Frost Law Group designs plans for Summerville families with complex portfolios—investment accounts, rental and commercial property, closely held businesses and retirement assets—coordinating with your CPA and financial advisor so the documents, titles and designations work as one system.
What changes when the estate is larger
- Tax. Estates near the federal estate-tax exemption need lifetime gifting, irrevocable trusts or charitable planning; South Carolina has no separate estate or inheritance tax.
- Income tax on inherited assets. Retirement accounts inherited by children must generally be emptied within ten years; the plan can name trusts as beneficiaries to control the timing.
- Trustee choice. A sibling may be fine for a house and a checking account; a portfolio and a business may call for a professional or corporate co-trustee.
- Liquidity. Real estate-heavy estates need cash for taxes, expenses and equalizing gifts; life insurance in an irrevocable trust is the classic answer.
- Multiple states. Property outside South Carolina goes into the trust to avoid ancillary probate.
- Privacy. A trust keeps the inventory of a large estate out of the public probate file.
Tools we use
Joint and separate revocable trusts; irrevocable life insurance trusts; spousal lifetime access trusts; grantor trusts for gifting; charitable remainder trusts and donor-advised funds; family LLCs for rental portfolios; and beneficiary designations drafted, not defaulted. We are a WealthCounsel member firm and draft on that platform, with tax provisions kept current.
Working with your other advisors
Larger plans succeed when the attorney, CPA and financial advisor share one picture. We will, with your permission, meet with them, coordinate account titling and beneficiary forms, and give everyone a one-page map of the plan.
Bring the balance sheet.
We will tell you which structures earn their cost and which do not.
Questions people ask
Does South Carolina have an estate tax?
No. Only the federal estate tax applies, and only above the federal exemption amount in effect at death.
Do I need a corporate trustee?
Not always. Many families name a relative with a professional co-trustee or an advisor as “trust protector.” We match the trustee to the assets.
Related pages
Asset protection trusts
Irrevocable trusts, Medicaid look-back, and honest limits on what can be protected.
Learn moreBusiness owners
Succession, buy-sell and operating agreements, and trusts that keep a company running.
Learn moreTrust administration
Trustee duties, notices and accountings, and managing an inheritance.
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