INSURANCE TRUST

Irrevocable trust with an insurance policy as the assets, which permits the policy grantor to exempt asset away from his or her taxable estate. Once the life insurance policy is placed in a trust, the insured individual no longer possesses ownership on the policy that will be administered by the trustee on behalf of the beneficiaries when that individual passes away.

Also called irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT), this is frequently used to separate cash proceeds which can be used to settle estate taxes, as the life insurance policy must be exempted from the decedent’s taxable estate.