Estate planning involves ordering an individual's affairs to promote effective protection and management of assets, with a view to their eventual transfer to members of succeeding generations. Life insurance producers and other financial professionals are often called upon to provide products and services to help clients achieve these objectives for large and small estates.

The purpose of this course is to offer a comprehensive overview and understanding of estate planning, the first step for practitioners who want to transition into this advanced field of practice. This course was developed by the editorial staff of Pentera Group, Inc.

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:

• apply the use of wills and income in respect of a decedent to estate planning
• describe different types of property ownership
• explain the benefits of making lifetime gifts, and how clients can do so in a tax-favored manner
• demonstrate an understanding of the federal estate tax and how to minimize its impact
• apply ways in which a spouse can plan to pass assets to a surviving spouse
• interpret the value of irrevocable life insurance trusts and other trusts available as estate planning tools
• compare and contrast family limited partnerships-how they work and their advantages in estate planning
• devise ways to help clients plan for incapacity and incompetence