Primary Wealth Group

Your parents added you to the deed to avoid probate. Sounds simple. But that one decision may have cost you the step-up in cost basis — and created a capital gains tax bill on decades of appreciation. Estate planning isn't about doing one thing right. It's about making sure everything works together.

Three Common Estate Planning Mistakes Intentions are great. Outcomes matter. Here's what to know.

A family creates a trust. Signs the documents. Feels good about it. But they never retitle the house or the bank accounts into the trust's name. When it's time for the trust to do its job — it can't. Estate planning is a system, not a single document.

Estate Planning is Not a Document It's a system that needs to connect.

Quick gut check: Do you know who's listed as beneficiary on your retirement accounts right now? Not who you'd want it to be — who's actually on the form. In most cases, beneficiary designations supersede your will. If yours are out of date, your estate plan may not work the way you think it does.

Who is on Your Beneficiary Form? A forgotten form can override your will.