Course Information

Designed to give a quick overview of estate planning essentials, this course surveys wills, living trusts, gifts, marital property, and probate avoidance. Will and trust types are examined in the context of general estate and gift taxation. Designed to eliminate estate problems and death taxes, the emphasis is on practical solutions that are cost effective. Talk about having it all in an overview course – there is even a quick review of immediate postmortem death tax planning and filling out Form 706.

• Identify basic estate planning elements recognizing the importance of well-drafted legal documents, regular assessment of estate plan, and efficient estate and trust administration.
• Specify estate tax techniques that save death taxes while retaining maximum control including the use of family limited partnerships and recognize the importance of an inventory and evaluation of assets.
• Identify federal estate tax as it applies to various size estates, specify the persons subject to federal estate tax, and determine what is included in a taxable estate such as gifts, trust transfers, joint interests, and powers of appointment.
• Specify estate deductions allowed under federal estate tax law, determine the value of a decedent’s assets using permitted elections, recognize the use of Form 706 to pay estate tax, and select the tax basis of estate assets stating how common transactions affect property basis under §1014.
• Recall the advantages of gift planning including estate reduction recognizing the impact of the GST, specify the steps to compute gift tax identifying the gift tax exclusion amount, and identify the various gift tax exclusions.
• Cite the functions a will can perform and recall ways to hold title and their tax ramifications.
• Identify the advantages of a properly drafted will and specify the pros and cons of probate proceedings and their avoidance.
• Identify the relationship of parties in a trust and reasons to establish a trust, specify the common elements of trust, and recognize trusts according to planning function.
• Specify recommended living trust provisions and identify the use of a grantor trust and an unlimited marital deduction.
• Determine post-mortem estate planning action in the face of administrative expenses using elections and disclaimers, specify the filing requirements of a decedent’s estate tax return, and identify exceptions to the general rule of estate tax payment.
• Determine the processes and procedures necessary in the preparation and filing of Form 706 and identify the filing requirements for estate income tax and decedent’s final income tax returns.
• Determine the total income to be included on the decedent’s final income tax return using available exemptions or deductions.
• Identify how to avoid penalties when filing a gift tax return and recall special gift applications and traps stating ways to avoid their tax consequences.