Learn where you can find us next

Previous Webinars

Why Now Is the Time to Consider Alternatives for Your Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs)

Presenters on Alternatives for ILITs: Leon Wessels, Life Insurance Trust Company, John Barkhurst, ITM

Life Insurance typically falls to the bottom of the list for most corporate trustees. As a result, corporate trustees are rethinking why they continue to serve as trustees for ILITs. In this webinar, John Barkhurst and Leon Wessels will examine why now is the time to consider alternatives for ILITs amidst this growing trend.

For most institutions in 2021, life insurance trusts are not core to their trust business. With the regulatory, reputational, and legal risks ever increasing, many corporate trustees are currently rethinking their ILIT services, contemplating other alternatives. This webinar will explore the current trust-owned life insurance (TOLI) landscape, focusing on corporate fiduciaries (banks and trust companies) that manage approximately 20 percent of all irrevocable life insurance trusts (ILITs).

We will address current trends in estate planning affecting the use of life insurance in a trust. Using 20 years of “real world” data collected by ITM, we will highlight the challenges today’s corporate ILIT trustees face. And we will discuss two unique solutions being utilized by many institutions to mitigate and eliminate ILIT fiduciary liability.

Our video concerning alternatives for ILITs covers the following topics:

Managing TOLI Risk
The Benefits of Outsourcing ILIT Administration
Providing a Team of Life Insurance Experts
Focusing Trustees on What They Do Best
Identifying and Reducing Costs
Mitigating Risk
Bringing Peace of Mind
Who and What is LITCO (Life Insurance Trust Company)?
What are the Keys to LITCO’s Success?
How Does an Acquisition Work?
How Does the Bulk Transfer Work?
Why is a Strategic Partnership With LITCO Important?

All ILIT fiduciaries, as well as compliance and risk management professionals, should attend this timely and relevant session.

To watch a recording of the webinar, click here.

An Insider’s Guide to Minimizing ILIT Liability and Maximizing Client Value

Webinar on Minimizing ILIT Liability put on by the Trusts & Estates CLE Webinar Series – Sponsored by Life Insurance Trust Company

Speakers on Minimizing ILIT Liability: Leon Wessels – Life Insurance Trust Company, John Barkhurst – ITM , Judith Pearson – Nomadx Solutions, Michael Brohawn – Your Life Insurance Solutions, Susan Lipp – Trusts & Estates

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) have long been a cornerstone of many estate plans, and remain a great tool for creating liquidity upon the death of a Grantor. The management of life insurance has become increasingly more difficult as low interest rates have stressed many life insurance policies to the max, resulting in a significantly higher number of underperforming and lapsing Trust Owned Life Insurance (TOLI) policies.

The liability associated with serving as ILIT trustee or advising clients with life insurance trusts has never been greater. The fiduciary role of a trustee is one that holds the highest duty according to law. In the current environment, those administering ILITs are going to face challenging, even difficult, decisions that may be questioned years down the road.

Attend this webinar as we discuss topics that include ways to minimize fiduciary and professional liability, while ensuring your clients’ ILITs will succeed, including:

Trustee roles, responsibilities and personal liability
The challenges facing trustees and how to manage ILIT risk
How low interest rates negatively affect life insurance and why it will get worse
Practical solutions for dealing with TOLI policy issues
Why an individual (non-corporate) ILIT trustee is not ideal for long-term success

Watch the recording of this webinar here.

Paying Caregivers and Employees from a Trust: Staying Out of Hot Water

Presenters on Paying From a Trust: Rachel Green and Cheryl Severson, TEAM Risk Management Strategies LLC

If you encounter clients who have caregivers, nannies, housekeepers, or other in-home workers, this presentation on paying from a trust is especially relevant. We will discuss considerations to the trust and the fiduciary of being an employing entity, common missteps and potential liabilities clients face when they have employees, HR and compliance regulations for employers, and how to properly classify workers as 1099 contractors or W2 employees, alongside the repercussions of each classification.

This webinar on paying from a trust covers:

Real life stories regarding issues within this topic.
Why does paying from a trust matter?
Points of consideration for both employees and independent contractors
Correct payment of employees regarding minimum wage, overtime, and other topics.
Payment of required taxes.
Obtaining appropriate insurance.
Keeping good records.
Using good hiring practices
Performing safe and effective employee terminations.
Proactively managing day to day employee relations.
Staying abreast of changes to employment law.
Not being an employer (we explain in the video).

Presenter Bios:

Rachel Green, CEO, TEAM Risk Management Strategies LLC

Rachel brings to TEAM her experience working in Fortune 50 companies across client services, operations, strategy, and business development. She is passionate about delivering high-quality service and outstanding experiences for clients, partners, and team members alike. Rachel joined TEAM as Director of Client Services, and also previously served as TEAM’s Chief Operating Officer. Rachel holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA from Harvard University.

Cheryl Severson, Director of Client Services and HR, TEAM Risk Management Strategies LLC

Cheryl oversees TEAM’s Client Services and Human Resources departments. She joined TEAM in 2014 as its HR Manager and brings nearly 20 years of experience delivering client-focused solutions to companies of all sizes and across several industries. She combines her passion for providing impeccable service and account management with her specialized HR expertise in coaching, compliance, workplace investigations, and conflict resolution. Cheryl holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from San Diego State University and maintains the Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification through the HR Certification Institute.

Watch the webinar here.

A Trustee’s Guide to Life Settlements

For this trustee’s guide, it is important to understand the many variables that go into a life settlement. A life settlement occurs when a client sells their life insurance to a third party provider of their choosing. Upon payment, they receive monetary compensation in return for the policy.

There are multiple strategies by which a client can maximize the return they get. One way is through life insurance premium financing, in which a client will use a loan equivalent to the amount of money they provide to the third party. This allows them to retain far more capital than they otherwise would.

At best, life settlements are confusing. That confusion can make you uncomfortable to the point where you allow a client to surrender or lapse a policy without exploring your options. That would be a mistake – one that could cost the client money and put you in hot water. It’s hard to move ahead if you do not know how. We understand that, just like we understand life settlements.

It is also important to understand how to reduce both risk and risk liability when implementing life settlements. Not only should a trustee be able to manage effective policy around risk, they should also be able to understand how factors such as low interest rates can affect these measures.

By attending this session, you will learn when and how to sell a policy to get the most value for your client. We will outline a prudent process for you to follow to limit your liability, while ensuring that you maximize the value of your client’s assets. By working through real-life case studies with us, you will see clearly how the process works. If there is one session on life settlements that you should attend, this is it.

Watch the recording of this webinar from June 10, 2020, to learn more about Life Settlements as a trust owned life insurance trustee.

Minimizing TOLI Trustee Liability in a Challenging Environment

A decade-plus of historically low interest rates and a financial crisis unlike any we have seen before have negatively impacted the life insurance industry. Attendees of the May 27, 2020 webinar on Minimizing TOLI trustee liability in a changing market were able to:

Learn which policies will be most affected and how to manage them effectively going forward.
Discover one thing every trustee should always do to limit risk, key to minimizing TOLI trustee liability.
Understand how low interest rates stress policies, and what you should do about it right now.
Be able to put into place simple processes that will minimize your liability – now and in the future.
Receive a TOLI Trustee Guide for future reference.

While this session was designed for TOLI Trustees, it was also time well spent for any Attorney, CPA, or Wealth Advisor that has life insurance clientele.

As per the webinar, it is estimated that $68 trillion in wealth will be transferred over the next 30 years. This is largely due to unprecedented challenges with the Coronavirus pandemic. The role of the trustee has thus become all the more critical, as well as risky, for all forms of wealth transfer.

Because litigation is increasing in frequency and severity, constituents have many concerns regarding risk management. Not only do these involve increased wealth transfer, they also concern issues such as wealth held in alternative assets. They also concern new trust structures and asset protection laws.

If a trustee does not understand their correct roles and responsibilities around risk management, they will not be able to implement effective risk management programs. It is extremely important to outline clear guidelines around not only rules such as distribution and administration, but duties around confidentiality and impartiality with beneficiaries.

Watch the recording of this webinar from May 27th, 2020 to learn more about minimizing your trust administration risk.

Upcoming Webinars