Well these are two 4" binders, with very thin pages, so there are thousands of pages here. I have no personal interest in researching and understanding Life Insurance trusts, so let me do this simple piece for you. I will attach some of the text guidance overview, for section 12.4, which deals with Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts. You determine if it wets your appetite. (I'm retyping, so apologize if any typo's).
"This form of trust is quite similar to Form 12.3, in that they share the goal of removing assets from the grantor's estate as a tax planning device. In this case, the trust will hold a life insurance policy on the grantor's life, either one purchased by the trust or a preexisting policy transferred into the trust. The grantor will make annual gifts to the trust as necessary to pay premiums on the insurance. As with Form 12.3, the trust includes a "Crummey" power to make sure that such deposits are considered completed gifts.
This planning strategy is indispensable where a client's taxable estate consists largely of non-liquid property, such as a business or real estate, that the family would not want to lose or sell at a loss in order to pay estate taxes. It can also be useful in other instances, depending on the clients' financial status and ages.
Very often, married clients purchase second-to-die policies for these trusts, since the premiums are lower in relation to the ultimate death benefit. This also makes sense since no estate tax will be due until both spouses die. This can be an important planning technique where a child is disabled and the parents want to make sure that sufficient funds exist to pay for his or her care indefinitely once the parents have passed away. Form 12.4.2 and Form 12.4.3 are used if the trust will hold a second-to-die policy.
Where the planning involves existing life insurance policies, they will not be considered outside of the grantor's estate unless the grantor survives three years after their transfer into trust.
This form is used if the policy is owned by the husband. It permits insurance policy proceeds to be used for the wife's benefit if she survives him. Form 12.4.1 is identical, except that the policy is on the life of the wife for the benefit of her husband.
This trust has a more complex "Crummey" power than that in Form 12.3, including a "five and five" power for the beneficiaries so that their failure to exercise a right of withdrawal will not be considered a taxable gift to the trust by them. See section 6. The grantor may not serve as trustee. His or her spouse may serve as trustee as long as there is also an independent trustee serving."
If you are interested, buy the binder. I am in no way associated with these guys, neither a lawyer nor financial adviser. I am just a consumer and have purchased this set of binders to do my own research and education, and have found it very helpful in many stages of estate planning (trusts/revocable and irrevocable, POA's, wills, medicaid planning, medical directives, health care POA's and living wills, etc). It's been the best $300 bucks I've ever spent.