Estate planning

With recent changes to tax law, non-grantor trusts have become attractive vehicles for gaining tax efficiencies, such as when making charitable contributions.

Account titling and beneficiary designations could contradict what clients write in their wills, undermining estate planning. Advisors can help keep these current.

August is National Make a Will Month, but advisors say it's important to urge clients year-round to secure their wishes by keeping wills and estate plans fresh.

New York City's new pied-à-terre tax is prompting financial advisors to help wealthy clients reassess their options, from residency status to estate plans.

Trust protectors can help protect against irresponsible trustees and other dicey situations that could put grantors' wishes at risk, estate lawyers say.

By coordinating with a client's other financial professionals, such as lawyers and accountants, financial advisors have the potential to deliver even more value.

Summer meetings might pose a scheduling challenge, but financial advisors could help clients avoid costly mistakes by guiding them away from the common bias in a midyear meeting.

Ultrawealthy clients looking to reduce taxable estates might consider spousal lifetime access trusts, but too-similar dual trusts can backfire.

In vitro fertilization, sperm donation and other reproductive techniques can lead to legal and financial risk. Here's how to help clients avoid exposure.

Advisors have a role to play in facilitating the great wealth transfer, and some wealth owners are uncertain about whether heirs are ready.

Clients aren't just curious about estate planning, they're insisting that their advisors provide it.

Claiming Social Security early might seem counterintuitive for the ultrawealthy, but one advisor says that when the benefits are used to fund life insurance in an irrevocable trust, the strategy could pay off for heirs.

Many retirement savers will have no trouble choosing between an IRA or a trust. But experts say there are some important factors that add complication to the decision.

Difficult personal experiences led the founder of virtual firm YGC Wealth to become the first strategic advisor to BestFarewell, a technology start-up that aims to help grieving families process and organize end-of-life planning documents.

A technicality in the federal law enacted in July 2025 changed how deductions work for estates and trusts, creating uncertainty over how taxes are allocated after a person's death.

Even if they must refer wealth families to a tax professional for a generation-skipping or dynasty trust, financial advisors can play a valuable role.

The Uniform Partition of Heirs' Property Act helps families avoid forced property sales in at least 24 states, according to a study sponsored by JPMorgan Chase.

Still, the number of widows who leave advisors is three times higher than the industry average. It doesn't have to be that bad.