of assets and reduces the likelihood of probate-related delays and public administration procedures.
Periodic review of your ILIT and other estate planning documents is recommended whenever significant life events occur or at regular intervals to ensure the plan still reflects your wishes. Events such as births, deaths, marriage, divorce, major changes in financial condition, or changes in the law may necessitate updates. Regular review helps confirm that trustee appointments remain appropriate, beneficiary designations match current intentions, and premium funding strategies continue to be viable. We typically recommend scheduling reviews every few years or sooner after major life changes to reassess the ILIT’s effectiveness and compatibility with related instruments like revocable trusts and powers of attorney. These periodic assessments help clients adapt their plans to new circumstances and preserve intended outcomes for beneficiaries while maintaining administrative clarity for trustees.
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