This memorandum is designed to outline some of the basic administrative steps to be followed by the Trustee of an irrevocable life insurance trust (hereinafter referred to as an “ILIT” or the “Trust”).  When properly implemented and administered, an ILIT prevents the imposition of estate tax on any life insurance policies owned by the Trust

Special Considerations Regarding Domicile in Florida

Though the words are often used interchangeably in casual conversation, domicile and residence are two distinct legal concepts.  Your domicile is the place you intend to make your home.  You may be a resident of more than one state, but you are domiciled in only one state.  Domicile is

A wealthy family may create a family office to achieve a wide range of objectives. These objectives may include realizing the benefits of pooled capital in order to maximize the universe of available investment opportunities at optimal cost; maximizing investment returns; ensuring financial security for future generations; and providing coordinated administrative, managerial and wealth advisory

Assets that you own at your death are included in your taxable estate. Lifetime gifting offers an excellent opportunity to remove assets from your taxable estate, yet it is often psychologically and economically difficult for people to make gifts and completely relinquish control over an asset. For a client considering a lifetime gifting program, a

A personal residence can be an ideal asset to gift to a properly designed trust for your descendants or other beneficiaries.

The basic concept is deceptively simple:  Parent establishes an irrevocable trust for the benefit of children, thereby locking in use of Parent’s lifetime gift exemption as a hedge against a reduction in the exemption

GRATs Allow Transfer of Wealth Outside Your Estate With Minimal or No Gift Tax

Now is a good time to consider wealth transfer strategies that remove assets from your taxable estate.  A common strategy is a grantor retained annuity trust, commonly referred to as a GRAT.

Description. A GRAT is a strategy that freezes the