estate and legacy planning
Educational articles in this subcategory.
Glossary of Estate and Legacy Terms
Estate planning involves specialized vocabulary that can be unfamiliar to those new to the subject. This glossary provides clear, concise definitions ...
Coordinating Estate Plans with Business Succession
Business owners face unique estate planning challenges. The business often represents a significant portion of total wealth, is illiquid, and requires...
Estate Administration Timeline
Administering an estate involves a structured sequence of legal, financial, and administrative tasks. Understanding the timeline helps executors and f...
Preparing Heirs for Wealth Transfer
Transferring wealth without preparing heirs to receive it often leads to poor outcomes. Studies consistently show that inherited wealth frequently dis...
Cross-Border and Multi-State Estate Issues
Estates that span multiple states or include foreign assets face additional tax obligations, reporting requirements, and administrative complexity. Un...
Estate Planning for Blended Families
Blended families face estate planning challenges that traditional families do not encounter. When a parent remarries and has children from a prior rel...
Prenuptial Agreements and Estate Impact
Prenuptial agreements significantly affect estate planning outcomes. Without understanding this interaction, estate plans may fail to achieve their in...
Special Needs Trust Considerations
Special needs trusts allow families to provide financial resources for individuals with disabilities without disqualifying them from essential governm...
Digital Asset Estate Planning
Digital assets present distinct challenges for estate planning. Unlike traditional assets, digital holdings may become permanently inaccessible if pro...
Philanthropic Mission Statements
A philanthropic mission statement provides structure and direction for family charitable giving. Without a clear framework, giving decisions become re...
Generation-Skipping Transfer Planning
The generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax is a federal tax imposed on transfers to persons who are two or more generations below the transferor. This...
Portable Exemption and DSUE Basics
Portability allows a surviving spouse to use any estate tax exemption that the first spouse did not use at death. This provision, made permanent in 20...
Charitable Remainder and Lead Trusts
Charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts are split-interest trusts that divide benefits between charitable and non-charitable beneficiar...
Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGTs)
An Intentionally Defective Grantor Trust (IDGT) is an irrevocable trust that is treated as owned by the grantor for income tax purposes while being ex...
Family Limited Partnerships and LLCs for Estate Planning
Family Limited Partnerships (FLPs) and Family Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) are legal structures that allow families to consolidate assets, maint...
Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs)
A Grantor Retained Annuity Trust (GRAT) is an irrevocable trust designed to transfer asset appreciation to beneficiaries with minimal or no gift tax c...
Revocable vs Irrevocable Trust Structures
Trusts serve as foundational tools in estate planning, providing mechanisms for asset management, distribution control, and tax planning. The two prim...
Beneficiary Designation Best Practices
Beneficiary designations determine who receives assets from retirement accounts, life insurance policies, and certain other financial accounts upon th...
Durable Power of Attorney and Healthcare Directives
Estate planning addresses not only what happens after death but also what happens if a person becomes unable to manage their own affairs during their ...
Wills vs Revocable Living Trusts
Estate planning requires choosing the right legal instruments to transfer assets to beneficiaries. Two primary options exist for most individuals: a l...