Approved IAR CE Courses

This course will provide financial advisors with a comprehensive review of estate planning strategies in both low and high interest rate environments, focusing on how fluctuating Applicable Federal Rates (AFR) and Section 7520 rates shape planning opportunities. Specifically, the course will examine the advantages and limitations of techniques such as Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs), sales to Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGTs), Charitable Lead Annuity Trusts (CLATs), Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs), and Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs). Advisors will learn how interest rate assumptions impact valuation, freeze and arbitrage strategies, and charitable deductions. The course will also address planning flexibility in mixed or changing rate environments, including loan refinancing, grantor trust powers, and strategy reviews. Through case studies and practical insights, attendees will gain the knowledge needed to guide clients in adapting estate planning techniques to evolving economic conditions and achieving optimal wealth transfer outcomes.

This session focuses on delivering high-impact estate planning strategies for clients with $2–$5 million in net worth, emphasizing practical solutions that balance tax efficiency, control, and cost. Advisors will learn how to avoid both under-planning and unnecessary complexity while addressing key risks related to taxes, business ownership, and trust funding.

This session examines how advisors can effectively plan for the control, access, and transfer of both digital assets and real estate within modern portfolios. It provides practical strategies for overcoming access challenges, optimizing trust structures, and coordinating ownership to enhance protection, efficiency, and long-term planning outcomes.

This session focuses on ensuring estate plans remain effective over time by addressing real-world challenges such as family dynamics, beneficiary readiness, and administrative complexity. Advisors will learn how to incorporate strong governance, thoughtful trustee selection, and flexible planning tools to create plans that adapt and function in practice—not just on paper.

This session explores how accepting an inheritance or gift can create unintended tax, legal, and financial consequences, and when strategic use of qualified disclaimers may be more advantageous. It equips advisors with practical strategies for coordinating disclaimers and trust design to preserve flexibility, protect beneficiaries, and align outcomes with long-term planning goals.

With today's $15 million estate tax exemption, relatively few clients face traditional estate tax concerns. Yet financial advisors are increasingly expected to guide estate planning conversations that go far beyond tax minimization. In this session, expert Marty Shenkman will explore the evolving 'menu' of estate planning priorities: protecting wealth from lawsuits and divorce through asset protection structures; strengthening revocable trusts to address aging and health challenges; leveraging non-grantor trusts for income tax benefits; reviewing and repurposing existing or outdated trusts; and designing flexible plans that provide both asset protection and client access. Advisors will leave with practical insights and tools to elevate their estate planning conversations and deliver more value to clients.

In this continuing education session, learners will review 2 Nerd’s Eye View blog articles: Don’t “Avoid Probate”: Reframing Estate Planning Success Around Managing (Not Escaping) The Probate Process and Gifting Strategies That Allow Business-Owner Clients To Save (Millions Of) Dollars In Estate And Income Taxes.

In the first article, David Haughton reframes probate as a normal and often necessary component of estate administration rather than a failure of estate planning. He emphasizes that advisors can use estate planning to focus on coordinating estate administration and managing client expectations, rather than probate avoidance.

In the second article, Anna Pfaehler explains how business-owner clients can use strategic gifting of business interests to reduce estate and transfer tax exposure, particularly by shifting future appreciation outside their taxable estate. She highlights key techniques such as timing gifts before liquidity events, leveraging valuation discounts, and structuring ownership to preserve control while maximizing tax efficiency.

This course teaches investment adviser representatives, CCOs, and advisory firm principals how to identify and manage the legal and compliance risks that arise when non-attorney investment adviser representatives discuss estate planning, coordinate with estate planning professionals, review beneficiary and titling issues, or recommend digital estate planning platforms. The course emphasizes fiduciary duty, conflicts of interest, disclosure, supervision, client communications, due diligence, cybersecurity/privacy, recordkeeping, and unauthorized practice of law boundaries.