Estate Planning Resources
Unlock a wealth of articles, interactive tools, and engaging videos—all designed to guide you confidently through every step of your estate planning journey.
Estate Planning Basics: Start Here
New to estate planning, or just making sure you've covered the basics? Start here. These are the cornerstone guides — the documents every adult needs, the difference between a will and a trust, and what happens if you leave it to chance.
Featured Content
Estate Planning Checklist: How to Get Your Affairs in Order
Want to better understand estate planning basics? Read on for a checklist of steps to take and documents to use when planning your affairs.
Article
Will or Living Trust: Which Do You Need?
Wills and trusts help ensure your assets are smoothly transferred to heirs upon your death and/or mental incapacitation. Which option is right for you?
Article
What Happens If You Die Without a Will?
Dying without a will is called "intestacy," and it can cause several challenges for family members left behind. Read all about them here.
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The 9 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid
Avoid these common estate planning blunders to save your heirs time and money and prevent unnecessary friction between family members.
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Estate Planning Essentials: Protecting Your Legacy
Looking to protect your legacy and make things easier for your loved ones? Our must-watch video will show you how to maximize the value of your estate, cut down on unnecessary costs, and ensure your assets are passed on smoothly.
New Jersey Dropped Its Estate Tax — But Kept This One
New Jersey repealed its estate tax in 2018, so many assume the state no longer taxes what you leave behind. It still does — through an inheritance tax that hinges entirely on who inherits, not how much you leave.
Who inherits decides everything
Leave assets to a spouse, child, grandchild, or parent and there's no NJ inheritance tax. But leave them to a sibling, in-law, niece, nephew, friend, or unmarried partner and the rate runs from 11% up to 16% — with little or no exemption. A same-size estate can owe thousands or nothing, depending only on the relationship.
Worried About the Gift Tax? You Probably Won't Owe It
Many people assume a big gift to a child or grandchild triggers a tax. In reality, almost no one pays gift tax — an annual exclusion and a multi-million-dollar lifetime exemption see to that.
The $19,000 rule (and the millions behind it).
You can give up to $19,000 per person, per year (2026) — to as many people as you want — with no tax, no paperwork, and no dent in your lifetime exemption. Give more than that and you simply draw down your combined lifetime gift-and-estate exemption ($15 million per person in 2026), filing a form but rarely owing anything.
Estate Planning Articles
From wills and trusts to the lifetime gift exemption and New Jersey's inheritance tax, our full library walks through the decisions that protect your family and your legacy.
Estate Planning Terms To Know
Estate planning comes with its own thicket of jargon — probate, intestacy, remainderman, spendthrift provisions. This plain-English glossary keeps the terms from tripping you up when you sit down with your attorney (bonus: you might have them wondering if you moonlight as a lawyer).
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A beneficiary is a person or entity who receives money, property, or other benefits from a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement account, or any other legal arrangement.
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A codicil is a legal document that amends, modifies, or adds to an existing will and is used for changes such as updating beneficiaries, changing executors, or adding new instructions (with no need for an entirely new will).
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Conservatorship is a legal arrangement whereby a court appoints someone to manage affairs for another unable to do so for him or herself. Four main types include financial, physical, general, and limited.
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Decedent is a legal term referring to a person who has died.
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Estate planning is the process of creating a blueprint for the preservation, management, and distribution of assets in the event of one’s death and/or mental incapacitation, essentially a blueprint helping to maximize the value and minimize the cost of the estate while ensuring a smooth transfer of assets to heirs.
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GSTT is a special federal tax that applies when someone transfers assets (e.g., money, property, or other valuables) to someone at least two generations younger (e.g., grandchildren).
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A gross estate is the total value of all property and assets owned by a decedent at the time of his/her death before any deductions or liabilities are subtracted.
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While the exact name of this document varies by state, its purpose is to specify end-of-life medical care decisions in the event someone is unable to personally communicate the same.
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An heir is a person who’s legally entitled to inherit at least some (or all) property/assets or the estate of a decedent per inheritance laws.
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Intestacy occurs when someone dies without a will, tasking a court with distributing assets.
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Joint tenancy provides a means for two or more people to own property together, each person having an equal share, with “right of survivorship” dictating the decedent’s share of the property automatically pass to the remaining owner(s) (rather than the deceased’s heirs or per his/her will) if one owner passes away.
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This is a key document ensuring an estate is settled in the manner the deceased had intended, communicating final wishes in regard to how assets and other possessions are distributed following death.
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A living trust is a legal document in which assets (anything of value such as a business, real estate, bank accounts, etc.) are placed into a trust account set up during one’s lifetime (said person named the “grantor”). A designated person (a “trustee”) is tasked with managing assets for the benefit of the eventual beneficiary or beneficiaries.
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A living will (also known as an “advanced directive” or “healthcare directive”) is a legal document in which a person clearly states medical treatment wishes should he/she become unable to communicate and/or make such decisions.
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POD and TOD are simple strategies ensuring assets go directly to the person of one’s choice following death (without any need for probate). While the former is most often used for bank accounts (with a named beneficiary receiving all money in event of one’s death), the latter is similar but used for assets such as stocks, bonds, and real estate in some states (with a beneficiary named on investment accounts or property paperwork and assets automatically transferring to that same person).
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This document gives the party of one’s choosing the power to make legal decisions on his/her behalf when (and if) incapacitation or an inability to act on one’s own behalf occur. This can take shape as various types and reflect a range of responsibilities (e.g., establishing a power of attorney to permit another party to act only for limited purposes, such as signing loan closing documents).
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Probate is the legal process used to administer a person’s estate after his or her death, verifying the will is valid and authentic, paying off any taxes or debts, and ensuring the correct parties receive all property and possessions.
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A qualified domestic trust (often called a QDOT) is a special type of trust used in estate planning when someone wants to leave money or property to a spouse who is not a U.S. citizen.
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A remainderman is someone who’s set to inherit property after someone else’s interest in it ends (e.g., in leaving a home to a spouse for the rest of the spouse’s life followed by a child, the child is the “remainderman” whereas the spouse is the “life tenant”).
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The residue or residuary estate is what’s left of someone’s property and assets after all debts, taxes, expenses, and specific gifts mentioned in a will are paid or distributed (i.e., estate “leftovers”).
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A testator is a person who makes a will, writing down how he/she wants property and assets distributed upon death.
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A trustee is a person or organization responsible for managing money or assets placed in a trust for someone else’s benefit.
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A trustor is someone who creates a trust, putting money, property, or other assets into it and deciding how these should be managed and distributed.
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A spendthrift provision is a trust rule designed to help protect money or assets from being wasted or taken by creditors, applicable when concerns are present about a beneficiary’s money-management skills, debts, or legal issues.
Estate Planning Questions People Ask
Find answers to common estate planning questions.
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Estate planning means preparing for what will happen to your money, property, and other belongings if you pass away or become unable to make decisions for yourself. The goal is to protect what you own, make sure it’s managed how you want, and help your assets go to the right people with as little hassle and expense as possible.
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You can’t typically deduct estate planning costs—for things like hiring a lawyer to write your will or set up a trust—on your taxes, meaning you can’t subtract these fees from your income to lower your tax bill. A few rare exceptions do exist, however, such as if fees are directly related to managing taxable income or producing income for your estate (though for most people, estate planning costs don’t qualify for a tax break).
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Some of the most common estate planning documents include:
Power of attorney: Whereby you name someone you trust to make legal or financial decisions for you if you’re ever unable to do so yourself
Living will: A legal paper where you spell out your wishes for medical care if you can’t speak for yourself, also called an “advanced directive” or “healthcare directive”
Last will and testament: A primary document explaining how you want your money, property, and belongings divided after you pass away, ensuring your wishes are followed
Living trust: A means to put your assets (e.g., your house, bank accounts, or business) into a trust while you’re still alive, allowing for easier asset management and transfer per your instructions.
Your attorney drafts the documents. We help with the financial side — making sure beneficiaries are aligned, taxes are accounted for, and the decisions in your estate plan fit with the rest of your financial picture. Here are three ways to put a CFP® professional in your corner. No assets required.
Need help with the financial side of your estate plan?
Hourly Consulting
Best for: a specific question, like a beneficiary review, trust funding, or a gifting strategy.
Pay by the hour, get a CFP® professional's read, no ongoing commitment.
VR360 Membership—$3,995/year
Best for: putting estate planning into the context of your full financial life — taxes, insurance, and ongoing advice included.
A flat-fee annual membership that includes estate-planning support (excluding attorney fees), income tax preparation, tax planning, an insurance review, identity-theft protection, and access to exclusive client experiences.
Financial Planning
Best for: a full written plan that integrates your estate with the rest of your finances.
Cash flow, taxes, retirement projections, and estate basics in one coherent picture — so your attorney's documents and your financial plan are actually working together.
See if we’re the right fit for you.
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