Course Materials

Sample Documents

Sample Will
Sample Trust - Individual
Sample Trust - Married Couple
Sample Durable Power of Attorney
Sample Health Care Power of Attorney

Signing Requirements Summary

Signing Requirements Summary

Will vs Trust Summary

Will vs Trust Summary

Birds Eye View

Birds Eye View

Course Notes

Course Notes

Course Outline

Course Outline

Estate Planning

$249

We all know we should have an estate plan…but actually doing it? That’s another story. This course breaks it all down—what you need, how it works, and how to put a plan in place that’s just right for you. So you can have that “ahhh… done” feeling!

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Course Overview

Course Details

Course Outline

4 hours 19 minutes of content

Printable Course Materials

Includes course outline, course notes, sample documents, and more!

What You’ll Learn

  • Which estate planning documents you may need 
  • What your documents do and how they work together 
  • Wills vs. trusts—and which may be right for you 
  • Setting up and managing a living trust 
  • Different ways to leave property to others 
  • Planning for minor children 
  • Making sure your pets are cared for 
  • Estate planning for blended families 
  • What you need to know about estate taxes 
  • Planning for financial decisions during incapacity 
  • Making sure your health care wishes are followed 
  • Planning for dementia and long-term incapacity 
  • Planning for your digital assets 
  • Making your estate planning documents legally valid 
  • Keeping your documents safe, current, and up to date 
  • And much more

Chapters Overview

Chapter 1

Before We Dive In

1 Lesson

We'll walk through how this estate planning course works, what you'll be learning, and a few things to keep in mind before you dive in.

Chapter 2

Intro to Estate Planning

1 Lesson

What is estate planning and why is it important? Learn how estate planning prepares you for death and incapacity, helps your assets go to the right people, and avoids common issues like probate, estate taxes, and guardianship.

Chapter 3

Your Estate Planning Toolkit

1 Lesson

Learn the essential estate planning documents every adult needs—including a will, trust, power of attorney, and health care directives. This chapter introduces how each document works and how they fit together to create a complete estate plan.

Chapter 4

Your Roadmap

1 Lesson

Think of this as your roadmap for the rest of the course. We'll show you how it's all laid out—so you can connect the dots as you go and see how everything fits together.

Chapter 5

Planning for Death: The Basics

5 Lessons

Get a clear understanding of wills, trusts, and the probate process. We'll walk through how a last will and testament works, how assets are distributed, and whether a trust might be right for you.

Chapter 6

Planning for Death: Some Specifics About Trusts

7 Lessons

Dive deeper into how trusts actually work in estate planning. Learn how to fund a trust, what happens if assets are left out (and how a pour-over will works), and how trust documents, trustees, and key supporting documents come together to help you avoid probate and manage your estate effectively.

Chapter 7

Planning for Death: Let’s Dive a Little Deeper

7 Lessons

Go beyond the basics and learn the details that can make or break your estate plan. Discover which assets are not controlled by your will or trust (like life insurance, retirement accounts, and jointly owned property), common estate planning mistakes, and how to coordinate everything so your assets go where you intend.

Chapter 8

Planning for Death: Special Circumstances

3 Lessons

Estate planning gets more nuanced when life isn't simple. Learn how to handle disinheriting a child or spouse, planning for blended families, using A/B trusts (marital or bypass trusts), and protecting loved ones with a special needs trust.

Chapter 9

Planning for Death: Understanding Estate Taxes

3 Lessons

Understand how estate taxes work—and whether your estate will owe them. Learn how federal and state estate tax exemptions apply, how to estimate your taxable estate, and explore common estate tax planning strategies to reduce or avoid taxes.

Chapter 10

Planning for Death: What Happens to Your Body and Other Things to Know

2 Lessons

There's more to plan than just your estate. This chapter covers disposition of remains, funeral planning, and other important end-of-life details that can help prevent family conflict and make things easier for your loved ones.

Chapter 11

Planning for Incapacity: Finances

2 Lessons

What happens if you can't manage your own finances? Learn how a durable power of attorney works, how to choose the right agent, and how to avoid costly guardianship—plus the risks of adding a child to your bank account and safer alternatives.

Chapter 12

Planning for Incapacity: Health Care

6 Lessons

Plan for your medical care if you're ever unable to speak for yourself. Learn how a health care power of attorney, HIPAA authorization, and living will (advance directive) work together to ensure your medical decisions, health information, and end-of-life wishes are handled the way you want.

Chapter 13

Planning for Minor Children

1 Lesson

Make sure your children are cared for if something happens to you. Learn how to appoint a guardian for minor children, how guardianship works if you die or become incapacitated, and how your child's inheritance is managed through a conservator or trust.

Chapter 14

Planning for Digital Assets

1 Lesson

What happens to your online accounts if something happens to you? This chapter shows you how to organize your digital assets—including passwords, devices, and online accounts—so your loved ones can access what they need when they need it.

Chapter 15

What Next?: Reviewing, Signing, Storing, and Updating Your Documents

4 Lessons

Learn what to do after creating your estate plan. We'll cover how to review your documents, follow proper signing requirements, store them securely, and make updates—so your plan is valid, accessible, and up to date.

Chapter 16

Let’s Tie It All Together

1 Lesson

You made it—and that's a big deal! This chapter connects all the dots, so you can see how all the pieces of your estate plan fit together, and feel confident taking your next steps.

Sample Videos

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Estate Planning

This is the kind of “done” that feels really, really good. We’ll walk you through it step by step—so you can check it off and move on with a whole lot more peace of mind.

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Estate Planning

▧Course Materials☷Course Outline

Chapter 1: How to Plan

6 Lessons
Expand All Lessons  ⌄
Lesson 1
Final Review
Lesson 4
How to Revise Your Documents and Keep Them Current
Lesson 3
What to Do with Your Documents
Lesson 2
How to Sign Your Documents
Lesson 1
Reviewing Your Documents
Lesson 1
The Digital Diary
Lesson 1
Guardianship Designation for Minors
Lesson 6
Special Circumstances–Special Document: The Dementia Directive
Lesson 5
Cutting Through the Confusion: Different Names, Same Document
Lesson 4
The Living Will
Lesson 3
The HIPAA Authorization
Lesson 2
The Health Care Power of Attorney
Lesson 1
Three Health Documents Every Adult Needs: An Introduction
Lesson 2
The Problem with Adding an Adult Child to Your Bank Account
Lesson 1
The Durable Power of Attorney Document
Lesson 2
Other “Non-Legal” Things That Can Help Your Loved Ones
Lesson 1
The Disposition of Remains Document
Lesson 3
Other Taxes and How They Relate to Your Estate Plan
Lesson 2
How to Reduce or Avoid Estate Taxes
Lesson 1
What Are Estate Taxes and Will Your Estate Have to Pay Them?
Lesson 3
Planning for Loved Ones with Special Needs
Lesson 2
Subsequent Marriages and Blended Families
Lesson 1
Disinheriting Someone
Lesson 7
Property in a Marriage: Community Property, Separate Property, and Property Agreements
Lesson 6
What Is a Bond and Should Your Executor or Trustee Have One?
Lesson 5
Property That’s Not Easily Dividable, or Has a Loan on It
Lesson 4
Distributing Property ‘Per Stirpes’, ‘By Representation’ or ‘Per Capita’
Lesson 3
Taking Care of Pets
Lesson 2
Other Ways to Avoid Probate
Lesson 1
Things People Think Are Covered by Their Will or Trust, but May Not Be
Lesson 7
How Safe Is Your Money?... It’s All About the Trustee
Lesson 6
What Is the Tax ID Number for Your Trust?
Lesson 5
Can a Married Couple Share a Will or Trust?
Lesson 4
Other Documents That Work with Your Trust
Lesson 3
Understanding Your Trust Document
Lesson 2
What Happens if Something Gets Left Out of a Trust?
Lesson 1
How to Get Property Into a Trust
Lesson 5
Testamentary Trusts
Lesson 4
Recap: Will vs. Trust — A Comparison
Lesson 3
What Is a Trust and Do You Need One?
Lesson 2
What Is Probate and Should You Avoid It?
Lesson 1
Understanding Your Will
Lesson 1
How the Rest of This Course Is Organized: A Bird’s Eye View
Lesson 1
Eight (or Nine) Estate Planning Documents Every Adult Needs
Lesson 1
What Is Estate Planning and Why Is It Important?
Lesson 1
Estate Planning: A Few Things to Know Before We Get Started
◉Great job! Keep going.You’ve completed 3 of 6 lessons in this chapter.Continue to Lesson 4