📜 Estate Planning Essentials: Wills, Probate & Inheritance Tax

A plain-language, secular guide to organising your estate, writing a valid will, navigating probate, and legally cutting the tax and cost your heirs will face — with calculators at every step. The course is organized into 11 modules, ending with a final exam (pass mark 80%). It is independent, free exam-preparation training — not an official or accredited review course.

What you'll learn

• What an Estate Is — and Why Planning Matters
• The Four Ways Assets Pass to Heirs
• Writing a Basic, Valid Will
• Choosing Executors and Guardians
• Intestacy: What Happens With No Will
• The Probate Process: Cost & Timeline
• U.S. Federal Estate Tax
• U.K. Inheritance Tax (IHT)
• Gifting: Annual & Lifetime Exclusions
• Step-Up in Basis & Capital Gains
• Trusts, Incapacity & Beyond the Will

Learning objectives

• Define what legally counts as your "estate" and map exactly how each asset will pass to your heirs.
• Distinguish the four transfer channels — will, intestacy, beneficiary designation, and joint title — and know which one controls each asset.
• Draft a basic, valid will and choose competent executors and guardians.
• Explain the probate process, estimate its typical cost and timeline, and identify what bypasses it.
• Compare U.S. federal estate tax and U.K. inheritance tax thresholds and calculate exposure above the exemption.
• Apply lifetime and annual gift-tax exclusions to transfer wealth during your life.
• Use the step-up in cost basis to minimise capital-gains tax on inherited assets.
• Quantify probate cost, tax liability, gift limits, and basis step-up using the four linked calculators.