Family Bank Trusts

The Family Bank Trust (name coined by Bill Conway) refers to what has been trademarked as the Buildup Equity Retirement Trust (BERT) by WealthCounsel Members Cecil Smith, Memphis, TN and Carol Gonnella, Jackson, WY. The Family Bank Trust is an Irrevocable Trust created for the primary benefit of the Grantor's spouse and designed to qualify for annual exclusion gifts.

This allows the Trustmaker to make gifts out of the estate just like a Life Insurance Trust but without the life insurance. If the Trustmaker has three married children who each have 2 children, at current rates you could move nearly 3 million dollars out of the Trustmaker’s estate over a 10 year period without incurring any gift tax.

These funds can also be accessed by the Trustmaker’s Spouse with some minor limitations.