Estate Planning with Life Insurance Products

Life Insurance and Estate Planning

Our attorneys at Taylor, Ganson & Perrin, LLP, help people plan to get maximum value from their life insurance. It is particularly important for families with younger children to explore the benefits of life insurance, as it provides an income stream for the family should one or both parents die. Our lawyers help parents and others set up irrevocable life insurance trusts for the benefit of their families. We also help them select the correct insurance policy type, discussing the pros and cons of term, whole life, and variable insurance products. To learn how life insurance can be a critical part of an estate plan, contact our Boston law firm.

A life insurance trust can maximize benefits to heirs by avoiding estate and income taxes.

During estate planning sessions, we advise clients on a wide range of strategies that use life insurance, including:

• Establishing an irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILIT)
• Funding an ILIT with annual gifts
• Replacing estate taxes paid with tax-free income from an ILIT
• Choosing a trustee for ILIT
• Funding a non-qualified pension plan with life insurance policies that have no tax liability
• Replacing funds going to charity through a charitable remainder trust with income from a life insurance trust
• Changing ownership of policies to minimize tax liability
• Using life insurance to fund a generation-skipping-trust

Using strategies such as these frequently provide heirs with an income that is not subject to estate tax or income tax. Death benefits from life insurance provide much more than simply paying the funeral expenses and final bills of the deceased. With proper planning and the use of a life insurance trust, heirs will have sufficient liquid resources to protect family assets such as land, homes, and valuables such as antiques, art, and jewelry.

To learn about life insurance trusts and how they can fund many aspects of an estate plan, contact Taylor, Ganson, & Perrin LLP.