Although the majority of people do not require anything beyond the basic estate planning documents, advanced estate planning is becoming more popular. As tax laws tend to change frequently, more sophisticated strategies are commonly used to take advantage of the nuances of the internal revenue code in ways reduce or even eliminate estate taxes.

Advanced estate planning can also help with some important non-tax issues. Clients in second marriages may use one type of trust to help deal with concerns about providing for their new spouse while protecting their children from the previous marriage. Others may turn to different types of trusts to help safeguard their assets against creditors, divorce and lawsuit.