Estate Planning
Make your wishes clear, and maximize your legacy.
Why estate planning matters
Maybe you’ve just purchased a house, or you’re looking ahead to retirement or the birth of a child.
Whatever your stage in life, it’s important to have a long-term plan for your assets. Through estate planning, you make your wishes clear regarding who gets what, and under what terms, after your death. You can also make financial provisions for yourself and your family should you be incapacitated in an accident or illness.
Start planning with our checklist
- Designate your beneficiaries
These are the people you want to receive assets like cash, investments, real estate, art, collectables, and more. You can also designate your assets to a charitable institution, like a university or nonprofit organization.
- Take an inventory of your assets
Estimate the income needs and expenses of your family should you die or become incapacitated.
- Research estate planning information
Certain structures for your assets, like trusts, can determine the speed of transfer to beneficiaries and the taxes you pay, as well as offer control, flexibility, and privacy. Consult with an estate planning attorney for your specific situation.
- Review your estate plan periodically
Be sure to make updates when life changes, like marriage, happen. And share your plans with your loved ones throughout the process.
Explore investment options.
Questions? Call us at 1-800-332-6161
Estate planning resources
Download helpful literature to help you get started with your plan.
Estate Planning
Learn more about the basics of estate planning so you can protect and preserve the things that matter most.
Family Records
Organize information that will be helpful if there is an emergency or you become incapacitated and need someone to step in suddenly to manage your financial affairs.
Estate and gift taxes
If you want to pass your assets on to your loved ones, or help a child with college or a new house while you’re still alive, there’s something you should know.
Federal estate and gift taxes are among the highest you and your family could ever pay. And sometimes states impose their own taxes on these types of transactions.
The more you understand about estate taxes, the more you’ll be able to give.
Plan ahead
Federal estate taxes are based on your estate’s taxable value and collected before the inheritance is passed on. Your estate is tax-free up to a certain amount. And there are several deductions you can use to reduce the size of your estate, like marital and charitable deductions of unlimited amounts. But note that gifts above the exclusion amount given while you’re still alive count toward this limit.
An attorney or tax professional can help you factor taxes into your overall estate plan.
Give more
As you consider how to distribute your assets, and to whom, make taxes an integral part of your estate planning process. Know how cash, investments, life insurance, and real estate will be taxed in your situation. And explore the possible tax benefits of trusts.
An attorney or tax professional can help explore your options and possibilities.
Give now
You can transfer money while you’re still alive to a loved one as a gift. But there are limits on how much you can give each year and over your lifetime. If yearly giving is under a certain amount, it’s tax-exempt. And contributions for tuition or medical expenses, gifts to a spouse, and donations to charities don’t count against your lifetime giving limit.
Consult with a lawyer or tax professional first. Gifts that aren’t exempt can incur high taxes.
Get specific
Use these estate planning tools to designate the beneficiaries of your assets and how you wish your assets to be distributed.
Wills
Make sure you, not the courts, define who gets what.
Trusts
Get more privacy and control—and possible tax advantages.
T. Rowe Price Charitable
Factor philanthropy into your long-term legacy.
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All investments are subject to market risk, including the possible loss of principal.This material is provided for general and educational purposes only, and is not intended to provide legal, tax or investment advice.
This material does not provide fiduciary recommendations concerning investments or investment management; it is not individualized to the needs of any specific benefit plan or retirement investor, nor is it directed to any recipient in connection with a specific investment or investment management decision.
T. Rowe Price Charitable is an independent, nonprofit corporation and donor-advised fund founded by T. Rowe Price to assist individuals with planning and managing their charitable giving. T. Rowe Price Charitable has contracted with various T. Rowe Price companies to provide operational, recordkeeping, and management services to T. Rowe Price Charitable.
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