Estate Law Treatise: Manning on Estate Planning from PLI Plus

For law students diving into estates and trusts this summer, estate planning can feel like learning a new language filled with acronyms, tax rules, and competing strategies. Manning on Estate Planning serves as a practical guide through that complexity by offering a broad yet detailed overview of today’s most important estate planning tools.

The book walks readers through the strengths, weaknesses, risks, and long-term viability of planning vehicles such as QTIPs, QDOTs, QSSTs, ESBTs, charitable lead trusts, grantor trusts, credit shelter trusts, and private annuities. Rather than simply defining these concepts, it explains when and why each strategy may be appropriate in real-world practice.

One of the text’s greatest strengths is its focus on context. Effective estate planning is never one-size-fits-all, and the book emphasizes how family dynamics, retirement concerns, aging parents, and issues involving children can shape a client’s plan. Readers are encouraged to think critically about contingencies before designing tailored solutions.

The book also tackles some of the most challenging areas students encounter in trusts and estates courses, including GST tax issues, IRS valuation rules, and the income tax treatment of employee benefit plans. Updated coverage of SECURE Act 2.0 makes the material especially relevant for understanding modern retirement-benefit planning.

For students preparing for practice, Manning on Estate Planning offers more than doctrine—it provides a framework for thinking like an estate planner.

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