High Net Worth Estate Planning
Estate planning that protects wealth, not just transfers it.
For families with real wealth, avoiding probate is table stakes. We build estate plans that also shield your assets from lawsuits and creditors, and keep the inheritance protected after it reaches your heirs.
Most estate plans are designed to answer a single question: who gets what when I die? That question matters, but for families with significant wealth, a business, real estate, or professional exposure, it is only half of the plan. A living trust that avoids probate does nothing to stop a lawsuit from reaching those same assets while you are alive, and nothing to protect the inheritance once it lands in a child’s name. High-net-worth estate planning closes both gaps at once.
Traditional estate planning is only half the plan
A standard revocable living trust is a probate-avoidance tool, not a protection tool. Assets in it are as exposed to your creditors as assets in your own name, and once your heirs inherit outright, that wealth is fully exposed to their creditors, lawsuits, and divorces. For a modest estate that may be acceptable. For a substantial one, it leaves a great deal on the table.
What high-net-worth estate planning adds
We start from the same reliable foundation every good plan needs, then layer in the protection and tax strategy that a larger estate calls for:
Beyond probate avoidance
- Integrated asset protection, domestic or offshore protection trusts woven into the estate plan so wealth is shielded during life, not just transferred at death
- Dynasty and generation-skipping trusts, keep wealth creditor-protected and out of the estate-tax system for multiple generations
- Protected inheritances, heirs receive assets in trust, safe from their own future lawsuits, divorces, and mistakes, instead of outright
- Estate-tax reduction, lifetime gifting, SLATs, family limited partnerships, GRATs, and charitable strategies to use exemptions before they sunset and shrink a taxable estate
- Business succession, coordinated succession planning so a family business passes intact and protected
- Charitable and legacy goals, private foundations and charitable planning that further your values and your tax plan together
Protecting the inheritance itself
The most overlooked risk in estate planning is what happens after you are gone. Wealth left to a child outright can be lost to that child’s divorce, a lawsuit, a bankruptcy, or simple poor judgment within a single generation. By leaving inheritances in properly drafted trusts rather than outright, your plan lets your heirs benefit from the wealth while keeping it beyond the reach of their creditors, the same principle that protects you, extended to the people you are planning for.
The foundation, done right
All of this sits on top of a complete, meticulously drafted core plan, the part every family needs. A Tresp, Day & Associates plan still includes the Revocable Living Trust (with A/B/QTIP provisions where appropriate), pour-over wills, durable powers of attorney, an advance medical directive with HIPAA releases, trustee certification, and the deeds and transfer documents that actually fund the trust. That foundation avoids probate at death and the court-supervised “living probate” of a conservatorship at incapacity, in California, probate alone often runs nine months to two years and 4–10% of the gross estate, all on the public record. We simply refuse to stop there.
Coordinated, not siloed
Because we are an asset-protection and business firm as well as an estate-planning firm, your plan is built as one coordinated structure, estate, protection, tax, and business, rather than a stack of documents that don’t talk to each other. For the highest levels of protection, we can integrate an offshore or Bridge Trust® layer. To design a plan that protects your family and your legacy, call (858) 755-6672 to schedule a consultation.
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Common questions
Frequently asked
How is high-net-worth estate planning different from a basic estate plan?
A basic plan (a will or a revocable living trust) focuses on avoiding probate and directing who inherits. High-net-worth planning does that too, but adds the layers a larger estate needs: asset protection integrated into the plan, trusts that shield inheritances from your heirs' future creditors and divorces, estate-tax reduction strategies, and coordination with your business and protection structures. It's the difference between transferring wealth and protecting it.
Does a living trust protect my assets from lawsuits?
No. A revocable living trust is a probate-avoidance and incapacity tool, assets in it are just as reachable by your creditors as assets in your own name. Real protection during your lifetime requires an irrevocable asset-protection trust (domestic or offshore), which we can integrate directly into your estate plan.
Can you protect the inheritance I leave my children?
Yes, and it's one of the most valuable things a plan can do. By leaving assets to your heirs in properly drafted trusts rather than outright, the inheritance can stay protected from their future lawsuits, divorces, and creditors while they still benefit from it. Leaving wealth outright exposes it the moment it's received.
How do you reduce estate tax on a large estate?
Depending on your situation, we use lifetime gifting, spousal lifetime access trusts (SLATs), family limited partnerships, GRATs, dynasty and generation-skipping trusts, and charitable strategies to use exemptions before they sunset and move appreciation out of your taxable estate. These are coordinated with your asset-protection and business planning, not bolted on.
This website is for general informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. Every situation is different; please consult a qualified attorney about your specific circumstances.
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