Trust and Estate Services
We offer a wide range of trust and estate services. Not only do we offer these services to individuals and business entities but we also work with banks, trust companies, and smaller trust shops, as well as registered investment advisors and attorneys. Some of the services we provide are as follows:
- Preparation of trust, estate, inheritance and gift tax returns
- Trust accountings
- Estate tax planning
- Estate and trust administration
- Trustee services
- Trust Company Services
ADVANTAGES OF DELAWARE TRUSTS
- Tax savings for non-residents and their irrevocable trusts
- Greater investment flexibility
- Unlimited duration or "dynasty" trusts
- Ability to delegate control over assets to someone other than the trustee
- "No-contest" provisions enforceable
- Traditional spendthrift trusts have full protection
- Stronger asset protection
- Ease of converting an income-only trust to a total return unitrust
- Higher premium on confidentiality
Ask us how to implement these advantages for you and the future generations of your family.
For further information, please contact Diane Burke at 302-656-6632 or send her an email.
Trust and Estate Tax Preparation
- Federal and state trust income tax returns for:
- Simple and complex trusts
- Grantor trusts
- Charitable remainder/split interest trusts
- Bankruptcy trusts
- Settlement & liquidation trusts
- Irrevocable life insurance trusts
- Special needs trusts
- Asset protection trusts
- Qualified personal residence trusts
- Our trust department keeps up-to-date on tax changes
- Not only do we focus on the federal implications of trust filings but we also focus on state tax filings which can be inadvertently overlooked during the initial setup phase of a trust.
- We will contact your investment broker for cost basis information if you sold investments
- Upon request we will issue a draft copy of your return for review
- Federal and state estate and inheritance tax returns
- If you are the executor of an estate, estate and state inheritance tax returns might need to be filed depending on the value of the estate
- We utilize specialized software for the valuation of assets
- Federal and state gift tax returns
- If you have gifted over the annual exclusion amount individually or as a couple, then you are required to file a gift tax return
- If you have funded a trust, you will most likely be required to file a gift tax return
Trust accountings
- We can provide accountings in the format required by the Court for probate estates, trusts and conservatorships
- We prepare trust accountings for the use of trustees and beneficiaries
Estate tax planning
Did you just start a new family?
Do you have an estate plan in place, your life situation has changed, and you want to make sure that your estate plan is still right for you?
Do you want your family to be able to avoid a strenuous process at your death?
Do you want to transfer as much wealth as possible to future generations? Ask us to take a look at your current life situation and make recommendations.
What we can do for you:
- We will work with your lawyer who will create your legal documents
- We will work with your investment advisor to retitle your assets
- We will help with preparing your trust return if one is required
Estate and trust administration
Cover & Rossiter has been providing estate services to clients for many years and we are experienced in working in cooperation with attorneys.
Are you a trustee or executor of an estate?
Do you need assistance with the administration of an estate or trust?
- Educate them about the proper records to maintain
- Assist them in making distributions to beneficiaries
- Assist them in contacting an appraiser or other professional when needed
- Perform bank reconciliations of checking accounts
- Make bank deposits and pay all bills from the estate
- Maintain the financial records needed for tax return and court filing preparation
We are also available to serve as executor of your estate.
Trustee services
Are you looking for a Delaware trustee in order for your trust to be eligible for the many advantages that Delaware trusts can provide you?
Is one of the Delaware trust companies or other financial institutions turning you away due to the small size of your trust or are you in need of a low-cost alternative to a trust company?
If so, we offer:
- A low-cost alternative to trust companies
- Customer service oriented environment
- Trust return, trust accounting and trustee expertise
- Investment trading and check writing experience
- We allow for better integration of family members into roles of trustees
Services for trust companies and registered investment advisors
For trust companies or a registered investment advisors, we offer an alternative to costly in house management of trust and individual income tax returns. Trust taxation and accounting knowledge is very specialized and is difficult to build in-house by service representatives.
We work in conjunction with service representatives to better serve your client base. We offer full services to your clients including:
- Joint client relationship management
- Prepare income tax filings
- Prepare financial statements
- Reconcile investments to the custodial records
- Maintain cost basis schedules for investments and investors
When working with service representatives we know that there are two clients involved with every relationship, the representative and the client. We take these relationships very seriously.
- We spend great time and attention to ensure that we meet the needs of the service representative and the client.
- We ensure that the client receives a unified approach to the management of their account. One client, one team of professionals.
- We will not contact your clients without first discussing it with the service representative.
- Additionally, we offer the service representative the opportunity to call the client jointly, call the client personally or permit us to call the client. We never make this decision independently.
- We do not solicit your clients.
Examples of accounts that we manage with local service representatives:
- Individual and corporate trusts
- Delaware statutory trusts
- Grantor trust
- Simple and complex trusts
- Bankruptcy trusts
- Settlement and liquidation trusts
- Trusts that hold real property in various states
- Aircraft leasing trusts
- Special needs trusts
- Aircraft liquidation trusts