An irrevocable trust allows for the professional management of your assets and allows you to make tax-free gifts to the trust, up to certain limits, that can grow free from estate tax for the benefit of your heirs.

Characteristics include:

• Established while you are living and cannot be changed once it is established.

• Grantors can retain control of the distribution of their estate.

• Use the gift tax annual exclusion to make gifts to the trust to realize estate tax savings.

• Make discretionary distributions from the trust to your children while they are still alive.

• Does not provide tax shelter advantages.

• Assets are professionally managed.

• Trustee becomes responsible for paying taxes and handling the related administrative tasks, a benefit for those with a chronic illness or long-term disability.

• Orderly disposition of assets to your children, assurance of privacy and avoidance of expense related to probate court.