Life Insurance Trusts & LLCs

SDTC administers insurance trusts and LLCs with more than $14 billion of insurance death benefits.

SDTC provides trust and LLC administration services for fixed, variable, and private placement life insurance policies.

As a result of South Dakota’s great trust, insurance, asset protection, low state premium tax and lending laws, combined with SDTC’s experience, SDTC is ideally positioned to serve as trustee for numerous insurance trusts.

Newly drafted insurance trusts utilizing South Dakota laws are generally directed. SDTC acts as Administrative Trustee and takes direction from an Investment and a Distribution Committee made up of family members and their advisors. The Distribution Committee directs the Administrative Trustee to make trust distributions, and the Investment Committee directs the Administrative Trustee on how to invest the trust (i.e., purchase one or more insurance policies, how to invest the death benefits, etc.).

If there is an existing ILIT in another state that changes situs to South Dakota, these trusts will generally be delegated versus directed, and are therefore typically reformed to directed either judicially or non-judicially, before insurance is purchased. Alternatively, the policy may be decanted from an older trust to a newer directed trust.

The low South Dakota premium tax would generally apply whether or not an irrevocable trust, revocable trust with a separate tax ID number or LLC is utilized. If there are trusts in another state and someone wants to take advantage of the lower South Dakota Premium tax, generally, a South Dakota LLC is established with SDTC as co-managing member (i.e. SDTC) to purchase insurance within the SD LLC and allocate the units to the non- South Dakota trusts.

SDTC recognizes that most advisors and corporate trustees do not want to act as trustee of an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) until the proceeds are actually paid, leaving the family to cope with the burdens of the unfunded insurance trust’s administration. SDTC will act as trustee during the insured’s lifetime and after the insured’s death. There are two levels of trust administration associated with ILITS: the first provides for the insured’s lifetime and the second begins with the insured’s death.

Administration Duties during Insured’s Lifetime: [Please note: Investment Committee directs SDTC regarding these duties when a “directed” trust is involved.]

In response to evolving case law and litigation regarding trustee responsibilities with non-directed trusts, SDTC can review an insurance company’s financial stability as follows:

Administration after insured’s death:

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Our Offices

South Dakota Trust Company LLC SDTC Services LLC 201 S Phillips Ave. Suite 200 Sioux Falls, SD 57104

Phone: (605) 338-9170

Fax: (605) 274-9200

South Dakota Trust Company LLC 4020 Jackson Blvd. Suite 3 Rapid City, SD 57702

Phone: (605) 721-0630

Fax: (605) 721-0634

SDTC Services of Wyoming LLC 890 W Broadway Jackson, WY 83001

Phone: (605) 338-9170

SDTC Services of NV 3605 S Town Center Dr, Suite A Las Vegas, NV 89135

Phone: (702) 952-1617

South Dakota Planning Company 10 E 40th Street Suite 1900 New York, NY 10016

Phone: (212) 642-8377

Fax: (212) 642-8376

SDTC Planning of Connecticut 274 Riverside Ave. 2nd Floor Westport, CT 06880

Phone: (203) 635-2262

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The information on this private trust company's website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this or associated pages, documents, comments, answers, emails, or other communications should be taken as legal and/or tax advice for any individual case or situation. The information on this website is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing of this information does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.

© Copyright 2024 South Dakota Trust Company LLC . All rights reserved.