Law Office of
D. Kent Shelton
a professional corporation
305 Lawrence Street
Marietta, Georgia 30060
678-945-7550 Office
678-820-8529 Text
kent@kentsheltonlaw.com
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts​
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Purposes:
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Prevents creditors of the beneficiary from intercepting the life insurance proceeds
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Prevents a bankruptcy trustee from intercepting the life insurance proceeds
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Prevents a very large lump sum of money meant for the benefit of your children from being wasted by someone who is financially undisciplined or financially irresponsible
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The Trust becomes the owner and the beneficiary of your life insurance policy.
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At your death, the insurance company writes a check to your Trustee who deposits the life insurance proceeds into the Trust checking account.
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The Trustee then pays out the life insurance proceeds in the manner you have prescribed in the Trust Declaration for the benefit of your children.
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Common objections:
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"I trust my ex-spouse to do the right thing." Sure you do. Actually maybe you do, but what happens if your ex-spouse is sued for ANY reason and has a judgment against everything your ex owns? The judgment creditor will get the life insurance proceeds when you die.
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"The government will make my ex spend the money appropriately." There is no governmental agency, to include the courts, that will monitor how your ex spends the money.
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"My Executor will make sure that the life insurance money is spent for the benefit of my children." Life insurance is a non-probate asset and your Executor will have no ability to control how your ex-spouse spends the life insurance proceeds.