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Estate Planning
9 articles in this category
For estates approaching the federal exemption threshold, basic planning is just the foundation. GRATs, ILITs, dynasty trusts, SLATs, IDGTs, and QPRTs each accomplish something a will and living trust cannot. Here is how they work.
When a trustee dies, resigns, or becomes incapacitated, the trust continues but authority over it goes dark until succession is resolved. Here is how the transition works, what goes wrong without named successors, and what the outgoing trustee still owes.
Trusts often need updating as life changes — but whether and how you can modify a trust depends on whether it is revocable or irrevocable, your state's law, and the methods available. Here is what each option involves.
When a beneficiary dies before receiving their inheritance, the outcome depends on what the document says, what the state anti-lapse statute covers, and how the estate plan handles contingencies. Here is how it works.
Whether you receive a trust distribution, when, and how much depends on what the trust document says. Here is how mandatory and discretionary distributions work, what the HEMS standard means, and what beneficiaries can and cannot demand.
Choosing a trustee is one of the most consequential decisions in estate planning, and most people underestimate what the role actually requires. Here is what to look for, what can go wrong, and how to structure the appointment properly.
A will contest requires more than disagreement with the terms — it needs specific legal grounds, standing, and timely filing. Here is how will contests work, what grounds courts actually recognize, and what the process looks like in practice.
The federal estate tax only applies above $13.99 million, but state taxes, the 2025 sunset, and trust structure decisions affect far more estates than most people realize. Here is how the pieces fit together.
A trust agreement sets up who holds your assets, who benefits, and how distributions work. The distribution clause is where the real decisions live. Here is how trust agreements are structured and what each provision actually does.