Swain Trusts & Estates specializes in drafting cutting-edge, personalized trust agreements to meet all your planning needs. Trusts can be used to avoid probate, facilitate gifting, protect assets from creditors, remove life insurance from a taxable estate, provide for charitable giving or support persons with special needs. Swain Trusts & Estates will work with you to create a plan that accomplishes your goals while minimizing estate taxes. We understand that each client’s assets, family and goals are different and work to develop an individualized plan.  We prefer a team approach and will work with your other advisors and professionals to ensure that you have the necessary trusts in place.  In addition to drafting new trusts, Swain Trusts & Estates has expertise in advising fiduciaries and beneficiaries, reforming trust agreements and helping clients administer a trust. Swain Trusts & Estates can counsel you on various trust related matters, including:

Revocable trusts help you avoid probate, avoid guardianship, provide for family and loved ones and help you organize your affairs during your lifetime.

For beneficiaries with special needs, careful drafting is necessary to ensure that the beneficiary can continue to qualify for  necessary federal benefits. We provide advice and can draft both types of trusts for special needs beneficiaries:

Clients with large permanent insurance polices may need to consider transferring those policies to an irrevocable life insurance trust in order to avoid paying estate tax on policy proceeds.

Swain Trusts & Estates frequently advises trust beneficiaries and act as advocates to ensure that beneficiaries receive the information and assets to which they are entitled.

Many older trust agreements lack flexibility, fail to adequately provide for a beneficiary’s current situation or are uneconomical to administer, therefore require reformation or termination.

For philanthropically inclined clients, we can draft charitable trusts that benefit charities or a private foundation as well as client’s loved ones, all while potentially reducing estate taxes.

Swain Trusts & Estates advises Trustees on their fiduciary obligations while administering trusts on behalf of beneficiaries and can assist at any point in the trust administration process, including the final distributions and trust termination.