Complete terms
Effective:
1. Acceptance
By visiting, viewing, or using the Site, you agree to these Terms of Use and the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Site. You are responsible for using the Site consistently with laws and obligations that apply to you.
2. General educational publication
The Estate Guide publishes impersonal educational material about estate planning, wills, trusts, probate, incapacity, fiduciary roles, inheritance, taxes, ownership, charitable planning, business succession, and related subjects. Material is designed for a general audience and regular circulation. It is not prepared for any reader’s objectives, documents, family, property, state, deadlines, tax posture, or professional needs.
3. Investment Advisers Act publisher exclusion
To the extent the Site discusses securities, investment property, fiduciary investing, asset allocation, or related financial subjects, it does so solely as an impersonal, bona fide publication of general and regular circulation. The Site and its operators intend to rely on the publisher’s exclusion in Section 202(a)(11)(D) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. The Site is not a registered investment adviser, broker-dealer, law firm, accounting firm, tax-return preparer, or financial planner.
No content is tailored to a specific person or recommends that a person acquire, dispose of, retain, or allocate any security, policy, property, trust interest, business interest, or other asset. Nothing is a rating, signal, solicitation, offer, or individualized advisory communication.
4. No professional relationship or suitability determination
Use of the Site—including a contact message, Saved list, checklist, quiz, calculator, comparison, AI prompt, or Ask The Estate Guide question—does not create an attorney-client, accountant-client, tax-practitioner, fiduciary, insurance, brokerage, or advisory relationship. No content determines whether a document is valid, a trust is funded, a fiduciary is appropriate, a transaction is lawful, a filing is required, or a strategy is suitable.
Consult appropriately licensed and qualified attorneys, CPAs, tax professionals, fiduciaries, financial professionals, insurance professionals, valuation specialists, and other advisers who can examine complete facts and governing law.
5. State law, tax law, and individual facts
Estate-planning law varies by state. Execution, probate, intestacy, spousal rights, property classification, creditor rights, fiduciary authority, trust administration, and tax rules can differ by jurisdiction. Federal and state tax statutes, thresholds, regulations, forms, instructions, cases, and administrative guidance change. A result can turn on facts that a general page cannot know.
A “last reviewed” date records an editorial review; it is not a warranty that no later development has occurred. A proposal, bill, pending case, draft rule, or announced change is not treated as effective law unless the underlying authority supports that status.
6. Tools, examples, and estimates
Calculators, checklists, quizzes, diagrams, comparisons, scenarios, and examples simplify reality for education. They may omit deductions, elections, exemptions, valuation issues, timing rules, state overlays, document language, entity terms, contract terms, court practice, administrative expense, or other material facts. Inputs and results are not reviewed for accuracy, completeness, legal effect, or suitability.
Every estimate should be read with its stated assumptions, tax year, jurisdiction, and limitations. A mathematical output is not a tax return, appraisal, valuation opinion, coverage analysis, forecast, or recommendation.
7. AI-assisted material and Ask The Estate Guide
Portions of the Site are compiled with AI-assisted research, and Ask The Estate Guide uses AI to summarize selected site material. Generated text can omit an exception, confuse jurisdictions or dates, or cite support incorrectly. Do not submit confidential information. Verify every material proposition through the linked page and primary authority before relying on it.
Detected changes require editorial review before publication. An AI answer is not a legal opinion, tax position, accounting conclusion, fiduciary direction, or investment recommendation.
8. News, sources, and third-party links
The news section may summarize real items from identified publishers and link to the original source. Inclusion is not endorsement. A summary can be incomplete, and the original publisher or authority controls. External websites, professional listings, advertisements, and tools have their own content, terms, privacy practices, availability, and security; the Site does not control them.
9. Professional directory and commercial disclosures
A directory listing, credential label, advertisement, sponsorship, or affiliate link—if offered—does not constitute a referral, endorsement, verification of current standing, or suitability finding. Paid placement must be clearly distinguished from editorial content. Readers remain responsible for independently checking identity, licensure, discipline, insurance, experience, fees, conflicts, and engagement terms.
10. Permitted use and intellectual property
You may use the Site for personal, educational, and internal research, subject to applicable law and these terms. Site design, original organization, original text, and original graphics are protected by applicable intellectual-property law. Linked statutes, agency publications, publisher articles, and other third-party materials remain subject to their respective rights and terms.
You may not misrepresent Site content as professional advice, remove attribution, publish automated output as reviewed Site content, bypass access or security controls, interfere with operation, introduce malicious code, collect personal information from other users, or use the Site unlawfully. Reasonable indexing and accessibility tools are permitted; abusive automated extraction or traffic that impairs service is not.
11. No warranties
The Site is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis to the fullest extent permitted by law. We do not warrant accuracy, completeness, timeliness, availability, fitness for a particular purpose, legal effect, noninfringement, uninterrupted access, or error-free operation. Sources may revise, withdraw, supersede, or interpret material differently.
12. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, The Estate Guide, its operators, partners, officers, employees, affiliates, and agents will not be liable for loss or damage arising from use of or reliance on the Site, inability to use the Site, external content, omitted information, generated output, or a decision made or delayed in connection with Site content. This includes direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, and similar damages where such limitations are permitted.
13. Changes, severability, and contact
We may change, suspend, or discontinue a feature and may update these terms. Continued use after a posted update constitutes acceptance of the revised terms. If a provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue to the extent allowed. Questions may be submitted through Contact.