2025-2026 Undergraduate Catalog

BUSN 450 Estate Planning

This course examines estate planning and its various components within the context of the comprehensive financial planning process. Approaching estate planning from the perspective of the financial planner, the focus of the course is on developing student skills for analyzing client needs and for designing comprehensive and integrated estate plans. Specific estate planning components addressed in the course include property ownership methods, wills, trusts, insurance, annuities, charitable gifts, and estate taxation. 

Credits

3

Prerequisites

BUSN 301; ACCT 355; senior standing (recommended)

Offered

Spring

Student Learning Outcomes

  1. Explain the tax and non-tax goals of estate planning
  2. Understand the state laws of intestacy
  3. Identify estate planning documents, such as wills, trusts, durable powers of attorney, and describe their application to a client's estate planning
  4. Explain the probate process and describe pros and cons
  5. Define strategies for lifetime asset transfers and appropriate asset selection
  6. Calculate the gross estate, adjusted gross estate, taxable estate, tentative tax base and estate tax payable
  7. Identify tax-reduction strategies, including bypass and marital deduction trusts, and ILITS
  8. Describe appropriate techniques for charitable lifetime and testamentary gifting