Knowledge Base
Estate & Legacy Guides
Wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, gifting, and the federal estate and gift tax exemption, including the 2026 rules.
31 guides
Asset Protection Planning: How Creditor Protection Actually Works
Asset protection planning arranges insurance, retirement accounts, entities, and trusts before any claim exists, within state and federal exemption rules.
Beneficiary Designation Mistakes That Override Your Estate Plan
Beneficiary forms, not your will, decide who inherits retirement accounts, life insurance, and TOD accounts. Outdated or missing names cause most failures.
Charitable Gift Annuities: How They Work, Taxes, and Risks
A charitable gift annuity trades an irrevocable gift for fixed lifetime payments from the charity, plus a partial income tax deduction in the gift year.
Charitable Giving Basics: Vehicles, Assets, and 2026 Deduction Rules
Gifts to qualified charities can reduce taxes if you itemize; the benefit depends on what you give, how you give it, and new 2026 limits.
Charitable Lead Trusts: How CLATs and CLUTs Work
A charitable lead trust pays a charity for a set term, then passes what remains to family, reducing the taxable gift or estate value of that remainder.
Charitable Remainder Trusts for Appreciated Stock
A charitable remainder trust can sell appreciated stock without immediate capital gains tax, pay you income for years, and leave the rest to charity.
Core Estate Planning Documents and the People You Name
A basic estate plan combines a will or trust, beneficiary designations, and powers of attorney, plus the people chosen to carry them out.
Digital Estate Planning: Accounts, Passwords, and Crypto
Digital estate planning inventories your online accounts and digital assets and gives a fiduciary legal authority and access after death or incapacity.
Donating Real Estate, Private Stock, and Art to Charity
Donating appreciated long-term assets can avoid capital gains tax and allow a fair market value deduction, but appraisal, acceptance, and AGI limits apply.
Estate and Financial Planning for Blended Families
Blended families need plans that deliberately balance a current spouse and children from earlier relationships; default rules and old forms rarely do.
Estate Planning Basics: The Core Documents and How Assets Pass
An estate plan is the set of documents and beneficiary designations that decide who inherits, who manages assets, and who decides for you if you can't.
Estate Planning Beyond the Basics: Exemptions, Trusts, and Transfer Tools
Past a basic will, estate planning coordinates trusts, titling, and gifting with the 2026 federal exemption of $15 million per person and state rules.
Estate Planning Checkup for New Retirees
Retirement is a natural time to refresh documents, beneficiary forms, and gifting plans, especially with the $15M federal exemption set for 2026.
Family Limited Partnerships: Valuation Discounts and IRS Risk
A family limited partnership lets parents gift interests at appraised values reflecting lack of control and marketability, subject to IRS scrutiny.
Federal Estate and Gift Tax Exemption in 2026
For 2026, the federal estate and gift tax exemption is $15 million per person ($30 million per married couple), indexed for inflation from 2027.
Financial Power of Attorney: Durable, Springing, and Safeguards
A durable financial power of attorney names an agent to manage your finances if you can't, stays valid through incapacity, and can avoid a conservatorship.
Generation-Skipping Trusts and the GST Tax in 2026
The GST tax is a separate 40% tax on transfers to grandchildren and later generations. The 2026 exemption is $15 million per person and must be allocated.
Gifting Strategies: 2026 Annual Exclusion and Lifetime Exemption
In 2026 you can give $19,000 per recipient tax-free, pay tuition or medical bills directly without limit, and use a $15 million lifetime exemption.
Giving Crypto to Charity: Deductions, Appraisals, and Limits
Crypto held over a year and given directly to a qualified charity is generally deductible at fair market value, with no capital gains tax on the gain.
GRATs for Concentrated and Pre-IPO Stock
A GRAT is an irrevocable trust that pays you an annuity for a set term; growth above the IRS 7520 rate can pass to heirs with little or no gift tax.
Healthcare Directives: Living Wills, Healthcare Agents, and HIPAA
An advance health care directive names who makes medical decisions if you can't and records your treatment wishes. Every adult benefits from one.
Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGTs), Explained
An IDGT is outside your estate for estate tax but taxed to you for income tax, so your tax payments and asset sales to it can shift growth to heirs.
Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs): How They Work
An ILIT owns life insurance on your life so the death benefit is kept out of your taxable estate, if the trust, not you, holds all ownership rights.
Joint Account Types: JTWROS, Tenants in Common, Community Property, and TOD
Account titling decides who inherits, whether probate applies, and how much basis step-up heirs get. Community property can step up both halves.
Private Foundations: Control, Costs, and IRS Rules
A private foundation is a family-controlled charity that must pay out about 5% of its assets each year and follow strict self-dealing rules.
Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs): Benefits and Risks
A SLAT is an irrevocable trust one spouse funds for the other, moving assets and growth out of the estate while the family keeps indirect access.
Step-Up in Basis: How Inherited Assets Are Taxed
Inherited assets generally get a new cost basis equal to value at death, so gain that built up during the owner's life isn't taxed when heirs sell.
Talking With Your Heirs About Money: A Practical Guide
Talking with heirs means explaining your estate plan, their roles, and your values while you can still answer questions, so fewer surprises surface later.
The Probate Process: How It Works and How Assets Avoid It
Probate is the court process that validates a will, pays debts, and distributes assets. Trusts, beneficiary designations, and joint titles can avoid it.
Timing Donor-Advised Fund Gifts Around High-Income Years
A donor-advised fund lets you take a charitable deduction in a high-income year and grant to charities later; 2026 rules add a 0.5% AGI floor.
Trust Administration Basics: What a Trustee Must Do
A trustee must follow the trust, act loyally and prudently, inform beneficiaries, and file tax returns. In 2026, trust income over $16,000 is taxed at 37%.