April 22, 2021 - For a variety of reasons, personal injury claims and lawsuits often call for the use of a special purpose trust to help efficiently manage settlement proceeds once the parties achieve resolution. Especially on larger and more complex cases.

When deciding how best to meet the client's financial and future security income needs going forward, a common best practice is to combine the advantages of a trust with those afforded by tax-free structured settlements. Combining both proven settlement planning strategies maximizes the value proposition of each.

Lately, however, we've noticed a risky and irresponsible trend which alarms us. Some advisors now counsel their clients to forgo structured settlements altogether in favor of an all-cash trust.

With the seemingly endless bull market we've been experiencing for several years now, advisors appear to be disingenuously arguing that structured settlement rates are "too low" by comparison and therefore should be excluded from the trust planning conversation completely.

We decided to put this argument to the test to see if such a recommendation has any validity.

Christi L. Fried, NCG, MSSC brings nearly three decades of experience to her position as President of Continental Trust Services, LLC in Boston.

A Nationally Certified Guardian (NCG) and Licensed Fiduciary, Christi manages trusts for clients across the United States, many of whom have been catastrophically injured. As a former life insurance company Pricing Analyst, Account Manager, and Marketing Director, her perspective on the significance of combining structured settlements with trusts sets her apart from many of her peers who lack these invaluable insights. Add to this her undergraduate studies in Quantitative Business Analysis leading to a B.S. in Economics from Arizona State University and you have the makings of a professional uniquely qualified to help us compare the two methods of funding trusts we discussed recently in our YouTube conversation.