Review estate documents more quickly by learning the key sections to focus on.
5 Hours CE
How To Spot Issues For Discussion When Reviewing Estate Documents
5 Hours CE Credit (CFP, CPE, IWI, and American College)
Instructors
Michael Kitces, MSFA, MAX, CFP, CLU, ChFC, RHU, REBC, CASL
Jeffrey Levine, CPA/PFS, CFP, CWS, MSA
You asked the clients for their estate planning documents, and they gave you 62 pages of Wills and trusts. As a financial advisor, you're expected to review the documents to help them understand whether their estate plan aligns with their goals. But it can take hours and hours to read through lengthy documents and translate legalese to English and provide recommendations. However, most estate planning documents have common elements that provide the core information that advisors need to know, and learning them provides a shortcut that allows advisors to review documents more quickly and spot the key issues. By the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Where to look to spot the three key aspects of a power of attorney: who has been authorized to make decisions, what decisions a person has been authorized to make, and when a power of attorney goes into effect
- How to find the three key aspects of an advance medical directive: who has been authorized to make decisions, what decisions a person has been authorized to make, and when the authorization goes into effect
- Learn the typical document structure that nearly all Wills follow to find the crucial information faster (and the boilerplate to skip)
- Learn to identify whether the testamentary trust is a marital trust, bypass trust, or generation-skipping trust, even when it's not labeled that way in the documents
- Learn how and get practice in spotting the funding, distributions, and termination provisions for marital trusts, bypass trusts, and descendant’s trusts in common estate planning documents
- Learn the key sections of Wills and revocable living trusts to focus on to be able to diagram out the client's flow of estate assets
Advisors may receive a full refund for Kitces Courses within 45 days of purchase or prior to completing the course, whichever comes first.
Who This MasterClass Is Right For
This Kitces Course was designed for advisors who have CFP certification and have already learned the fundamentals of estate planning tools and techniques but are not lawyers and have limited experience and expertise in reading real-world estate planning documents.
What You Get With How To Review Estate Planning Documents
5 Hours CE
Automatic reporting for CFP, IWI,
and American College. Self-reporting for CPA CPE credits.
5 Modules
Over an hour and a half of educational videos.
Kitces Certificate
Earn a Kitces Course Certificate
to add to your resume.
2 Real-World Case Studies
Practice applying planning strategies
to real-life situations.
1 Interactive Capstone
Put your learning into practice
Self-Paced
Learn whenever it’s convenient for you.
Instructors
Michael Kitces, MSFS, MTAX, CFP, CLU, ChFC, RHU, REBC, CASL
Chief Financial Planning Nerd and Founder, Kitces.com
Head of Planning Strategy, Buckingham Wealth Partners
Michael Kitces is the founder and Chief Financial Planning Nerd at Kitces.com. He is also Head of Planning Strategy at Buckingham Wealth Partners, a turnkey wealth management services provider supporting thousands of independent financial advisors. In addition, he is a co-founder of the XY Planning Network, AdvicePay, fpPathfinder, and New Planner Recruiting.
Jeffrey Levine, CPA/PFS, CFP, CWS, MSA
Lead Financial Planning Nerd, Kitces.com
Chief Planning Officer, Buckingham Wealth Partners
Jeffrey Levine, Lead Financial Planning Nerd at Kitces.com, guides advisors through Form 1040 and its associated items and schedules. Interactive exercises reinforce the lessons from each module, moving advisors from comprehension to application. Jeffrey Levine is a nationally-recognized and award-winning financial advisor, speaker, and educator. He is the Lead Financial Planning Nerd at Kitces.com, home of the popular Nerd’s Eye View blog, and also serves as Chief Planning Officer, Buckingham Wealth Partners.
What Others Have Said About Our MasterClasses
"A really nice review of what to consider when reviewing estate planning documents and how to add value for your clients. I think the Estate Planning Diagrams are a useful, visual tool for clients. I plan to add them to my practice."
Betty W.
"The Kitces Estate Planning Course helped me understand my role in doing estate reviews and understand the concepts from an advisor's perspective rather than an attorney's perspective. It will greatly enhance my ability to provide more value to clients and to create a systematic process."
Christopher R.
Pricing & Sign-Up Information
This Kitces MasterClass is $397. Advicers who have joined the Kitces Members Section can register at a discounted rate of $297. (Learn more about Premier Membership or how to obtain a Group Discount for multiple advisors in your firm).
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Not a Member? Buy Combo for discounts.
Kitces.com Premier Membership includes Kitces Course discounts, free monthly webinars, over 100 Hours of CE on-demand, CFP ethics, and more! - Access to our entire CE Quiz library on demand.
- Access to Exclusive Kitces-written CFP Ethics CE.
- Monthly Live Office Hours session with Michael and the Kitces Team to answer your questions.
- 2/Year New + All Archived Issues Of The Kitces Report.
- Access to Archives of All Educational Webinars.
- Unlimited Access to Members Section Resources including Charts and Spreadsheets.
- IAR reporting add-on (available at checkout).
100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Advisors may receive a full refund for Kitces Courses within 45 days of purchase, or prior to completing the course, whichever comes first. Advisors will have 180 days to complete the course. If the course is not completed within 180 days, the registration will expire and the advisor will need to pay to re-enroll for the course.
Premier Member Discounts
Kitces.com Premier Membership includes Kitces MasterClass discounts, free monthly webinars, over 100 Hours of CE on-demand, CFP & IAR ethics, and more!
Group Discounts
Discounts are available for group enrollments. Additional discounts apply with a Kitces Premier Group Membership rates.
FAQS
General Questions
Who is the courses designed for?
Kitces Online Courses are designed for advisors who have limited to no experience interacting with clients. Advisors with five or more years of experience may find the course is not suited to their experience level, unless they're specifically looking for a refresher or to refine their practice in areas that they already have some familiarity.
How long will advisors have access to the course?
Advisors will have 180 days to complete the course. If the course is not completed within 180 days, the registration will expire and the advisor will need to pay to re-enroll for the course.
The content may be modified or deleted if no longer relevant or applicable when considering current industry standards, practices, or legal framework.
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I want to buy the course, but why do I have make a Kitces Account?
Our courses are housed on a Learning Management System (LMS) that is connected to Kitces.com. To purchase any of our courses, you will need to first create a Kitces account to access the catalog of courses and complete your purchase. You can always return to your courses dashboard through the members section of Kitces.com.
I’m a Premier Member. How do I use the Premier coupon?
Visit the course page on Kitces.com and copy your members-only coupon code. Then when you go to our Learning Management System (LMS) and click “Get this course,” you'll be directed to the payment pop-up. When you get to the payment pop-up, click “Got a coupon?” and a field will appear for you to enter the Premier code.
I bought the course, but I don’t know how to sign in and get started.
Thanks for purchasing a Kitces Course! The course is housed in a Learning Management System (LMS) that is connected to your Kitces.com account. Login to your Kitces.com account and from the members section, click 'Kitces Courses' from the left navigation menu to access your courses.
CE Information
Are the courses CE-eligible? How is CE reported?
The courses are eligible for Continuing Education for CFP, CPE, and American College certifications, as well as most other relevant certifications. Kitces.com will report CE for CFP, IWI, and American College certifications on your behalf on the 1st and 16th of each month. A completion certificate will be emailed to you so you can self-report CPE and other relevant CE.
Will I receive a certificate?
Yes. A completion certificate will be emailed to you for reporting purposes. You will be asked to complete a course survey after which you will receive your certificate of completion. Completing the course survey will allow Kitces to continue to serve you effectively. We can't do it without you and appreciate your survey participation.
Where do I add my certification number information?
If you didn’t include your certification number information upon signing up for the course, no worries! You can add it easily after signing into your Learner portal and completing the following steps:
1. Hover your mouse over Learner in the top-right menu to see a dropdown appear
2. From the dropdown, select My Info
3. Update the certification fields shown and click Update User
Refunds
What is the refund policy?
Advisors may receive a full refund for Kitces Courses within 45 days of purchase or prior to completing the course, whichever comes first.
Ready to Purchase?
Questions? Email us at [email protected]
Login to Purchase
Not a Member? Buy Combo for discounts.
Kitces.com Premier Membership includes Kitces Course discounts, free monthly webinars, over 100 Hours of CE on-demand, CFP ethics, and more! - Access to our entire CE Quiz library on demand.
- Access to Exclusive Kitces-written CFP Ethics CE.
- Monthly Live Office Hours session with Michael and the Kitces Team to answer your questions.
- 2/Year New + All Archived Issues Of The Kitces Report.
- Access to Archives of All Educational Webinars.
- Unlimited Access to Members Section Resources including Charts and Spreadsheets.
- IAR reporting add-on (available at checkout).
