An irrevocable life insurance trust, commonly shortened to ILIT, is reviewed when a family wants tighter control over life insurance ownership and how death-benefit proceeds are managed. It is a specialized trust because the planning questions center on insurance ownership, premium funding, beneficiary access, and whether policy proceeds should remain outside the grantor's estate under the intended design.
Last reviewed: March 9, 2026
Reviewed against: trust and estate planning references listed on the sources page.
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The trust is set up as an irrevocable structure, a trustee is appointed, and the trust either applies for a new policy or receives ownership of an existing one. The trust language explains who benefits from the policy proceeds, what discretion the trustee has, and how distributions should be handled after the insured dies.
An irrevocable life insurance trust, often called an ILIT, is a trust reviewed to own life insurance policies and control how death-benefit proceeds are managed.
People review ILITs to separate policy ownership, direct trustee control over proceeds, and analyze whether insurance benefits may be kept outside an estate under the intended structure.
No. An ILIT is a specialized irrevocable trust focused on policy ownership, premium funding, beneficiaries, and insurance proceeds.