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  • Recent Articles

  • Life Insurance

    Life Insurance Services

    We have substantial hands-on experience placing large amounts of life insurance for high net worth individuals. Our clients routinely apply for $5,000,000 – $10,000,000 of death benefit. On more than one occasion, we successfully placed close to $50,000,000 of life insurance coverage on a single life. Through our alliances, we offer life insurance products from some of the industry’s highest-rated and most competitive life insurance carriers.

    We also have extensive experience underwriting and placing life insurance for people in less than perfect health. The expertise of our in-house underwriters, our established relationships with many of the industry’s top impaired risk carriers, and the substantial amount of business given to the various life insurance carriers, puts you in a strong position towards achieving a favorable underwriting decision and related pricing.

    Our life insurance settlement solutions can unlock hidden value within life insurance policies you no longer need or want.

    Because of low interest rates and a volatile investment climate, many life insurance policies sold in the last two decades have not performed as shown in the original sales illustration. If left unattended, some life insurance policies could lapse.  We are pleased to offer you a free life insurance policy review as an introduction to our practice. It is designed to compare the actual performance of any existing policy to what was expected when the policy was originally purchased. If a policy is not performing as anticipated, we can help you identify solutions designed to improve the situation.

    Life Insurance To Pay Estate Tax

    Death is the event that triggers the estate tax. Death is also the event that triggers a life insurance company to pay off. There is no financial product that is a better match for estate tax planning. Life insurance is the only asset you will ever own that will reach its highest value at the precise moment of greatest need. Life insurance can help make up for a lot of bad planning or a lack of planning altogether.

    The Real Magic Comes When You Combine The Appropriate Estate Tax Strategies With Life Insurance. And Here Is The Reason Why…

    Neither one is as effective on its own. Most estate planning strategies involve moving assets out of the estate over a period of years without causing a gift tax. Many strategies do not work well if you die within a prescribed period of time or do not live a long time. This mortality risk can nullify the benefits of certain techniques such as Qualified Personal Residence Trust – QPRT and Grantor Retained Annuity Trust – GRAT. Life insurance, on the other hand, is more effective in the early years than the later years. Combining life insurance with the appropriate estate planning strategy can guarantee a successful planning transaction. They perfectly complement each other.

    Trustees and Fiduciaries Governed By The Uniform Prudent Investor Act – UPIA

    Because of low interest rates and a volatile investment climate, many Trust Owned Life Insurance ( TOLI ) policies sold in the last two decades have not performed as shown in the original sales illustration. If left unattended, some life insurance policies could lapse.”

    The primary role of a life insurance trustee is to maximize the value of the TOLI policy held in an irrevocable Life Insurance Trust ( ILIT ) for which it has management responsibility. Sometimes that duty calls for the replacement of an existing life insurance policy for one that is more appropriate and provides greater value to the trust beneficiaries.

    For those professional trustees governed by The Uniform Prudent Investor Act ( UPIA ) there may be a fiduciary responsibility to monitor all assets, including life insurance, to ensure continued suitability for the specific trust goals. The professional trustee should have a process in place to review the trust owned policies and that monitoring should be well documented.

    The non-professional trustee of an irrevocable life insurance trust should adopt a deliberate monitoring process as well. Improper policy administration may subject the trustee to scrutiny, criticism, and maybe even legal liability. Proper review of a complicated asset like a life insurance policy by a non-professional trustee is frequently lacking and may cause the policy to underperform and not provide the expected result.

    The life insurance industry has undergone a transformation over the past two decades. Lower mortality charges, cost efficiencies, special riders, aggressive underwriting, competitive pressures, more sophisticated agents, more sophisticated consumers, and access to capital markets have allowed insurance companies to create new life insurance products that may provide a better value than years past.
    While price is important, fiduciaries must be aware of potential disadvantages when considering the replacement of a permanent life insurance policy with another. Below are the following disadvantages: