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Plan #3 - Advanced Planning

A La Carte services available for complex scenarios and HNW/UNHW families

If the Trust Plan is a private highway around probate, the Advanced Plan is the family office grade version—built for real life in New Jersey. You get a fully funded Revocable Living Trust (RLT) foundation and the marital/tax architecture that preserves exemptions, protects blended families, and turns chaos into choreography. This is where we balance love and math: caring for a spouse and safeguarding children from a prior relationship; optimizing taxes and avoiding resentment; keeping operations smooth and your values front‑and‑center.

Who chooses the Advanced Plan (and why)

You have more moving parts, more at stake, or both:

Blended families / second (or third) marriages: You want your spouse cared for today and your children protected tomorrow—no guesswork.
High‑net‑worth households: Estate‑tax, income‑tax, and basis strategy matter—and mistakes cost real money.
Large retirement accounts: Post‑SECURE Act, inheritances can become tax time‑bombs without structure.
Multiple properties or a business: You need privacy, continuity, and a trustee playbook that won’t slow down the enterprise.
Peacekeeping as a priority: You’ve seen fights tear families apart. You want clarity that prevents litigation.

Translation: You want speed and privacy plus tax‑smart, conflict‑proof architecture. That’s the Advanced Plan.

What you actually Receive (beyond the buzzwords)

Everything in the Trust Plan, plus bespoke marital/tax structures and post‑death levers for precision:

Marital & Credit Shelter Design

A/B or A‑B‑C frameworks to preserve exemptions and direct assets with surgical clarity.
QTIP/Clayton options so a surviving spouse is supported for life while children’s inheritances are protected.
Credit Shelter / Bypass Trusts (CST) to shelter growth and control disposition.
Disclaimer pathways drafted in advance so we can adapt after the first death without court.

Portability & Post‑Death Options

Portability coaching (Form 706) to capture DSUE and keep options open for the survivor.
Disclaimers, elections, and timing maps so we can pivot to the most tax‑efficient route when we know real numbers.

Retirement Accounts & SECURE Act Mastery

Beneficiary alignment and, where appropriate, a Stand‑Alone Retirement Trust (SRT) to coordinate the 10‑year rule, creditor/divorce protection for heirs, and trustee discretion.
Conduit vs. accumulation drafting based on ages, tax brackets, and EDB status.

Life Insurance & Liquidity

Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) design and administration guidance to deliver estate‑tax liquidity and disciplined payouts.

Distribution Design & Guardrails

Lifetime trusts for heirs with HEMS standards or fully discretionary terms, age‑staggered releases, or incentive provisions (education, sobriety, stewardship).
Spendthrift protections to help shield inheritances from divorces, creditors, and bad decisions while assets remain in trust.

Governance & Peacekeeping

Professional/independent fiduciaries when wise; clear succession.
Directed trusts and trust protector provisions for flexibility without court.
Family meeting + Letters of Wishes so no one is surprised.

Funding & Finish

Deeds, titles, and beneficiary changes done with you so the plan actually works—documented in your secure vault.

This is not paperwork. It’s a system: design → draft → sign → fund → maintain, with tax and family dynamics wired in.

Why the Advanced Plan outperforms Will‑only or basic Trust Planning

Will‑only: public probate, potential bond, creditor windows, slow timelines, and zero post‑death levers. Good intentions can be re‑written by remarriage or pressure, sometimes disinheriting children.

Basic Trust Plan: avoids most probate and keeps things private, but may lack marital/tax architecture. Without CST/QTIP/Clayton or smart disclaimers, families can forfeit exemptions, trigger avoidable tax, or collapse the balance between spouse and children.

Advanced Plan: keeps privacy and gives you the switches and dials to preserve exemptions, direct assets across marriages, time IRA distributions wisely, and prevent the common fights.

Two real‑world Vignettes (names changed)

Case A: Second marriage, lake house, big IRA
John (65) and Maria (58) each have adult children. John owns a $1.6M IRA and the family lake house. Advanced Plan with QTIP + CST + SRT: Maria receives lifetime income and use of the home; trustee may distribute principal for her needs; children inherit the remainder. The SRT staggers taxable IRA distributions over the 10‑year window with creditor‑aware protections. Result: Spouse is secure; children are protected; probate avoided.

Case B: Founder, blended heirs, life insurance
Anika (58) owns a profitable S‑corp and carries $3M life insurance. Advanced Plan with CST + ILIT + directed trust: ILIT provides tax‑efficient liquidity for the buy‑sell; CST captures exemption and channels growth to children’s lifetime trusts; directed trust keeps the management team nimble. Result: Business continuity, tax control, and a calmer family—no public spectacle.

New Jersey specifics (why Local Drafting Matters)

Probate reality: Even if “simple,” NJ probate is public with potential bond and professional fees; Advanced Plan keeps administration private and faster.
Inheritance tax awareness: Gifting to siblings, nieces/nephews, or friends can trigger NJ inheritance tax; we design around exposure.
Deeds & titling: We prepare NJ Bargain & Sale deeds, align TBE/JTWROS/TIC ownership with trusts, and coordinate shore/out‑of‑state properties.

Process (White‑glove, Coordinated, Done)

Discovery & Modeling: Map people/assets, identify red flags (blended family risks, big IRAs, business), then show visual models of outcomes.
Design: Choose CST/QTIP/Clayton/Disclaimer pathways; set trustee roles; define heir protections and retirement account handling.
Draft & Review: Plain‑English documents + a Design Memo. We coordinate with your CPA/CFP® where tax or investments intersect.
Sign & Fund: Calm signing; then deeds, titles, and beneficiary changes with confirmations.
Maintain (AMP/CCP): Annual/quarterly reviews; ILIT notices; family meetings; update sliders when life changes.

Typical timeline: 5–8 weeks to design/draft/sign; 4–8 weeks for third‑party funding steps.

What Risks this Plan Neutralizes

Disinheritance by accident (later remarriage, pressure, or poor drafting)
Estate‑tax waste (unused exemptions, missed portability/706 timing)
SECURE Act whiplash (poorly handled IRAs causing bracket spikes)
Public, contested probate (fuel for disputes and delay)
Heir blow‑ups (lump sums at 18/21, unequal transparency, unclear standards)

Objections we Hear (and straight Answers)

“Isn’t this overkill?”
Not if you have a spouse and children from prior relationships, a large IRA, multiple properties, or meaningful insurance/business interests. That’s exactly when precision matters.

“Can’t we just trust everyone to do the right thing?”
Hope is not a plan. Clear architecture prevents changed minds, bad advice, or new marriages from re‑writing your wishes.

“I don’t want to over‑control my kids.””
You control the tone. We can set generous, flexible distributions with safety rails (and name a trusted trustee).

“This sounds expensive.”
It’s a fixed fee quoted after design. The cost of getting it wrong—tax, conflict, delay—can dwarf the fee many, many times over.

What’s Included (Checklist for the detail‑oriented)

RLT + pour‑over Will + incapacity suite (DPOA/AD/HIPAA)
A/B or A‑B‑C structure with CST and QTIP/Clayton options
Disclaimer trust pathways and portability coaching (Form 706/DSUE)
Retirement alignment; SRT drafting where indicated
Heir trusts with HEMS/discretionary standards; spendthrift protections
ILIT coordination (design/admin guidance) if life insurance is material
Directed trust and trust protector provisions
Funding Plan + deeds/titles/beneficiary coordination; secure vault
Family meeting and Letters of Wishes template

Available a‑la‑carte (when useful): SLAT, IDGT, GRAT, QPRT, QDOT, MAPT, business succession planning, charitable structures (DAF/CRT/CLT), and much more.

This is the difference between hoping for a good outcome and engineering one. If you want privacy, tax‑savvy control, and peace across marriages and generations, the Advanced Plan is your plan.

Quick Glossary

RLT: Revocable Living Trust (private admin; probate avoided when funded)
CST: Credit Shelter/Bypass Trust (preserves exemption and control)
QTIP/Clayton: Spousal income trust & election mechanics balancing spouse/children
Portability/DSUE: Preserving the first spouse’s exemption via Form 706
SRT: Stand‑Alone Retirement Trust (SECURE Act timing/control)
ILIT: Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (tax‑efficient liquidity/control)
HEMS: Health, Education, Maintenance, Support (common trustee standard)
Directed Trust/Protector: Flexibility and oversight without court
SLAT/IDGT/GRAT/QPRT/QDOT/MAPT: Advanced irrevocable tools used case‑by‑case
AMP/CCP: Ongoing maintenance programs (annual or quarterly)

Related Legal Services

Services we offer in connection with Estate Planning

Real estate transactions (purchase/sale, deed work, LLC transfers), business & succession planning (buy‑sell agreements, family LLC/FLP), civil litigation (probate disputes, fiduciary claims), and elder law/long‑term care planning.

When “good enough” is not good enough for your family or your balance sheet.

Plan #3: The Advanced Plan

Our flagship plan for high‑stakes families: privacy, precision, and tax‑aware control that keeps promises across marriages and generations—without court drama.