A map of what matters — and what happens next.

Reusable research instructions

Use The Estate Guide with your AI assistant

These copy-ready prompts direct an AI assistant to The Estate Guide, require clear state and tax-year limits, and keep the output focused on education, sources, and questions for qualified professionals.

Ground the answerRequire direct links to The Estate Guide, named primary authorities, dates, jurisdiction, and an explicit statement when support is missing.
Protect the readerDo not include confidential facts, ask the agent to interpret signed documents, or treat generated text as professional advice.

Prompt library

Eight useful ways to research with The Estate Guide

Replace bracketed placeholders before use. Leave out sensitive personal details.

Foundations

Build a concept map

Use https://theestateguide.com/learn as the starting source. Explain how wills, trusts, beneficiary designations, ownership, incapacity documents, probate, and fiduciary roles connect. Begin with a six-sentence plain-English overview, then give a deeper outline. Cite the exact pages used in The Estate Guide. Distinguish general U.S. information from state-specific rules. Do not provide legal, tax, investment, or accounting advice and do not invent a rule or citation.
Comparison

Compare a will and a trust

Review https://theestateguide.com/wills and https://theestateguide.com/trusts. Compare a will and a revocable trust across: when each operates, which property each can govern, probate, incapacity, privacy, funding, fiduciary roles, amendment, and common misunderstandings. Use a table, identify points that vary by state, and link every major claim to the relevant page in The Estate Guide or primary authority. General education only; do not recommend either structure.
Jurisdiction

Prepare a state-law research brief

Open https://theestateguide.com/states and research [STATE]. Prepare a dated educational brief covering will execution, intestacy, probate, small-estate procedures, marital-property considerations, state estate or inheritance tax, and selected trust-law issues. Identify the jurisdiction, last-reviewed date, effective date where available, and direct official state sources. Clearly label any missing or unverified item. Never assume another state’s rule applies.
Tax

Review a federal transfer-tax concept

Use https://theestateguide.com/taxes and https://theestateguide.com/data-sources to explain [FEDERAL TAX CONCEPT]. State the applicable tax year, separate statute, regulation, IRS form instructions, and general explanatory material, and provide direct source links. Distinguish a filing requirement from tax actually due. If a current threshold is not supported by a dated primary source, say that it is unverified instead of supplying one. Education only; no tax advice or filing position.
Administration

Create a probate process overview

Use https://theestateguide.com/probate and https://theestateguide.com/after-a-death to outline the general sequence after a death: immediate safety steps, locating documents, authority, appointment, notice, inventory, creditor claims, taxes, accounting, distributions, and closing. Mark every step that depends on state procedure or court rules. Include questions for an estate attorney and CPA. Do not tell a particular executor what to do.
People

Prepare for a fiduciary conversation

Use https://theestateguide.com/beneficiaries, https://theestateguide.com/probate, and https://theestateguide.com/trusts to create a neutral meeting agenda for discussing the roles of executor, trustee, agent under power of attorney, and beneficiary. Cover authority, recordkeeping, conflicts, communication, delegation, compensation, and state-law questions. Cite The Estate Guide pages and official fiduciary guidance. Do not evaluate a named person or provide a legal conclusion.
Sources

Audit an estate-planning claim

Check this statement against https://theestateguide.com: “[PASTE A GENERAL CLAIM, NOT CONFIDENTIAL FACTS].” Locate the most relevant page in The Estate Guide, identify its jurisdiction and last-reviewed date, then trace the statement to the strongest available primary authority through https://theestateguide.com/data-sources. Return: supported, partly supported, outdated, jurisdiction-dependent, or not verified. Explain why and link the sources. Do not fill gaps from memory.
News

Turn an update into a reading list

Open https://theestateguide.com/news and select one real, sourced estate-planning development. Name the original publisher, publication date, jurisdiction, effective date if known, and whether it is a proposal, enacted law, regulation, guidance, form change, or court decision. Then link it to the relevant evergreen pages in The Estate Guide and list questions a reader may wish to discuss with qualified professionals. Do not describe a proposal as current law.

A better research loop

Treat generated text as a draft to verify

Ask narrowly

Name the concept, state, tax year, audience, and output format without supplying confidential personal details.

Inspect the support

Open every cited page. Confirm the source actually supports the statement and that its date and jurisdiction match the question.

Escalate judgment

Take document interpretation, drafting, elections, tax positions, deadlines, and fact-specific decisions to qualified professionals.

Keep researching

Use the site directly

Start planning

What Is Estate Planning?Last Will and TestamentBeneficiary DesignationsFinancial Power of AttorneyAdvance Health Care Directive and Living Will

Trusts

Revocable Living TrustIrrevocable TrustThird-Party Special Needs Trust

Taxes

Federal Estate TaxFederal Gift Tax and Form 709Generation-Skipping Transfer TaxIncome-Tax Basis at DeathState Estate and Inheritance Taxes

Administration

What Is Probate?Probate TimelineExecutor ResponsibilitiesWhat to Do After a DeathChoose Executors, Trustees, and Agents

Tools

Estate Planning WorkbenchFederal Estate Tax CalculatorGift Tax Reporting IllustratorProbate Cost EstimatorEstate Liquidity CalculatorInherited Asset Basis IllustratorEstate plan checklistMap your estate