Estate Planning Case Study

The Diplomat 

Prominent, married US diplomat with 3 children who frequently travels abroad. The client has an existing estate plan, but limited income tax planning.  

  • $1.5 Million Income 
  • $3 Million Retirement Account 
  • $50 Million Net Worth 

Challenges 

The client has ongoing concerns over current estate taxes and, given the geopolitically sensitive destinations of his travels, has had a complicated time finding the right insurance-based income tax strategy. Goals to be addressed by Planning Network Partners include: 

  • Wealth Transfer 
  • Succession Planning 
  • Creation of Charitable Giving Strategy

Solutions 

During conversations with Planning Network Partners, the diplomat and his family emphasized their goal of creating a sound wealth transfer strategy for their children. 

The client was able to leverage Planning Network Partners relationships with our network of carriers to justify very high levels of insurance, allowing us to design a plan that exceeds their wealth transfer objectives. 

The Plan 

To maximize the amount of wealth the client’s children will receive in the future, Planning Network Partners devised a strategy that combined charitable giving with premium finance insurance and will: 

  • Facilitate liquidation of $3 Million IRA. 
  • Combine this amount with current insurance policy. 
  • Front fund a Financed Life Insurance policy. 
  • Put in place charitable giving strategy to effectively offset future taxes.

Results 

  • Implement Financed Life Insurance Policy to provide $75 Million to the client’s children ($25 Million/per child) in addition to current family net worth.
  • $8 Million given to charity.


The many moving parts of your estate – business, heirs, real estate, philanthropy, investments – need to be orchestrated in concert to maximize your legacy and reduce your loss to estate taxes. This requires significant inter-disciplinary expertise to realize the benefits and avoid the pitfalls. Planning Network Partners is dedicated to examining this and other opportunities as part of a larger picture of your whole financial health. 

Contact Us today for expert assistance.


* Source: (1) Momentum Advanced Planning