Estate planning guides by topic

Eighteen topic hubs, from wills and trusts to business succession, transfer tax and estate administration.

How the hubs work

Each hub collects the guides, questions, defined terms and checklist for its subject.

Topics

• Business succession

  Business succession: buy-sell agreements, valuation of closely held interests, family and employee transfers, and the estate tax rules on each route.

• Charitable planning

  Charitable planning: bequests, donor-advised funds, private foundations, charitable remainder trusts and gifts of business and investment assets.

• Estate planning across borders

  Explore estate planning across borders, noncitizen spouse gifts, QDOTs, domicile, U.S. property and foreign inheritances with practical guides for families.

• Digital assets and property

  Organize digital accounts, distinguish access from ownership, and prepare for email disclosure and cryptocurrency recovery with focused estate planning guides.

• Disputes and contests

  Understand will and trust disputes through state examples on capacity, undue influence, trustee duties and settlements, with guides and records to gather.

• Estate administration

  Estate administration: executor appointment, inventory and valuation, creditor claims, tax returns, liquidity and final distribution.

• Federal estate, gift and GST tax

  Federal transfer tax: how the estate, gift and generation-skipping taxes work together, the annual exclusion, the unified exclusion and portability.

• Fiduciaries and governance

  Explore trustee duties, shared authority, investment losses and beneficiary reporting, with guides to choosing fiduciaries and reviewing trust governance.

• Incapacity and health directives

  Learn how financial authority, health directives and medical information fit together, with state examples and practical questions for your incapacity planning.

• Income tax, basis and trust taxation

  Income tax and basis: carryover basis on gifts, basis adjustment at death, grantor and nongrantor trust taxation and net investment income tax.

• Insurance and liquidity

  Understand estate cash needs, payment deadlines, life insurance inclusion and ILIT transfer risks before reviewing coverage for business and family assets.

• Private investments and real estate

  Explore private investments and real estate planning, valuation, special-use elections, inherited property, ownership questions and records for adviser review.

• Retirement accounts and beneficiaries

  Inherited retirement accounts: how beneficiary designations control who receives an account and how post-death distribution rules set the payout.

• Special needs and elder law

  Understand special needs trusts, ABLE accounts and Medicaid family asset questions, with practical next steps for benefits, care records and trustee decisions.

• State estate and inheritance tax

  Explore state estate and inheritance taxes, multistate property, lifetime gifts, spouse elections and trust income, with state examples and planning guides.

• The planning process and family dynamics

  Explore family estate planning conversations, lawyer conflicts, trust information duties and practical next steps for organizing documents and proposed roles.

• Trusts

  Trust design and funding: revocable, irrevocable, grantor and dynasty trusts, distribution standards, funding and modification or decanting.

• Wills and probate

  Wills and probate: what a will controls and what passes outside it, execution formalities, the probate process, spousal rights and intestacy.

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