During the review and update of a new high net-worth Scottsdale couple’s estate plan, DeAngelis Legal identified a potentially large estate tax obligation caused by life insurance owned by the couple.  DeAngelis Legal worked with the couple and their insurance advisor to identify and evaluate alternatives, which included an evaluation of how much life insurance was appropriate, terminating some policies, converting other policies and transferring most policies to a newly created irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) for the benefit of the spouse and children.  For a description of irrevocable life insurance trusts and other advanced estate planning tools see Advanced Estate Planning Tools. DeAngelis Legal also created the trust instrument to complement their current estate plan.