Military Trust Services

What Are Military Trust Services at AWM&T?

You deserve financial solutions specifically designed to support your military family’s unique needs. With our specialized trust management for military families, we aim to provide stability, peace, and confidence for you and your beneficiaries. Our comprehensive trust services include:

• Trust Management — professional oversight of trust assets, distributions, and compliance.
• Acting as Trustee — available for clients with an ongoing relationship, ensuring continuity and care.
• Trust Administration and Settlement Support — guidance through the trust settlement and distribution process after a grantor’s passing.
• Special Needs Trusts — managing and administering SNTs to protect vulnerable beneficiaries.
• Real Estate & Unique Asset Management — through our SS&C partnership: valuation, insurance, tax administration, and vendor oversight for real estate, farms, ranches, and other unique assets.
• Technology-Driven Transparency — SS&C InnoTrust and Black Diamond integration deliver secure, real-time reporting and online access for beneficiaries.

Who Are Military Trust Services Built For?

Trust services at AWM&T are open to current and former U.S. military servicemembers and their families. The administrative complexity changes by stage of life — and so does our role.

• Active-duty servicemembers often establish a revocable trust as part of a broader estate planning strategy.
• Transitioning servicemembers and Veterans frequently need help coordinating trust assets with the rest of their household balance sheet.
• Military retirees may use trusts to support long-term wealth transfer strategies involving retirement pay, IRAs, and real estate holdings.
• Surviving spouses can receive ongoing administrative support after the loss of a partner.
• Families caring for a dependent with special needs often need guidance establishing or administering a special needs trust (SNT).

What Types of Trusts Does AWM&T Administer?

Five trust structures cover the vast majority of military families’ needs. We administer all of them.

• Revocable living trusts — flexible during your lifetime and amendable as circumstances change. Commonly used to avoid probate and provide continuity if you become incapacitated.
• Irrevocable trusts — generally cannot be modified once established. May support tax planning, creditor protection, and long-term legacy goals by removing assets from your taxable estate.
• Special needs trusts (SNTs) — provide support for a dependent with disabilities while preserving eligibility for means-tested benefits such as SSI and Medicaid.
• Testamentary trusts — created through a will and take effect upon death. Often used in survivor planning when minor children are involved.
• Court-appointed trusts — administered under judicial oversight. Commonly established for minors or beneficiaries unable to manage their own affairs.

Whatever the structure, our role is the same: act in your best interest, follow the trust agreement to the letter, and keep beneficiaries informed.

How Does a Trust Protect Military Benefits & a Survivor’s Income?

A trust doesn’t replace SBP, retired pay, or VA disability, but the right structure protects those benefits and the assets purchased with them.

• A revocable living trust can hold a survivor’s investment portfolio, working alongside Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) payments with clear instructions for managing and distributing assets.
• Military retired pay generally cannot be assigned directly to a trust. But savings, investments, and other assets funded with retired pay can often be titled to and managed through a trust.
• VA disability compensation is paid directly to the recipient and remains tax-free. Trust planning focuses on preserving and managing the assets built around that income stream.
• For a dependent with disabilities, a special needs trust (SNT) can preserve SSI and Medicaid eligibility while providing additional support.

How Does AWM&T Manage and Administer Trusts?

We utilize a five-step process anchored by a dedicated Relationship Manager.

Why Choose AWM&T as Your Military Trust Company?

Here’s what sets our team apart.

• We come from military families ourselves. Many AWM&T professionals are former servicemembers or grew up in the community we serve — experience that shapes how we read trust documents, coordinate around SBP, and counsel surviving spouses through administration.
• Trust, planning, and investment management live under one roof. We administer the trust, plan around it, and manage the assets inside it — without handing you off across three different firms.
• We stay with you across every phase. From trust creation with your estate attorney through ongoing administration and eventual settlement, your Relationship Manager and the trust team work the same plan over the same household.

When Will AWM&T Serve as Trustee?

AWM&T accepts trustee appointments as part of an ongoing relationship, typically when we are already managing assets during your lifetime or when we will continue managing trust assets after death. Standalone trustee-only engagements aren’t part of our service model.

The reason is straightforward: a trustee who already knows the household, the family dynamics, and the assets serves beneficiaries better than one who arrives on the day of administration.

What Do Military Trust Services Cost at AWM&T?

Trustee fees vary based on the trust’s structure and the asset types it holds. Real estate, operating businesses, and other unique assets are priced differently from securities-only portfolios. The full schedule is published as a downloadable PDF.

Download the AWM&T Trust Services Fee Schedule (PDF)

For families also engaging AWM&T for investment management, trust assets are typically managed under the same household fee structure rather than billed separately.