Agawam Trust and Management
TRUSTEESHIP & TRUST ADMINISTRATION
Agawam's focus is assisting our clients in creating, managing and networking their trusts.
We serve as trustees or trust administrators for the full spectrum of trust types, including: revocable, irrevocable, testamentary, trusts for minors, charitable lead, charitable remainder, real estate, generation skipping tax trusts and private foundations.
We can serve as trustee/co-trustee, or provide trust administration on behalf of the existing trustees.
We can provide all facets of a trustee's customary service obligations: Investment Management | Custody and Accounting | Tax Preparation | Planning Advice | Distribution of Income and Principal
TRUST PLANNING STRATEGY
We focus on inter-generational planning. Our experience in family wealth preservation is characterized by the proactive use of annual exclusion gifting, irrevocable trust creation, real estate trusts and many other strategies.
We have extensive knowledge in the use of charitable trusts, both as inter-generational planning vehicles, as well as for the furtherance of family philanthropic goals.
We frame the tax, financial and estate planning issues with the client and, working with appropriate legal counsel, provide highly efficient and economic solutions to your inter-generational goals.
INVESTMENT STRATEGY
Our duty is to protect trust assets and make them productive. We develop investment strategies based on the intent of the trust creators and the needs of the beneficiaries.
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We administer investment decisions using multiple vehicles to preserve and increase principal assets within client trusts, and to generate adequate income to meet the needs of the beneficiaries.
Our trustees are experienced in overseeing diversified trust investments in stocks, bonds, real estate, mutual funds, insurance policies and private equity.
We employ tax strategies as essential components of any investment strategy, and seek to minimize the impact of taxes on trust assets without compromising the overall wealth creation process.
Our trustees meet with investment managers on a regular basis to monitor investment activity, investment performance and to discuss and/or recommend investment changes.
We formally review each trust several times annually and provide detailed investment performance reports to donors and/or beneficiaries on a regular basis.
RECORD KEEPING & REPORTING
We oversee the custody and accounting of assets required to fulfill our duties to protect trust property and account to the beneficiaries.
Our trustees work with Woodstock Services Company, LLC and their sub-custodian, Fidelity, to provide custody and accounting services of the highest quality. We will also work with a variety of other custody firms.
We ensure an unusually high level of diligence through a weekly reconciliation of client transactions to monitor the accuracy of holdings and transactions as reported by the sub-custodian.
Accountings are produced and delivered to beneficiaries as stated in the trust instrument.
Our trustees also work closely with Woodstock Services to provide the compliance and filing requirements for tax preparation for all types of trusts and foundations, as well as for donors, beneficiaries, and their small businesses.
ESTATE & ADMINISTRATION SETTLEMENT
Agawam professionals administer estates for which we serve as executor, or for which we have a business relationship with the executor and/or the decedent.
In cooperation with Woodstock Services Company, LLC, we provide guidance
through the decision-making stages of the process, as well as preparation of the estate tax return, estate income tax return and the probate account.
We will work closely with fiduciaries and other professionals to ensure timely compliance with all matters, including guidance on the disposition of assets under the terms of the will.
We will work efficiently and cost effectively with legal counsel on your behalf to handle all probate court matters, including allowance of the will.
We can relieve you of the burden of the complex and onerous reporting requirements during this difficult and sensitive time.