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There has been a lot of speculation and confusion about the impacts of the most recent tax reform, with many asking if they have to pay more taxes. Unfortunately, the answer is, “it depends.” With this in mind, the tax impact is demonstrated by looking at potentially real scenarios for five different types of taxpayers: trust beneficiaries, unretired company executive, company shareholder, family business owner, and family business employees.

Originating in English common law, trusts have been used for centuries to manage holdings of the wealthy. Even though trusts are quite common, many people may find them hard to understand. Having an introduction to the trust basics is a good place to begin and learn how trusts are used in wealth management plans to help provide financial support for family members, protect family assets from a myriad of risks, and help mitigate taxes.

Life insurance can play an important role in helping achieve the legacy and financial objectives of an individual or family—especially those with significant taxable estates and illiquid assets such as privately held businesses and real estate.

Until recently, many families filled key governance roles associated with their trust and estate planning with trusted friends, colleagues, or advisors who were flattered to be asked and honored to serve.

You’ve built a valuable and successful business through hard work, long hours and countless decisions. You want to plan for transitioning the company, and the wealth you’ve created to future generations, but you aren’t ready to cede control. As the company grows in value, the issue becomes acute. What do you do? You’re not alone.

Trusts have grown enormously in popularity since the mid-1990s as a result of the development of modern trust laws, the dramatic increase in wealth and evolving family needs and goals.

The raison d’être for families to form a Private Family Trust Company (PFTC) is to maximize their lawful control over their wealth held in trust. A cynic might suggest families want that control just to inflate current distributions to family members, but in practice that isn’t what motivates families. What motivates them is that control gives them the capability to devise and implement a strategic plan for managing and deploying their wealth in the ways they believe give them the best opportunity to realize multigenerational hopes and aspiration.

Estate planning is often part of a divorce settlement, and negotiation of these terms can be as integral to the divorce settlement as allocation of parental responsibilities, support issues, or division of marital estate. For example, even a relatively simple Marital Settlement Agreement may generally contain waivers of an ex-spouse’s right to make claims to the other party’s estate upon death, including rights to property and to act as a trustee or executor of the estate.