Estate Planning Basics Series

The Estate Planning Basics Series offered by InterActive Legal Academy is an introduction to estate planning documents and concepts, with a focus on how property is transferred both at death and during lifetime.


The next live presentation of the Estate Planning Basics Series
will be held in the Spring of 2024.
Registration for the Spring 2024 series is not yet available.


This series focuses on the fundamentals of estate and gift taxation and foundational planning to minimize transfer taxes. The basic principles of generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax and income taxation of trusts and estates are also covered. Topics include: Credit shelter planning and portability, flexible planning using “Clayton” and “disclaimer” plans, lifetime gift planning, grantor trusts, and more. Classes meet three times per week over a four-week period. One-hour instructional sessions take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1pm ET, followed by one-hour drafting workshops on Fridays, also at 1pm ET.

Over the four weeks, attendees will learn how the estate tax system works when a taxpayer dies, what property is subject to tax, how lifetime gifts impact estate taxes at death, and how to plan to minimize overall estate and gift taxation via the use of available exemptions and other strategies. Additionally, we will introduce the generation-skipping transfer tax, explaining what it is, when it applies, and how to maximize available exemptions. Later sessions will cover specific assets that have unique issues (such as IRAs, other retirement plans, and life insurance), and discuss the income tax consequences of various estate planning strategies.

When is this series presented?

The Estate Planning Basics Series will be offered in March 2024. Additional information on this series will be provided closer to that date.

Who should attend this series?

This series is designed for those who are new to the field of estate planning and wish to learn about the basic concepts relevant to preparing an estate plan. It is appropriate for recent law school graduates, paralegals, and other legal professionals working with estate planning documents, as well as attorneys transitioning into estate planning from other areas of the law.

Who should NOT attend this series?

This series is not appropriate for those who already have a grasp of the basic concepts and documents involved in preparing an estate plan. It is also not appropriate for those who are looking for in-depth coverage of tax planning topics (those who fall into this category should consider the Estate Planning Tax Series offered in the Fall).

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