Case Studies

The professionals at Indiana Trust & Investment Management Company take their fiduciary duties very seriously and serve in roles that are personal and comprehensive in nature.

Introduction

Indiana Trust & Investment Management Company is in the business of trust administration including personal trusts, employee benefit plans while investing the trust assets in stock and bonds investments. But ITC goes beyond the confines of its service lines. With a substantial number of years in the industry, the professionals at Indiana Trust & Investment Management Company take their fiduciary duties very seriously and serve in roles that are personal and comprehensive in nature.

Intermediary for Difficult Family Matters

When a long-time client approached Indiana Trust & Investment Management Company to set up a trust fund for his grandson, the ITC professional added discretion to preserve distributions.

When the grandson rebelled, dropped out of school and moved out of the house, he requested what he perceived were “his funds.” The trust officer took on the role of a third-party intermediary, explaining the strict provisions under which distributions could be made.

With guidance from ITC’s administrator, the grandson begrudgingly received his G.E.D., enrolled in a post-secondary program, made above average grades, and went on to establish his own business, all the while receiving his distributions.

Fifteen years later, the grandson still may resent the gusto with which his trust fund was managed by his trust officer, but has no resentment of his family who set the boundaries of the trust. His parents and grandparents remain grateful and satisfied clients of Indiana Trust & Investment Management Company.

Assisting Multiple Generations

After several years of managing the investments of a local physician and his wife, the professionals at Indiana Trust received a request from these clients. The physician’s in-laws, now in a nursing home, were having increasing challenges managing their finances – perhaps it was time to get a trust company involved.

An invitation to the elderly couple’s home with their daughter allowed for the trust professionals to begin building a relationship. Sorting through their investments, they identified a logical progression of activities that spanned a two-year time frame. They recommended that the couple begin taking distributions from their annuities and started transferring and consolidating the random assortment of stocks into logical choices that best-suited the needs of the octogenarians.

The physician and his wife were thankful for their involvement and intervention in what can be a very delicate matter.  As adult children find themselves taking care of their aging parents, this is sure to be an increasing scenario and one that Indiana Trust & Investment Management Company has considerable expertise.

A Case for Charitable Giving

The trust administrators at Indiana Trust & Investment Management Company established a relationship with a client who held a substantial investment portfolio … and a bit of disdain for the details of such assets. With no heirs and unaware of the impact of estate taxes, this pediatrician believed he had little reason to do much planning.

However, the ITC professionals counseled him regarding what would happen to his estate without a will – and how those same funds could be distributed in a way to leave an important legacy to the community.

At the recommendation of these professionals, he has engaged the services of an estate planning attorney who is able to guide him down a more philanthropic road that will ultimately benefit many area residents, undoubtedly including some of the very children he cared for as their pediatrician.

Guiding Clients to the Big Picture

Indiana Trust & Investment Management Company collaborates with a number of service professionals like attorneys and certified public accountants to stay abreast of developments in wealth management.

When a client felt the crunch of estate taxes after her own parent died, ITC offered her an option that would better protect her children.

A family cottage became part of a Qualified Personal Residence Trust (QPERT), transferring ownership while retaining 25 years of use for ITC’s client. By applying standard accrual rates, ITC was able to show the client that if the value of the property quadrupled over this period of time, the taxes saved would exceed $2 million.

Planning and Educating for the Future

A tragic mistake during birth that led to certain muscular difficulties for a child brought a fairly substantial settlement from an insurance company. The child’s parents placed those funds in guardianship with Indiana Trust & Investment Management Company which, during the course of a little more than decade, grew from $300,000 to $750,000.

At 18 years old, the guardianship expired and the child who suffered the complications was unaware of the fund. Up to this point, the parents handled their child’s medical expenses out of their own pocket.

The ITC professionals together with a local attorney began strategizing a multiple-step approach that included a 10-year plan to cover health expenses, education and support.  The 18-year-old voluntarily signed over the authority for these professionals to manage this plan, which was presented before and approved by a judge.

He has since started college. The ITC professionals assumed task of educating him about his wealth as well as his responsibility for managing that kind of money, relieving his parents of what could be a stressful role for those who find themselves in this situation.

back to top

The professionals at Indiana Trust & Investment Management Company take their fiduciary duties very seriously and serve in roles that are personal and comprehensive in nature.