Estate Planning and Wealth Transfer
Transferring wealth on purpose
Core documents: will, durable power of attorney, health care directive, and beneficiary designations. Intestacy statutes control without a will; probate is the court process that validates it. Titling frequently controls outcomes - joint tenancy with right of survivorship, tenancy by the entirety, transfer-on-death and payable-on-death registrations, and community property all pass outside the will, as do retirement accounts and life insurance via beneficiary designation.
Trusts: revocable living trust (avoids probate, no separate tax return), irrevocable trusts (removes assets from the estate, files its own return), bypass/credit-shelter, QTIP marital, ILIT for insurance, GRATs, and charitable remainder or lead trusts.
Gift and estate taxes share a unified credit; the annual exclusion is $19,000 per donor per donee in 2025, and gifts above it use lifetime exemption. Portability lets a surviving spouse use the deceased spouse's unused exclusion (DSUE) with a timely election. Assets held at death generally receive a stepped-up basis; lifetime gifts carry over basis.
Traps. Assuming the will overrides a beneficiary designation (it does not); stale designations after divorce or a death; assuming every trust is a tax-avoidance vehicle.
Rule of thumb. Review titling and beneficiary forms annually and after any life event - it is the cheapest estate plan available.