Free PDF Guide

The Estate Planning & Gifting Guide

The estate tax now touches almost no one — but basis, titling, and beneficiary paperwork touch everyone. What estate planning is actually for under the $15 million exemption.

What’s inside

  • What a will does — and doesn't

    Probate, guardianship, and the long list of assets your will doesn't control at all.

  • The paperwork that outranks the will

    Beneficiary designations and account titling route most wealth directly — and they fail silently when stale.

  • The $15 million exemption reality

    What permanence changed: for most families, estate planning is now about basis, portability, and control, not estate tax.

  • Gifting during your lifetime

    Annual exclusion gifts, direct tuition and medical payments, and when giving early beats leaving it behind.

  • The step-up decision

    Why holding appreciated assets until death can beat gifting them — and the accounts where the step-up never applies.

  • When trusts earn their keep

    Minor children, blended families, spendthrift concerns, and control from beyond — the cases where a trust is worth its cost.

Jim Crider

Written by Jim Crider, CFP®, founder of Intentional Living FP — a fee-only fiduciary wealth management firm in New Braunfels, Texas.

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This guide is educational only and is not specific financial, tax, or legal advice. Tax figures reflect 2026 rules and are subject to change. Fee-only fiduciary · No commissions · Always on your side of the table.