Course 3.4 · 50 minutes

Inheriting Assets: Step-Up in Basis, Retirement Accounts, and What Heirs Actually Pay

Understand what your heirs will owe on each asset you leave, and arrange assets so the tax-free step-up lands where it does the most good.

Who it is for: Parents deciding what to give now versus later, and heirs who just inherited.
Runtime: 50 minutes

Pre-order: this course is in development and appears in your portal the day it is released. Buy 5 or more and every course is 30% off.

See the full track See the full curriculum

Instant download after payment. Nothing is withheld for a later purchase.

What you receive

Heir's Tax Map worksheet, asset by asset
Step-Up Basis Calculator (Excel)
Inherited IRA distribution decision tree
Hold, Gift, or Sell decision tree for appreciated assets
Beneficiary IRA setup checklist
The narrated lesson. 50 minutes, cued to the deck, with chapter markers by lesson. Emailed to you the day it publishes, at no extra cost.

What the course covers

01Step-up in basis: fair market value at death, joint property, and community property9 min
02Gifts versus inheritances: carryover basis and why you do not give away the appreciated house6 min
03Income in respect of a decedent: retirement accounts, annuities, and the deduction most heirs miss6 min
04Inherited retirement accounts: the ten-year rule, eligible beneficiaries, and required distributions9 min
05Worked example: inheriting a house, a brokerage account, an IRA, and a rental with depreciation8 min
06Tricks of the trade: upstream gifts, hold the low basis and give the high basis, and Roth conversions for heirs6 min
07Mistakes and traps: gifting the house, trusts as IRA beneficiaries, and missed distributions4 min
08Action plan and recap2 min

How it fits: Requires 3.1. Pairs with 1.5 (exchange then hold), 7.3 (retirement accounts), and 8.3.

The standard every course holds

A narrated lesson of 45 to 60 minutes, produced as audio
A designed slide deck you download and keep
A computational workbook that runs the actual legal tests
A toolkit of checklists and protocols
A legal authority appendix carrying the two-pass vetting protocol

Written for a diligent reader with no legal education. Professionally narrated using a studio voice model of Brian T. Boyd. The course is recorded instruction, not a live consultation.

Where this course sits

Track 3: Estate Planning

This course is one step in a track built around a single outcome. See the full build order and the other courses that get you there.

Back to this track

Educational material from the private client curriculum of Brian T. Boyd. This is legal education for a general audience, not legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship is created by purchasing, viewing, or using it. Tax outcomes depend on your facts and your state.