12883 - FPCC 440 Estate Planning
Course Description
This course provides a comprehensive overview of the estate planning process and its essential role in holistic financial planning. Students will learn how to evaluate a client’s estate planning needs and apply advanced strategies to preserve wealth, manage tax exposure, and ensure efficient transfer of assets across generations.
Topics include wills, trusts, powers of attorney, property titling, beneficiary designations, and the probate process, as well as the fundamentals of federal gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. Students will explore tax-efficient planning techniques, lifetime gifting strategies, incapacity planning tools, and the use of trusts for charitable and multigenerational wealth transfers.
Course Outline
- Intro to Estate Planning
- Basic Estate Planning Documents
- Types of Property Interests
- The Probate Process
- Gift Tax
- Estate Tax
- Transfers of Property - Life & Death
- Trusts
- Charitable Giving
- Unlimited Marital Deduction
- Life Insurance in Estate Planning
- Special Elections and Postmortem Planning
- Generation-Skipping Transfers
- The Basic Estate Plan
Learner Outcomes
- Define estate planning and its significance.
- Analyze different methods of property ownership.
- Calculate estate and gift tax liability.
- Describe the benefits and limitations of various types of trusts.
- Describe the probate process, including the role of the executor or administrator.
- Discuss ethical issues related to estate planning, including conflicts of interest and client confidentiality.
- Develop a comprehensive estate plan for a hypothetical client, integrating the course knowledge and skills.
Notes
Chrome web browser is recommended. You may experience technical difficulties with Microsoft Edge.Prerequisites
Recommend: Completion of FPCC 435 Financial Planning Fundamentals with a 'C' or better.
This course can be taken concurrently with any course in the program, including FPCC 441.