Services — Estate Planning
Estate Planning
Protect your family, preserve your wealth, and create a legacy that endures, with estate strategies fully integrated into your financial and investment plan.
Our Approach
Building a legacy that endures.
Estate planning is one of the most consequential, and most often deferred, elements of comprehensive wealth management. For high-net-worth individuals and families, the stakes are significant: without thoughtful structures in place, assets may transfer inefficiently, intentions may go undocumented, and wealth accumulated over a lifetime can be substantially reduced by taxes or family conflict. At Ballast Rock Private Wealth, we treat estate planning as a core discipline, rather than an afterthought.
Through our broad network of experienced estate attorneys, we help identify and implement sophisticated planning structures tailored to each client’s family dynamics, tax situation, and long-term goals. We do not draft legal documents; that is the estate attorney’s role. Instead, we serve as the coordinating advisor, ensuring your estate plan works in concert with your overall financial strategy, tax plan, and asset allocation decisions.
Estate planning works best when it is proactive. Many of the most powerful strategies, including certain gifting programs, trust structures, and business interest transfers, take years to mature and must be put in place well in advance of any triggering event. We help clients think through these timelines, revisit plans as laws and lives change, and make sure their financial legacy reflects their intentions for the people and causes that matter to them most.
Common Questions
Frequently asked questions.
Why is estate planning important even if I have a will?
A will is an essential starting point, but it is only one piece of a complete estate plan. Comprehensive planning also addresses how assets are titled and owned, who is authorized to make financial and medical decisions if you become incapacitated, how beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and insurance policies align with your overall intentions, and how to minimize estate tax exposure, none of which a will alone can accomplish.
What is the current estate and gift tax exemption?
As of 2026, the federal lifetime gift and estate tax exemption is approximately $13.99 million per individual, or roughly $27.98 million for married couples using portability. There is also a separate annual gift tax exclusion of $19,000 per recipient in 2026, which allows tax-free gifting each year without touching the lifetime exemption. These figures adjust for inflation and are subject to legislative change; confirm current amounts with your tax and legal advisors before acting.
How can trusts help with estate planning?
Trusts are among the most flexible tools in estate planning. Depending on your goals, a trust can direct how and when assets pass to heirs, provide privacy and control that a will does not, protect assets from creditors, support a surviving spouse while preserving assets for children, facilitate charitable giving, and, when properly structured, help reduce estate tax exposure. The right type of trust depends on your specific situation and should be drafted by a qualified estate attorney.
What is a grantor trust?
A grantor trust is a trust in which the person who created it (the grantor) is treated as the owner of the trust’s assets for income tax purposes, meaning the grantor pays the income taxes on trust earnings rather than the trust itself. This can be a significant planning advantage: the grantor’s payment of income taxes allows trust assets to grow without being reduced by taxes, effectively making a tax-free gift to the trust’s beneficiaries over time. Common grantor trust strategies include Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGTs) and Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs).
When should I start estate planning?
The honest answer is: earlier than most people do. Many effective estate planning strategies, including certain gifting programs, trust structures, and business interest transfers, require years to achieve their intended result and must be established well before any triggering event (sale of a business, death, incapacity). We generally recommend putting a foundational plan in place as soon as significant wealth is involved, and then reviewing it after major life events and whenever the law changes.
Do you provide legal documents or advice?
No. Ballast Rock Private Wealth does not provide legal advice or draft legal documents. Our role is to serve as the coordinating financial advisor: helping identify strategies, modeling their financial impact, and working alongside your estate attorney to ensure your plan integrates with your investment and tax strategies.