Estate Tax Planning Trusts: A Comprehensive Guide

The purpose of estate tax planning is to maximize the assets you pass on to future generations by minimizing gift and estate taxes. Estate-tax strategies revolve around the use of...
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Tax Deferral Strategy: Comparing the Big Three

You can defer capital gain taxes with a Charitable Remainder Trust, Opportunity Zone, or Exchange Fund. CRTs get the best returns. Which is right for you?
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Solar Tax Incentives vs. Oil and Gas Well Investments: A Comprehensive Comparison

Taking advantage of solar tax incentives and investing in oil and gas wells are two popular strategies for offsetting ordinary income tax. How do you know which one is right...
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QSBS Stacking Options

The Qualified Small Business Stock exemption, or QSBS, is the best tax break around. As a result of Congress’s push early in the new millennium to encourage Americans to start...
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How Valur Works With Advisors: A Client’s Journey

Valur can help advisors and their clients identify, understand and implement tax and estate-planning trusts to create more wealth.
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KYC Requirements for South Dakota Trusts

If you have a South Dakota trust that Valur will be administering, there are certain documents that we will need from you so that we can comply with federal law. The good news is that the documents are pretty straightforward. After you’ve signed your trust agreement, we’ll reach out to you with any additional required documentation. Here are the types of documents that may be needed:

Driver’s Licenses

We request driver’s licenses from trust grantors when they set up trusts. But we also need them for any investment advisor or distribution advisor who is currently acting. If you’ve named an investment advisor or distribution advisor for your trust, we will ask for a photo of that person’s driver’s license. Passports are acceptable in lieu of driver’s licenses.

Form W-9 (or Form W-8)

Every grantor and adult beneficiary of a trust must fill out and sign either a Form W-9 (if a U.S. citizen or permanent resident with a Social Security Number or Taxpayer Identification Number) or a Form W-8 (if a non-resident). You’ve probably filled out one of these before, perhaps when you started a new job. These are fillable forms, and you can just e-sign.

Customer Due Diligence Form

Finally, we need each grantor to sign a short form with some biographical information about them, like their job. These are fillable forms, and you can just e-sign.

About Valur

We’ve built a platform that makes advanced tax planning – once reserved for ultra-high-net-worth individuals – accessible to everyone. With Valur, you can reduce your taxes by six figures or more, at less than half the cost of traditional providers.

From selecting the right strategy to handling setup, administration, and ongoing optimization, we take care of the hard work so you don’t have to. The results speak for themselves: our customers have generated over $3 billion in additional wealth through our platform.

Want to see what Valur can do for you or your clients? Explore our Learning Center, use our online calculators to estimate your potential savings or schedule a time to chat with us today!

Mani Mahadevan

Mani Mahadevan

Founder & CEO

Mani is the founder and CEO of Valur. He brings deep financial and strategic expertise from his prior roles at McKinsey & Company and Goldman Sachs. Mani earned his degree from the University of Michigan and launched Valur in 2020 to transform how individuals and advisors approach tax planning.

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