Episode 26 - Fund Your Trust with Your Life Insurance: Ten Reasons Why You Should Do So
Host: Sidney Wheelan
Sponsor: The Wheelan Law Firm of Moberly, Missouri
Episode Number: 26
In this episode of Law Days and Lattes, attorney Sidney Wheelan continues the conversation on setting up your business and personal affairs to ensure that your loved ones are taken care of both now and in the future. This episode focuses on how you can fund your trust using your life insurance benefits, providing a secure and efficient way to manage and distribute your assets after your death.
Episode Highlights
- Life Insurance Policies and Estate Planning: Sidney explains the common issues people face with life insurance policies, especially regarding named beneficiaries and the pitfalls of allowing life insurance proceeds to go through probate.
- The Importance of a Revocable Trust: Learn why making your trust the beneficiary of your life insurance policy is a smart move.
- Top 10 Reasons to Name Your Trust as Beneficiary: Sidney outlines the key benefits, including streamlined estate planning, probate avoidance, and protection for minor beneficiaries.
Top 10 Reasons to Fund Your Trust with Your Life Insurance
1. Streamlined Estate Planning: Consolidate your assets into one entity, simplifying management and distribution.
2. Avoidance of Probate: Ensure a quicker distribution to beneficiaries by keeping assets out of probate.
3. Control Over Distribution: Specify how and when beneficiaries receive life insurance proceeds.
4. Protection for Minor Beneficiaries: Manage and distribute proceeds for minor children without court intervention.
5. Protection from Creditors: Shield life insurance proceeds from beneficiaries' creditors, depending on trust terms and state laws.
6. Incapacity Planning: Allow the trustee to manage the life insurance policy if you become incapacitated.
7. Tax Efficiency: Structure the trust to handle estate taxes effectively.
8. Privacy: Keep the distribution of your life insurance proceeds confidential.
9. Avoiding Multiple Beneficiaries: Prevent complications with multiple beneficiaries and ensure orderly distribution.
10. Continuity: Maintain ongoing management of life insurance proceeds for long-term planning needs.
Conclusion: Thank you for tuning in to this informative episode! Sidney encourages listeners to consider these ten reasons for naming their trust as the beneficiary on their life insurance policies and offers additional support for those interested in legacy planning.
Call to Action: Follow Law Days and Lattes on social media, subscribe to the podcast, and share this episode with your friends and family.
Links:
This podcast episode contains general information for discussion purposes only. Each case is different and must be judged on its own merits. Missouri rules generally prohibit lawyers from advertising that they specialize in particular areas of the law. This article should not be construed to suggest such specialization. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship, and the listening or viewing of this podcast does not constitute an attorney-client relationship. The choice of a lawyer is an important decision and should not be based solely upon advertisements.
