Category: Estate Planning

Vanilla

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Updated: Jul 17, 2026

You've likely had clients ask, "Do I need a will or a trust?" It's a common question that deserves a thoughtful, personalized response.  The confusion between wills and trusts often leads clients to make decisions that don't fully address their specific needs. Without proper guidance, they might opt for the simplest solution without understanding the long-term implications for their families and estates. What is a will? When advising clients about estate planning basics, you'll want to explain that a will is a legal document expressing how someone wants their assets distributed after death. In straightforward terms, it's their written instructions...

Simona Ondrejkova, CFP

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May 07, 2025

In estate planning, there are several types of trusts especially designed to help individuals avoid or reduce estate taxes. One of these is the credit shelter trust. The credit shelter trust is often used by married couples as one of many estate planning strategies that can help them pass on more wealth to beneficiaries after both spouses pass away. Here, we explain what a credit shelter trust is, how it works, and when you or your clients should consider using it to leave a greater legacy by minimizing or even eliminating the estate tax bill. What is a credit shelter...

Vanilla

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Apr 30, 2025

Helping clients navigate estate planning is becoming a non-negotiable aspect of comprehensive wealth management. Research indicates 70% of clients believe their advisors should offer estate planning services, and 40% would change advisors if it meant switching to one who did offer estate planning. So while you may not draft legal documents yourself, understanding the nuances of estate planning, like trust structures, allows you to have more meaningful conversations with clients and collaborate effectively with their attorneys. Two primary trust options—revocable and irrevocable—serve distinctly different purposes in your clients' financial plans. The right choice depends on each client's unique circumstances, priorities,...

Vanilla

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Apr 04, 2025

Gifting to your children is an excellent way to reduce estate tax liabilities, but sometimes it makes more sense to give directly to grandchildren, rather than to your children. Because these gifts “skip” a generation, they are referred to as generation-skipping transfers (GST) and have special tax treatment. There are a few important things to keep in mind when considering a generation-skipping transfer gift, including the generation-skipping transfer tax. We’ll break the tax down for you and give you a few more important pointers to pay attention to. What is the generation-skipping transfer tax? The generation-skipping transfer tax (or “GSTT”)...

Vanilla

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Mar 04, 2025

Tax planning for clients with taxable estates has always been complex. We’ve learned the best way to explain estate planning strategies is with diagrams, not documents. That’s why we’ve put together this deck of 10 diagrams to explain some of the advanced strategies and why household with $10M in assets should care about estate tax. Why $10M in household assets? In 2026 the Estate Tax exemption drops down to just about $10M (or higher based on inflation). The 10 diagrams explain both why you need advanced strategies and how 8 different strategies work. We’ve explained them all below but if...

Madison Eubanks

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Feb 21, 2025

Going to the dentist, getting an oil change, getting a flu shot, cleaning out the gutters, taking your pet to its annual vet appointment—these aren’t things that most people look forward to doing, but they’re all regular maintenance tasks that we do throughout the year.  And while no one wants to add yet another item to life’s list of chores, estate planning updates deserve a place on the docket. This doesn’t need to be done every year, but ongoing maintenance is crucial for an optimized plan.  In this article, we’ll discuss why updating an estate plan is important, how often...

Madison Eubanks

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Feb 21, 2025

Intestacy, or dying intestate, is legalese for when a person passes away without a will. When a person dies “intestate,” their estate is subject to the intestacy laws of the state they lived in. This means that who inherits the estate is left up to the government as defined by the state’s intestacy laws, rather than by the deceased person’s choice. This can give rise to any number of issues and can create headaches for the intestate person’s family and loved ones. The purposes of wills and trusts are, of course, to communicate one’s wishes for what should happen to...

Vanilla

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Feb 06, 2025

What is a spousal lifetime access trust (SLAT)? A Spousal Lifetime Access Trust (“SLAT”) is an irrevocable trust set up by an individual (the “donor”) during his or her lifetime for the benefit of the individual’s spouse and if, desired, other family members.   How does the SLAT work? A SLAT is created under a trust agreement, which contains the terms of the trust and the name of the individuals or entity that will act as trustee (typically a trusted friend or advisor). A SLAT is funded by way of a gift from the donor to the SLAT. During the...

Vanilla

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Feb 04, 2025

According to a 2024 survey from Caring.com, 40% of Americans don’t think they have enough assets to create a will. This reveals a general lack of understanding around the purpose of a will, which does more than handle financial assets. There’s an enormous opportunity for advisors to help educate clients about the goals of estate planning and core estate documents.  If you have a handle on the core estate documents and how they benefit your clients’ finances in the long term, you’ll be more likely to provide advice and guidance that will strengthen ongoing relationships with clients and their families....