| Type of Trust | Purpose |
| |
Revocable or living trust
| Avoid probate; establish testamentary trusts |
Bypass family or credit shelter trust
| Avoid estate tax for surviving spouse |
Intentionally defective irrevocable grantor trust
| Avoid estate tax but cause income tax to be assessed on the grantor, reducing grantor’s estate |
Nominee real estate trust
| Avoid probate on real estate holdings
|
Qualified subchapter “S” trust
| Avoid probate on “S” corporation stock |
Qualified personal residence trust
| Avoid estate tax on residence |
Qualified domestic trust
| Entitle noncitizen spouse to the marital deduction
|
QTIP trust
| Allows the executor or executrix to divide estate assets to maximize estate and income tax savings
|
Irrevocable life insurance trust
| To keep life insurance out of an estate |
2503(c) trust
| To keep assets out of parent’s estate and to fund college
|
Special needs trust
| To allow assets to be held for benefit of a special needs child while preserving government benefits
|
Generation skipping trust
| To utilize the lifetime gift tax exclusion and generation skipping tax exclusion to remove assets from parent’s estate to a generation below the children (of the parent)
|
Charitable remainder annuity trust (CRAT)
| Used to pass assets from the estate to a charity while providing income for the life of the grantor
|
Charitable lead annuity trust (CLAT)
| Used to pass income to a charity during lifetime while passing assets to one or more non-charitable beneficiaries at death of grantor
|
Charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT)
| Same as a CRAT except income is a fixed percentage paid to the grantor |
Charitable lead unitrust (CLUT)
| Same as a CRUT except a fixed percentage is paid to the charity |
Grantor retained annuity trust
| Used to pay a fixed amount to the grantor with assets passing to beneficiaries at death |
