In the old days, trusts tended to be pretty simple.  Typically, a trustee was expected to invest the funds conservatively and pay interest to a beneficiary at regular intervals.  That was about it. Today, however, trustees are often expected to invest aggressively and successfully in a much more complex market.  They may be subject to far more tax, compliance and regulatory requirements.  And they may have to provide not for a single beneficiary but for a

Here’s another story that shows the importance of picking a good trustee – someone who will adhere to your wishes and prevent disputes down the road. It’s also proof that just because someone has died, that doesn’t mean they cant be the source of a lawsuit – so carefully drafting your document can save a lot of headaches. Henry Hansen set up a trust to benefit his two daughters, Mildred and Ruth.  The trustee was to

Once a year, you’ll transfer to the ILIT enough money to pay the policy premiums.  This transfer to a trust would ordinarily be subject to the gift tax.  But there’s a way around that problem too. Under the gift tax laws, you can give $12,000 per person per year to any individuals you want before the gift tax applies.  So the idea is to “give” the money to your trust beneficiaries for tax purposes, while actually

If you own life insurance, you probably bought it to protect your family if something happens to you.  But did you know that half of your life insurance proceeds could end up going to the U.S. Treasury, rather than to your heirs? The proceeds themselves will go to your beneficiaries.  But the amount of the proceeds will be added to your estate for estate tax purposes. If you have enough assets to be subject to the