When to Consider an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust

I suggest using the plan I call the Wealth Conservation and Protection Plan (“W-CAP”). It’s a simple estate planning methodology designed to preserve the client’s estate both while alive and at death, also mentioned and explained in a 2020 article I wrote, <a href=""https://www.theamericancollege.edu/news-center/removing-the-irrevocable-life-insurance-trust-as-the-default-in-estate-planning"" target=""_blank"">REMOVING THE IRREVOCABLE LIFE INSURANCE TRUST AS THE DEFAULT IN ESTATE PLANNING.

The four steps are:

STEP 1: What estate planning needs is the policy primarily intended to address?

STEP 2: Once the estate planning needs for a policy have been determined and prioritized, determine which life insurance policy features are most important for addressing these needs.

STEP 3: Choose the life insurance policy that best matches up the policy features (STEP 2) with the primary estate planning priorities (STEP 1).

STEP 4: Determine the appropriate ownership structure for the policy that will most effectively conserve and protect the estate.

By going through this process, the estate plan will have the best policy for the need and will have it owned in the proper way, whether individually or through a trust.