South Dakota · Public trust company
First Trust Company, LLC
Services offered
- Trust administration in collaboration with existing counsel and advisors
- Irrevocable life insurance trust trusteeship or agent-for-trustee
- Personal representative / estate services (as described on the firm site)
Who it is for
- Families that want a South Dakota corporate trustee working with existing counsel
- ILIT settlors who do not want a bank trust desk or a volunteer individual trustee
Sourced facts
- First issuance date on the South Dakota public-trust-company list is 18 November 2009.
- The firm publishes additional offices in Minneapolis, Bozeman, and Omaha. The South Dakota Division of Banking approved a Billings, Montana trust-service office on 5 February 2024.
- A 2017 ILIT fee schedule states the firm does not receive compensation or commissions from life-insurance companies.
Notes
First Trust Company, LLC is a Rapid City public trust company (credential TC.047-2, first issued 18 November 2009) at 1919 Hope Court, Suite 200. The firm calls itself an independent collaborative fiduciary and says it works with the family’s existing attorney and advisors, with a transparent fee model and no hidden commissions.
The published offering is stronger on administration and ILITs than on directed-trust marketing. That is not a defect if the appointment is a straightforward South Dakota trusteeship. It is a gap if counsel is trying to unbundle investment and distribution duties under SDCL chapter 55-1B. Get the role statement before the engagement letter.
What to verify next
Use this name when you want a non-bank South Dakota trustee that already works outside Sioux Falls. Do not assume a directed-trust statute package until they put the directed vs. discretionary appointment in writing. Confirm which office will administer the file, whether a Montana or Nebraska service office changes anything for situs, and that insurance-trust fees remain commission-free. The 2017 ILIT schedule is stale — ask for the current one.