Our Comprehensive Guide to Estate Planning for High-Net-Worth Individuals

Fortunately, estate planning is not all gloom and doom. You can take several measures while you’re alive and well to ensure that your estate is handled to your wishes and that your family’s burden is minimized.  

Comprehensive estate planning is about making sure your financial life is structured in a way that reflects your values, minimizes taxes, and sets your loved ones up for success. It’s also about preparing for the unexpected and making sure your wishes are clear—so your family isn’t left guessing. 

This guide walks you through everything you need to know, from the basics (like wills and powers of attorney) to advanced strategies (like dynasty trusts and charitable planning). We’ll also cover common mistakes, how to keep your plan flexible, and why estate planning still matters—even if you think your estate is below the federal exemption. 

At Plancorp, we believe estate planning should feel empowering, not intimidating. Let’s dive in and help you build a plan that works for your life today and your legacy tomorrow. 

At its core, it ensures your intentions are honored while minimizing taxes, avoiding unnecessary delays, and protecting your loved ones from conflict. 

A comprehensive estate plan typically includes a will, one or more trusts, powers of attorney for financial and medical matters, advance healthcare directives, properly titled accounts, and clear beneficiary designations.  

For high-net-worth individuals, estate planning often also includes advanced strategies such as dynasty trusts, charitable structures, or business succession plans. 

The Default Estate Plan (If You Don’t Have One) 

If you don't take the time to create a customized estate plan that is in line with your values, you still have one — it just won’t be yours. Under state intestacy laws, your state will decide who inherits your property and in what proportions.  

This “default” plan may not reflect your wishes and can leave your family vulnerable to unnecessary expenses, court proceedings, and disputes. 

Poor or delayed estate planning can lead to problems like:  

• Assets tied up in probate for months or years 

• Higher estate or income taxes than necessary 

• Family conflict due to lack of clarity 

• Forced sale of businesses or properties to cover tax liabilities 

• Heirs unprepared to manage sudden wealth 

Depending on the size of your estate and where you live, probate proceedings can get messy, legal fees can pile up, and family members or friends can feel overwhelmed and burdened from dealing with your estate in probate on top of grieving your death. 

Why Wealth Changes the Conversation 

The more wealth you have, the more complex your estate becomes. Issues such as estate and gift tax exposure, multi-generational wealth transfer, closely held business succession, and charitable legacy planning add layers of complexity.  

Family dynamics, such as blended families, children with different needs, or heirs at different life stages, require a thoughtful plan that balances fairness, flexibility, and your long-term vision. 

Will vs. Revocable Living Trust (and How They Work Together) 

A will is a legal document that provides direction on how property owned in your name (without a beneficiary designation) will be distributed after your death. Without a will, disbursements are made according to state law, which might not align with your wishes and priorities.  

In addition, a will names an individual (called an “executor” or “personal representative”) to manage and settle your estate as well as a legal guardian for any minor children.  

Since this is a legal document and legal requirements for an enforceable will vary from state to state, it is crucial that your will is well written and executed in accordance with your own state's laws.   

A trust is a legal document between a trustee (the person responsible for managing trust property) and grantor (the person who established the trust). A revocable living trust is a type of trust that is crucial to estate planning.  

A revocable living trust creates a separate legal entity to own, manage and administer property. Because the trust is revocable, it may be amended or revoked at any time by the grantor. 

One of the primary benefits of a revocable living trust is that any assets that are owned by the trust will avoid probate and be excluded from your taxable estate, saving time and money.  

Probate documents such as your will and statements of assets/property become public record, so having a trust in place generally helps preserve privacy and prevent public knowledge of your estate.  

Advance Medical Directive and Durable Health Care Power of Attorney 

Advanced medical directives (sometimes called a “living will”) allow you to specify the medical treatments you do and do not want should you become incapacitated and provides your wishes regarding organ donation.   

A Durable Health Care Power of Attorney appoints someone to speak to your medical providers, access your medical information and make medical decisions for you if you are incapacitated.  

Durable Financial Power of Attorney  

A durable financial power of attorney allows you to name individuals who can act on your behalf for all financial matters if you become incapacitated.  

For example, if you were not able to do so, the individual you name would be able to access your bank account to pay bills and work with your accountant to file your tax return.  

Beneficiary Designations 

Assets such as retirement accounts, insurance policies, and annuities pass by beneficiary designation, not your will. Regularly reviewing these designations ensures alignment with your estate plan. 

Titling Assets Properly  

Improper titling can undermine even the best estate plan. For example, assets held jointly may pass outside your will, or assets intended for a trust may never get transferred. Proper titling prevents unintended consequences. 

Maintaining Flexibility to Minimize Tax Impact 

Flexibility is key. Using provisions that allow trustees or beneficiaries to adapt — such as powers of appointment, trust decanting, or disclaimers — helps families respond to future tax or legal changes. 

Estate Diagrams to Communicate Your Wishes 

A tool commonly used by our team at Plancorp, visual flowcharts or diagrams can make your intentions clear to family members and professional partners. They help simplify complex plans and reduce the risk of misunderstandings. 

More Than Documents — It’s About Alignment 

While it may seem heavy in paperwork, estate planning is about more than documents. It’s about alignment. Are your wishes, your paperwork, and your asset structure working in harmony? If not, it may be time to revisit with a trusted professional. 

Trust Structures to Know 

Revocable Living Trusts 

Think of a revocable living trust as your estate plan’s flexible foundation. You stay in control of your assets while you're alive, and the trust can be changed or revoked at any time.  

When you pass away, assets in the trust avoid probate which saves time and money while protecting your privacy. It’s a great way to keep things simple and organized. 

Dynasty Trusts 

A dynasty trust allows you to pass wealth down through multiple generations while minimizing estate taxes and protecting assets from creditors or divorce.  

These trusts can last for decades—or even indefinitely—depending on your state’s laws. For families focused on legacy and long-term financial stewardship, dynasty trusts are a powerful planning tool. 

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) 

An ILIT helps keep life insurance proceeds out of your taxable estate. Once you transfer a policy into the trust, it’s no longer yours, which means it’s not subject to estate tax.  

The trust owns the policy, pays the premiums, and distributes the proceeds to your beneficiaries according to your instructions. It’s a smart way to use life insurance for liquidity, legacy, or equalizing inheritances. 

Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) 

A GRAT lets you transfer appreciating assets to heirs with minimal gift tax. You put assets into the trust and receive annuity payments for a set term.  

If the assets grow faster than the IRS’s assumed rate, the excess passes to your beneficiaries tax-free. GRATs are especially useful for transferring assets like stocks or business interests that are expected to rise in value. 

Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs) 

A SLAT allows you to gift assets to a trust for your spouse’s benefit while still keeping indirect access to the funds. It removes the assets from your estate, which can reduce future estate taxes, but your spouse can use the trust for expenses like travel, healthcare, or family support. SLATs offer a nice balance between tax efficiency and flexibility for couples. 

Charitable Remainder & Lead Trusts 

These charitable trusts let you support causes you care about while also achieving tax and estate planning goals.  

A charitable remainder trust (CRT) provides income to you or your beneficiaries for a period of time, then gives the remainder to charity. A charitable lead trust (CLT) does the opposite—charity gets the income first, and your heirs receive what’s left.  

Both can reduce taxes and help you leave a meaningful legacy.

Minimizing Estate Taxes 

For families with significant wealth, estate taxes can dramatically erode what’s passed on to the next generation.  

Tax-minimizing strategies to consider: 

• Using the annual gift exclusion to gradually transfer wealth without tapping into the lifetime exemption. 

• Leveraging valuation discounts through family limited partnerships (FLPs) or LLCs. 

• Making use of portability between spouses to fully capture exemptions. 

• “Freezing” the value of appreciating assets with strategies like GRATs or sales to intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGTs). 

Families that plan early can lock in today’s higher exemption levels, shift future growth out of the estate, and substantially reduce eventual tax liability. Without planning, estates may face a sizable and avoidable tax bill, forcing asset sales or reducing inheritances. 

Asset Protection 

For high-net-worth families, protecting wealth isn’t just about taxes — it’s also about shielding assets from lawsuits, creditors, or divorce. A large inheritance left outright to an heir may become vulnerable in a lawsuit or during a marital split. 

Strategies to consider: 

• Establishing irrevocable trusts that create a legal barrier between family assets and personal liabilities. 

• Structuring assets in LLCs or FLPs to separate ownership and management, adding layers of protection. 

• Using spendthrift clauses in trusts to limit a beneficiary’s ability to assign or misuse funds. 

Asset protection ensures that wealth stays within the family and serves its intended purpose. Without these protections, even a single lawsuit, creditor claim, or divorce could significantly diminish the family’s legacy.  

Wealth Transfer Timing: Giving During Life vs. at Death 

One of the biggest strategic decisions in estate planning is when to transfer wealth. Do you pass assets to heirs during your lifetime or wait until after death? 

Why it matters: Lifetime gifts can reduce the size of your taxable estate, shift appreciation to the next generation, and allow you to see heirs benefit from your generosity.  

But giving too much too soon may jeopardize your own financial security or overwhelm an heir unprepared for sudden wealth. 

Wealth transfer strategies to consider:  

• Annual exclusion gifts ($19,000 per recipient in 2025) to steadily move wealth tax-free. 

• Larger lifetime gifts using the exemption to “lock in” today’s historically high levels. 
• Funding 529 college savings plans, paying tuition or medical bills directly, or seeding trusts for children and grandchildren. 

Getting transfer timing right strikes the balance between tax efficiency, financial security, and family readiness. Without planning, you risk either over-gifting and straining your own resources or under-planning and missing opportunities to reduce estate tax. 

Generation-Skipping Planning 

For families focused on creating a lasting legacy, planning beyond just children to grandchildren or even further descendants can maximize long-term impact.  

The U.S. imposes a special generation-skipping transfer tax (GSTT) to prevent skipping layers of taxation, but smart planning can mitigate it. We often suggest:  

• Creating dynasty trusts that leverage GST exemptions and allow wealth to grow outside of multiple layers of estate tax. 

• Using GST-exempt gifts during life to seed trusts for grandchildren. 

• Coordinating charitable vehicles with multigenerational giving to align tax efficiency and family values. 

Proper GST planning allows wealth to compound across multiple generations without repeated erosion from transfer taxes. Without it, much of the family’s wealth may be lost at each generational handoff. 

• Exemption amount could change: If there’s one thing all Americans can agree on, it’s that you never know what Congress will do. Although the exemption was recently raised in 2025, remaining on top of your estate plan can protect your assets for future changes. 

• It’s about more than just taxes: Planning protects your assets from creditors, lawsuits, and divorce, and avoids the costly, time-consuming, and public nature of probate. It also ensures your assets are managed responsibly and your family is up-to-speed on your wishes.
  
  
• Family matters. Don't underestimate the value of clearly documenting and communicating your estate wishes to your family members. It can avoid more than inadvertent taxes or penalties, it can also avoid family squabbles. We work with our clients to set up family meetings to discuss terms, answer questions, and make sure everyone is on the same page.

Preparing Heirs, Trustees, Powers of Attorney, and Executors 

Even the most well-structured plan could fall short if the people involved aren’t ready. Preparing your heirs, trustees, powers of attorney, and executors means more than naming them—it means educating them.  

• What are their roles?  

• What decisions might they face?  

• How can they honor your wishes while navigating their own emotions?  

Setting clear expectations and having open conversations can reduce stress, prevent conflict, and help your legacy unfold the way you intended.  

Governance Documents for Family Businesses and Foundations 

If you have a family business or private foundation, governance documents are essential. These outline how decisions are made, who has authority, and what values guide the organization. 

They help ensure continuity, reduce ambiguity, and support long-term success. Whether it’s a shareholder agreement, mission statement, or succession plan, these documents bring structure to your vision and clarity to your team.  

Choosing the Right Trustee: Family Member, Corporate, or Hybrid? 

Selecting a trustee is one of the most important, and personal, decisions in estate planning. A family member may know your values and dynamics but might struggle with complex administration or emotional pressure. A corporate trustee brings expertise and neutrality but may feel impersonal.  

A hybrid approach—pairing a family member with a professional—can offer the best of both worlds. The right choice depends on your goals, your family, and the complexity of your plan. 

Digital Assets 

Digital assets are one of the newest, and most commonly forgotten, pieces of the estate planning puzzle. From digital currency wallets and cloud storage accounts to social media profiles and subscription services, these assets may not show up on a balance sheet, but they can hold real value. 

Because digital assets didn’t exist when many estate planning laws were written, they often fall into a gray area. Without clear instructions, your loved ones could struggle to access important files, manage online accounts, or even locate valuable holdings. 

Start by making a secure inventory of your digital assets, including login credentials, two-factor authentication details, and storage locations. Then, work with your advisor and attorney to ensure your estate documents authorize access and outline your wishes.  

Whether it’s preserving family photos or transferring digital investments, planning ahead can save your heirs time, stress, and missed opportunities. 

Philanthropic Goals 

If giving back is part of your legacy, your estate plan should reflect that. Whether it’s through donor-advised funds, charitable trusts, or a private foundation, there are many ways to support the causes you care about while also achieving tax benefits.  

The key is to align your philanthropic goals with your overall financial strategy—and make sure your family understands the “why” behind your giving.  

Special Circumstances 

No two families are alike, and your estate plan should reflect that. Blended families may need extra clarity around inheritance and guardianship. If you have a family member with special needs, you’ll want to explore options like special needs trusts to protect their benefits and provide long-term support. And if you own a closely held business, succession planning and governance documents are essential to ensure a smooth transition and preserve the company’s value. 

Regularly reviewing your estate plan to make sure it’s updated with current laws and your evolving life changes is wise.  

In particular, the following situations will impact your estate plan and should serve as a triggering event to review your estate plan: 

• Relocation to a different state 

• Changes in your marital status 

• Additions to your family through birth, adoption, or marriage 

• The death of a spouse or close family member 

• A health diagnosis for you or your spouse 

• A close family member becomes ill, dependent on you, or incapacitated 

• A substantial change in the value of your assets or your plans for their use 

• The purchase or sale of an operating business 
• The receipt of a sizable inheritance or gift 

When reviewing your estate plan, you will want to examine more than just who will receive property under your will and/or revocable living trust and will also want to review the following: 

• The titling of all assets to ensure ownership is understood and is consistent with planning 

• Who you have selected as your executor and/or trustee (or power of attorney under a health or financial durable power of attorney) 

• Who you have named as the beneficiaries of your life insurance policies, retirement plans and other assets with beneficiary designations 

• Who will serve as the guardian of any minor children  

• The terms of any prenuptial or postnuptial agreements 

Here are three to add to your estate planning team: 

Financial Advisor / Wealth Manager 

A financial advisor is someone who provides financial guidance based on your unique needs and goals. A financial advisor may help with inventorying your assets, reviewing ownership and terms of trusts, life insurance policies and retirement accounts and help to educate and update beneficiaries on estate planning matters if appropriate.   

Your financial advisor can help you determine your estate planning goals, recommend individualized estate planning strategies to meet those objectives and then help implement and monitor your plan.   

Estate Planning Attorney  

An estate planning attorney drafts all the critical documents needed in your estate plan, such as your will, trust, advanced medical directive and durable powers of attorney, and other legal documents.  

Working with an estate planning attorney can help your executor navigate or outright avoid probate court and ensure all assets are correctly titled and ultimately distributed under the law and your estate planning documents.  

Tax Professional  

Tax professionals can help you interpret the complexity of state and federal tax laws so you can accomplish your goals while minimizing taxes and ensuring that all tax filings are properly and timely made. 

1. Gather Key Documents and Organize Your Finances

Start by assembling your financial picture. Work with your advisory team to inventory all assets and liabilities. This includes account statements, property deeds, business ownership documents, insurance policies, and retirement accounts.  

At the same time, review beneficiary designations and asset titling to ensure they align with your wishes and avoid probate.

2. Define Your Goals, Values, and Contingencies

Think beyond “who gets what.” Consider your broader legacy: providing for family members, supporting causes you care about, or ensuring a business continues under capable leadership.  

Incorporate planning for lifetime disability, both short- and long-term, so your powers of attorney and healthcare directives reflect your intentions if you’re ever incapacitated.

3. Create an Estate Planning Memo and Letter of Instruction

A comprehensive estate planning memo helps your executor locate important documents, accounts, and professional contacts when the time comes. Be sure to include information on digital assets (such as passwords or cryptocurrency), as well as practical details like funeral wishes, care for pets, or instructions for maintaining property.  

Supplement with a letter of instruction to provide clarity on personal preferences and guidance that may not belong in formal legal documents. 

4. Meet With Your Advisory Team to Build, Implement, and Maintain Your Plan

With your documents organized and goals defined, your advisory team can begin drafting and executing the legal instruments that bring your plan to life. Proper implementation — such as re-titling accounts and funding trusts — is critical.  

Once complete, review your plan every few years and after major life events or tax law changes to ensure it remains current. Share key details with your executor, trustees, and powers of attorney, and consider communicating your intentions with heirs directly to minimize misunderstandings.