Distribute assets according to your wishes. There is a common misperception that trusts are only for extremely wealthy individuals, who use them to avoid paying estate taxes. While tax considerations often play a role in estate planning, people also use trusts to provide themselves with a greater level of control over the management and distribution of their estate after they’re gone. Although the trustee legally owns the assets, they are managed and distributed according to the terms of the trust agreement. As the grantor, you set those terms when the trust is established.

Preserve wealth by potentially reducing or eliminating estate taxes. A properly structured trust* may be used to potentially postpone, reduce or eliminate estate taxes, which – if not appropriately planned for – can claim a significant portion of a large estate.

Support your spouse, children and grandchildren. As grantor, you may choose to specify that after your death, your spouse should receive a lifetime income stream from the trust. Your spouse may also receive distributions of principal. At your spouse’s death, the remaining assets may then pass to your children, grandchildren or others you designate.

Reduce capital gains taxes while supporting charitable causes. Donating highly appreciated assets to a Charitable Remainder Trust is an example of a potentially powerful charitable giving strategy. The trust is able to sell the assets and defer the capital gains taxes. It can then acquire income-producing investments (with the full, tax-deferred proceeds from the sale) to provide you with a stream of income for your life. At your death (or that of your spouse), the remaining assets pass to the specified charity (or charities) you chose, fulfilling your charitable intentions.

Keep your business in the family. Without proper planning, family businesses are often sold at the death of the owner (or the surviving spouse) to pay estate taxes. One possible solution is to create an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust that holds an insurance policy on your life. At your death, the proceeds from the policy are used to lend money to your estate so it has the liquidity to pay estate taxes without having to sell off part or all of the business. This may allow the business to continue operating under the control of a future generation.

Avoid probate and ensure financial privacy. Probate is the legal process of settling an estate. It can be an expensive, time-consuming and very public process. A trust, however, is a strictly private arrangement that permits you to accomplish your goal of transferring your estate as you intend.

Pioneer Financial and Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Company have the resources and expertise to provide all the necessary services required to support a variety of revocable and irrevocable trust types, including (but not limited to):

• Revocable Living Trusts
• Testamentary Trusts
• Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs)
• Charitable Remainder and Lead Trusts
• Generation-Skipping Trusts
• Grantor-Retained Trusts
• Marital and Unified Credit Trusts

We offer a variety of flexible trustee arrangements that suit your evolving needs, whether we serve as your trustee, co-trustee or personal representative (executor).