Key Topics
Strategic Use of Qualified Disclaimers
- Core rules: 9-month timing, no acceptance of benefits, and irrevocability
- How disclaimers create post-death flexibility without triggering gift tax
- Coordinating disclaimers with beneficiary designations and estate documents
Tax Planning with Large IRAs and Other Assets
- Managing income tax exposure under the 10-year rule
- Avoiding bracket creep, IRMAA surcharges, and surtaxes
- Shifting assets to lower-tax beneficiaries to reduce overall family tax burden
When Accepting an Inheritance Creates Risk
- Triggering unnecessary income and estate taxes
- Disrupting asset protection strategies
- Creating Medicaid eligibility issues or commingling risks
Real-World Applications
- Multi-generational IRA planning with significant tax savings potential
- Managing RMD-driven income for surviving spouses
- Using disclaimers to reduce concentration risk in appreciated assets
- Addressing fairness and control issues in blended family situations
Designing Plans That Work in Practice
- Importance of beneficiary structure in enabling planning flexibility
- Aligning trust provisions with real-world tax and income outcomes
- Avoiding common drafting and implementation pitfalls
Planner Takeaway
Advisors must act as a circuit breaker at the moment of asset receipt—ensuring decisions are deliberate, coordinated, and aligned with long-term planning objectives.
Session 2: Estate Planning for Digital Assets and Real Estate Trusts
Subtitle: Control, Access, and Transfer in Modern Portfolios
Overview
This session addresses two critical and often overlooked areas of planning: digital assets and real estate. Advisors will learn how to ensure access, control, and efficient transfer of both intangible and illiquid assets.
Part 1: Digital Assets
Key Topics
- Cryptocurrency and digital wallets
- Online businesses and monetized platforms
- Digital intellectual property
- Brokerage and fintech accounts
- Cloud-based business records
Planning Challenges
- Custodial access restrictions under RUFADAA
- Password management vs. legal authority
- Multisignature wallet structures
- Valuation and reporting issues
- Risk of lost or inaccessible keys
Strategic Solutions
- Digital asset memorandums
- Appointment of digital fiduciaries
- Titling strategies for cryptocurrency
- Centralized asset inventory systems
Planner Takeaway
Digital wealth requires operational planning in addition to legal documentation. Without coordination, these assets can be lost entirely.
Part 2: Trusts and Real Estate
Real estate is often a client’s largest asset and a major planning opportunity. This section focuses on practical trust strategies that improve protection, transfer efficiency, and tax outcomes.
Key Strategies
Revocable Living Trusts
- Probate avoidance and privacy
- Proper funding and titling
- When baseline planning is sufficient
Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs)
- Discounted gift valuation using retained interests
- Term selection and mortality considerations
- When QPRTs are appropriate given interest rates and lifestyle factors
Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs)
- Removing assets from the estate while preserving indirect access
- Avoiding reciprocal trust risks
- Planning for exemption uncertainty
LLC and Trust Structures
- Combining liability protection with estate planning
- Proper ownership structuring
- Common pitfalls including lender and state-specific issues
Practical Planning Alternatives
- Transfer-on-death strategies
- Basic irrevocable trusts
- Balancing complexity, cost, and client benefit
Planner Takeaway
Effective real estate planning requires coordination between ownership structure, tax strategy, and client objectives.
Session 3: Estate Planning Strategies for $2–$5 Million Clients
Subtitle: High-Impact Planning Without Overengineering
Overview
This session focuses on practical, high-leverage strategies for clients with $2–$5 million in net worth. These clients require thoughtful planning that balances tax efficiency, control, and cost without unnecessary complexity.
Key Topics
Tax Optimization
- Portability elections
- State estate tax planning
- Basis step-up timing strategies
- Lifetime gifting vs. wait-and-see approaches
Control and Protection
- Revocable trust optimization
- Retirement trust considerations
- LLC structures for real estate
- Umbrella liability coordination
Business Owner Planning
- Buy-sell agreement alignment
- Cross-purchase vs. entity structures
- Integration with personal estate plans
- Preventing liquidity issues at death
Avoiding Overengineering
- When advanced strategies (GRATs, ILITs) are unnecessary
- Managing complexity and client understanding
- Avoiding “trust fatigue”
Funding Formula Risks
- Pecuniary vs. fractional formulas
- Capital gains exposure during funding
- Impact of post-death appreciation
- Coordination with tax professionals
Planner Takeaway
The primary risk at this wealth level is either under-planning or overengineering. Advisors must prioritize strategies that deliver meaningful impact without unnecessary complexity.
Session 4: The Estate Plan That Actually Survives
Subtitle: Governance, Readiness, and Long-Term Flexibility
Overview
Most estate plans fail not because of taxes, but because they do not function well in real-world conditions. Behavioral risks, family dynamics, and administrative complexity often undermine otherwise well-designed plans.
This session focuses on building estate plans that remain effective over time by addressing governance, beneficiary readiness, trustee selection, and adaptability.
Key Topics
Beneficiary Readiness
- Introducing heirs to trust structures
- Preparing beneficiaries for responsibility
- Managing expectations around distributions
- Transparency and communication strategies
Trustee Selection
- Individual vs. corporate trustees
- Co-trustee dynamics
- Trust protector roles
- Removal and replacement provisions
Stress Testing the Plan
- Changes in tax law and exemptions
- Divorce and family changes
- Business risks and liquidity events
- Beneficiary challenges such as addiction or financial mismanagement
Flexibility Tools
- Trust protectors
- Decanting provisions
- Powers of appointment
- Directed trust structures
Advisor Communication Frameworks
- Leading estate alignment meetings
- Managing inheritance expectations
- Coordinating with attorneys and CPAs
Administrative Reality Considerations
- Complex or impractical distribution formulas
- Disclosure and reporting requirements
- Fiduciary burden and liability
- Conflicts over personal property distribution
Planner Takeaway
Advisors must design estate plans that function in practice—not just in theory—by preparing families, selecting the right fiduciaries, and building flexibility into every structure.