Advanced Estate Planning: Strategies Beyond the Basics

When your estate plan may need more than the basics

Many estate plans focus on transferring traditional assets such as homes, bank accounts, investment accounts, and life insurance. But some situations require additional planning.

For example, you may own cryptocurrency, run a family business, want to support a favorite charity, or care for a loved one with a disability. These situations may require more than a basic will or revocable trust to carry out.

That’s where more advanced estate planning strategies can help. Trusts are often part of the solution because they provide greater control over how certain assets are managed, protected, and ultimately transferred. And contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a certain net worth to set up a trust.

How to include digital assets in your estate plan

• This may be worth exploring if: You own cryptocurrency, earn income online, or have digital assets your family may not know about.

Today, digital assets are more common than ever. Roughly 30% of American adults own cryptocurrency.¹ If your estate plan hasn’t been updated in several years, there’s a chance it may not account for all of your digital assets.

Today, those assets can include:

• Cryptocurrency
• Online investment accounts
• Websites
• Domain names
• Digital businesses
• Content libraries
• Payment accounts, including PayPal balances, Venmo balances, reward points, and airline miles

The challenge is that your loved ones may not know these assets exist or how to access them.

For example, your family may not have the private keys needed to access your cryptocurrency. Or they may be unaware of an online business, investment account, or digital storefront.

Not only will your estate plan need to state who will inherit them, but you’ll also need to take extra measures to keep these digital assets safe. Many estate planning attorneys recommend storing passwords and private keys separately from your trust or will and keeping that information up to date.

How a special needs trust protects government benefits

• This may be worth exploring if: You want to leave money to a child, sibling, or other loved one with a disability who relies on government benefits.

More than one in four U.S. adults has a disability, and one of the biggest concerns many families face is what happens when they’re no longer around to provide financial support.²

Without proper planning, even a relatively modest inheritance could affect a person’s eligibility for certain government benefits, including Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income (SSI).³

A special needs trust (sometimes called a supplemental needs trust) helps avoid that problem. Instead of leaving assets directly to your loved one, the trust holds and manages those assets on their behalf.

The trust can be used to pay for expenses that improve quality of life—such as going to school, getting therapy, covering transportation, or traveling—all while helping preserve eligibility for government benefits.

Many families also use life insurance to fund a special needs trust. By naming the trust as the beneficiary of a policy, parents can help ensure financial support continues after they’re gone without disrupting the trust’s overall purpose.

How charitable trusts support your giving goals

• This may be worth exploring if: Charitable giving is an important part of the legacy you want to leave.

Americans donated a record $617 billion to charity in 2025.⁴ If you’re like many families, charitable giving may be a core part of the legacy you hope to leave behind. Luckily, you have many options for doing that.

For example:

• A charitable remainder trust (CRT) provides income to you or your beneficiaries for a set time period, then the remaining assets go to charity once that time period is up. This type of trust may also come with tax benefits.
• A charitable lead trust (CLT) works in the opposite direction. The charity receives income from the trust first for a set period of time, then the remaining assets go to your heirs.

How estate planning can help you pass on a family business

• This may be worth exploring if: A business makes up a larger portion of your family’s wealth.

Only 33% of family businesses successfully transfer to the second generation.⁵ One reason is that passing down a business involves much more than deciding who inherits it. You may also need to make decisions around how you’ll transfer ownership, whether your heirs want to be involved, and how you’ll split assets fairly if part of your family wants to be a part of the business and others do not.

This is where business succession strategies like trusts, buy-sell agreements, life insurance, and other estate planning tools can work together to help you make a smooth transition.

For example, you may decide that one child will inherit the business and the other will get a life insurance policy that’s of a comparable size. Depending on your situation, you may also choose to use more advanced planning tools like a grantor retained annuity trust (GRAT) to transfer appreciating business interests to future generations while minimizing estate taxes.

Common estate planning mistakes to avoid

Even a well-designed estate plan can fall short if it isn’t kept up to date. Here are some of the most common trust mistakes families make, so you can help prevent them.

• Forgetting to fund a trust. A trust generally only controls assets that have been transferred into it. If important assets remain outside the trust, they may not receive the protections or benefits you intended.
• Treating your estate plan as a one-time project. Marriage, divorce, births, deaths, business sales, and other big changes in wealth are all good reasons to review your estate plan.
• Choosing the wrong trustee. A trustee should be someone who’s trustworthy, organized, and willing to carry out your wishes. In some cases, a corporate trustee may be a better fit than a family member.
• Overlooking beneficiary designations. Life insurance policies and retirement accounts typically pass according to their beneficiary forms (regardless of what your will or trust says). It’s imperative that you keep them up to date.
• Forgetting about digital assets. Cryptocurrency, online businesses, digital payment accounts, and other online assets can be difficult for loved ones to locate or access if you haven’t planned for them.

Why advanced estate plans should be reviewed regularly

One of the biggest differences between basic and advanced estate planning is that advanced estate planning requires more check-ins, more oversight, and more expertise to make sure it’s done correctly.

A financial advisor can help make sure your advanced estate planning needs are carried out according to your wishes. For example, they can help you update beneficiary designations, implement insurance strategies, fund trusts, and more. They can also work alongside your other estate planning professionals to keep everything aligned.

Frequently asked questions

RELATED CONTENT

¹Security.org. “Cryptocurrency Annual Consumer Report.” Accessed June 24, 2026.

²Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “Disability Impacts All of Us Infographic.” Accessed June 24, 2026.

³HealthCare.gov. “Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Medicaid.” Accessed June 24, 2026.

⁴Associated Press. “Giving USA report: Americans donated a record amount to charity in 2025.” Accessed June 24, 2026.

⁵FamilyBusiness.org. “Succession Planning.” Accessed June 24, 2026.

Neither New York Life nor its agents provide personal tax or legal advice. Please consult your tax adviser to find out how the general concepts in this article apply to your personal circumstances.