How to become an estate planner?

Written by: Liwin Troy Lee

An estate planner is someone who plan for individual or corporate estates. Estates are collection of assets a person or entity obtained during their lifetime. Estate planning include drafting a will or trust fund, tax planning and planning for the amount of money you contribute to charity after you die.

1) Complete an advanced degree in law, finance or accounting. All three of those degrees gives you an education to make you qualify to work as an estate planner.

2) Enroll in a Certified Estate Planner Program. One of the most prestigious programs is National Institute of Certified Estate Planners.

3) Complete the course work to receive your Certified Estate Planner Degree. Some of the coursework will cover estate planning, gifting, joint ownership accounts.

4) One you pass all your coursework, you are qualified to sit for the Certified Estate Planner Exam. the exam consist of 100 multiple that covers all the material you have learned in your course work. You can take the test as many times a you want. There is, however, a $10 retesting fee.

5) After you get your certification. You must meet all the degree requirements. Generally you have to take 8 to 16 CPE credits every two years. An example of a CPE course includes advanced estate planning.

6) Agree to follow ethics set by the National Institute of Certified Estate Planners. This includes reading issues on professional ethics held by the organization such as not revealing you client's confidential information or engage in illegal activities. You have to sign a statement saying you have read the document.

7) Start promoting yourself as a certified estate planner.


Sources
National Institute of Certified Estate Planners
How to become an estate planner
Accredited Estate planners