State statutes and legislature
Used for enacted requirements, definitions, thresholds, powers, duties, remedies, and effective dates. Session laws and pending bills are kept distinct from codified current law.
Primary authority before summary
Data Sources & Primary Authorities
The strongest source depends on the claim. Federal statutes, regulations, official forms and instructions, agencies, state codes, revenue departments, and courts each answer different questions. This directory explains what we use and how to read it.
Authority controlsA summary from The Estate Guide helps readers navigate. It never replaces the governing text, official instructions, actual document, or court order.
Context mattersAlways match the source to the correct jurisdiction, tax year, effective date, form revision, and legal status.
Source hierarchy
Start with controlling or official authority, then use institutional and professional explanation to understand it. A convenient summary is not stronger than the text it summarizes.
- Federal law
- United States Code, codified regulations, legislation, official guidance, forms and instructions, and relevant decisions.
- State law
- The named state’s enacted code, legislature, agencies, revenue department, court system, rules, forms, and decisions.
- Model law
- Useful framework, but not the law of a state unless and to the extent that state enacted it.
- Secondary explanation
- Helpful context from reputable institutions and professionals, cited without replacing primary authority.
Core federal and institutional sources
Authoritative starting points
External links open the issuing organization’s site. The organization’s current version controls over a summary from The Estate Guide.
| Source | What it supports | How we treat it |
|---|---|---|
| United States Code, Title 26, Subtitle B ↗ U.S. House Office of the Law Revision Counsel |
Federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax statutes. | Primary statutory text. Regulations, cases, guidance, elections, dates, and actual facts may be needed to apply it. |
| Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, Title 26, Subchapter B ↗ U.S. Government Publishing Office / eCFR |
Codified Treasury regulations for federal estate and gift taxes. | Primary regulatory starting point. Check update status and related temporary, proposed, or uncodified guidance. |
| IRS Estate and Gift Taxes hub ↗ Internal Revenue Service |
Current federal overview, forms, instructions, filing resources, and related guidance. | Official administrative source. The applicable form revision and instructions matter. |
| IRS Form 706 and instructions ↗ | Federal estate and generation-skipping transfer tax return, schedules, valuation reporting, elections, and portability mechanics. | Official filing source. Use the revision for the date of death and verify deadlines or available relief. |
| IRS Form 709 and instructions ↗ | Federal gift and generation-skipping transfer tax reporting and selected elections. | Official filing source. A reportable transfer and tax currently payable are not the same conclusion. |
| IRS Publication 559 ↗ Survivors, Executors, and Administrators |
General federal income-tax responsibilities after a death. | Official explanatory publication. State probate and tax duties remain separate. |
| IRS Publication 555 ↗ Community Property |
Federal income-tax treatment involving community property. | Official federal explanation. State law determines property classification and can differ among jurisdictions. |
| Congress.gov ↗ Library of Congress |
Federal bills, enacted laws, legislative status, text, actions, and related materials. | Official legislative source. A bill is not enacted law, and enactment can precede a later effective date. |
| Uniform Probate Code ↗ Uniform Law Commission |
A model framework for probate, intestacy, wills, administration, and related subjects. | Institutional model law—not automatically state law. Verify the relevant state’s enactment, modifications, and cases. |
| Uniform Trust Code ↗ Uniform Law Commission |
A model framework for trust creation, administration, modification, fiduciary duties, and selected remedies. | Institutional model law. Situs, creditor rights, directed-trust provisions, and local modifications require state-specific review. |
| Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act ↗ Uniform Law Commission |
Model rules for fiduciary access to digital property and electronic communications. | Compare the model with the governing state’s enactment, provider tools, terms of service, user directions, and actual documents. |
| Managing Someone Else’s Money ↗ Consumer Financial Protection Bureau |
Practical fiduciary guides for agents, guardians, trustees, and government fiduciaries. | Official educational guidance. Governing documents and state law still control actual authority and duties. |
| Supplemental Security Income resources ↗ Social Security Administration |
Federal SSI eligibility, administration, and related benefits-planning context. | Official federal source. Do not assume an SSI rule answers a Medicaid or state-benefit question. |
| Medicaid state contacts ↗ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services |
Official paths to state Medicaid agencies and program help. | Federal/state starting point. Eligibility, trust treatment, recovery, and administration are program- and state-specific. |
| Employee Benefits Security Administration ↗ U.S. Department of Labor |
Federal employee-benefit plan oversight, fiduciary information, and retirement-plan resources. | Official agency source. Plan documents, Internal Revenue Code rules, and current guidance can also control. |
| Working with an investment professional ↗ U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission |
General investor education about professionals, registration, questions, and background checks. | Official educational source used only where estate administration or fiduciary coordination intersects with investing. |
State authority
Every state question starts with the named state
There is no single national source that resolves state execution, probate, marital-property, trust, creditor, and death-tax rules.
State courts and court rules
Used for probate forms, filing paths, procedural requirements, local guidance, opinions, and administrative information. Local practice may require separate confirmation.
Revenue and other state agencies
Used for state estate or inheritance taxes, forms, instructions, benefits administration, licensing, and other agency-specific subjects.
State warning
A model act or another state’s summary is never silently substituted for the governing state’s law.
Citation and freshness
How a source becomes a usable claim
Match
Confirm the source covers the exact subject, jurisdiction, person, property, procedure, or tax question described.
Date
Record the tax year, form revision, publication date, effective date, and last review date that make the statement meaningful.
Qualify
State what the source does not resolve, including exceptions, local law, actual document terms, professional judgment, and later developments.