Standalone hand tools not only do quick and convenient computations using a variety of planning techniques, but also they allow you to check the accuracy of calculations performed by other software programs.  Whatever major estate or financial planning program you operate, you can benefit from having one of the hand tool programs.  Both hand tool programs and comprehensive estate-planning programs are released at different dates and times of the year, and some programs may address changes in the law or rulings that are not on others.  At a minimum, you should have one comprehensive estate-planning program and at least one standalone hand tool program.

Comprehensive Programs For more complex functions with all calculations working together to help generate a client estate plan, consider a comprehensive estate planning program.  These programs will do integrated calculations of the federal and state estate taxes with common estate-planning devices, such as grantor retined annuity trusts (GRATs), grantor retained unit trusts (GRUTs), planned sales and charitable trusts. Three of the most widely used and most complete of these programs are:

Intuitive Estate Planner (the author is the designer of this software) conducts comprehensive estate-planning and generation-skipping transfer tax calculations with state death tax calculations for all states (including decoupled states) pension accumulation and distribution calculations, charitable trusts, GRATs and GRUTs, planned sales (including self-canceling installment notes and intenionally defective irrevocable trusts), business organization balance sheets, previously taxed property credit, alternative allocations of tax burden and much more.  All these calculations are integrated with estate tax and inheritance distribution calculations.  The program includes a client demonstration slide show.  Available from Thomson/West (online demo available).

Viewplan is an integrated estate-tax planning calculation program, including minimum distribution calculations.  This program has extensive and well-designed flowcharts and graphs.  It is also available in an advanced version that addresses charitable trusts, other split-interest trusts and planned sales devices.  Available from CCH (demo available).

BNA Estate Tax Planner does extensive estate-tax planning calculations, integrating a number of planning devices into the tax computation. This program includes elaborate flowcharts and PowerPoint graphics. (Go to next page.)