10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
These 10 free CES questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Certified Estate and Trust Specialist blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
Domain 1: The Quarterback’s Knowledge Foundation
Question 1
A remarried client wants a testamentary trust to support his U.S.-citizen spouse for life, with the remainder reserved for his children from his first marriage. The proposed terms permit the trustee to distribute income according to the spouse's needs and accumulate the rest. No one may appoint property to another beneficiary during the spouse's life. The executor would make the QTIP election. Which amendment addresses the qualification problem without changing the intended remainder beneficiaries?
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Correct answer: D - Entitle the spouse to all trust income for life, payable at least annually.
Question 2
Leon dies in 2026 at age 80, after his required beginning date and after satisfying his own 2026 IRA required minimum distribution. His sole beneficiary is his 45-year-old daughter, who is neither disabled nor chronically ill. She intends to retain the inherited traditional IRA and postpone all withdrawals until 2036. What must her distribution plan include under the federal minimum-distribution rules?
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Correct answer: A - Annual beneficiary RMDs beginning in 2027, plus full distribution of the remaining balance by December 31, 2036.
Question 3
An unmarried woman dies with a valid will leaving her residuary estate to her partner. Her individually owned brokerage account has an earlier, valid transfer-on-death registration naming her sister, who survives her. There is no competing ownership claim or legal rule overriding that registration. The partner argues that the newer will controls. How should the account pass?
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Correct answer: C - To the sister under the transfer-on-death registration; the residuary clause cannot redirect this account.
Question 4
In 2026, a single U.S.-citizen father pays a qualifying university $32,000 for his adult daughter's tuition and $12,000 for her room and board. He also gives her $24,000 in cash. These are his only gifts for the year, and he has never used any of his lifetime gift-tax exclusion. Which federal gift-tax treatment is correct?
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Correct answer: B - Report a $17,000 taxable gift on Form 709; no gift tax is payable after applying available exclusion.
Question 5
California spouses own stock entirely as community property, with a combined adjusted basis of $240,000. When the husband dies in 2026, the stock is worth $900,000; one-half is included in his federal gross estate, and his wife inherits his half. No alternate valuation or other basis adjustment applies. She later sells all the stock for net proceeds of $970,000. What gain does she recognize for federal income-tax purposes?
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Correct answer: A - $70,000
Question 6
A U.S. citizen dies in 2026 after using part of his estate-and-gift exclusion during life. His executor files a timely, complete Form 706 electing portability, although no return is otherwise required. His surviving spouse, also a U.S. citizen, wants to preserve exemptions for future gifts to grandchildren. What does this election make available to her?
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Correct answer: D - The decedent's unused estate-and-gift exclusion, but not the decedent's unused generation-skipping transfer exemption.
Question 7
A retired entrepreneur wants to make an irrevocable charitable gift while retaining lifetime payments that track investment performance. Her payments would equal a fixed percentage of the trust's assets, revalued each year; a university would receive the remainder at her death. Assuming the payout satisfies the applicable qualification tests, which trust has this structure?
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Correct answer: C - Charitable remainder unitrust.
Domain 2: The Quarterback’s Playbook
Question 8
During a funding review, an advisor finds that a client's taxable brokerage account remains individually owned, with her revocable trust named as transfer-on-death beneficiary. The client wants her successor trustee to manage this account during incapacity. Counsel confirms that the trust's succession provisions are satisfactory, but no separate agent has authority over this account. What change would implement the client's intended management arrangement?
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Correct answer: C - Complete the custodian's lifetime retitling of the account into the revocable trust.
Question 9
An 83-year-old brokerage client normally gives instructions directly. A new caregiver emails a purportedly signed request for a same-day wire to an account in the caregiver's name. Calls to the client's usual number are answered by the caregiver, who will not let the advisor speak with the client. The wire has not been released. Which immediate response is most appropriate?
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Correct answer: A - Pause the wire, verify instructions independently, and alert the firm's financial-exploitation team.
Question 10
Elena's parents have funded a third-party supplemental-needs trust for her. Elena, age 32 and receiving SSI and Medicaid, then becomes entitled to an injury settlement belonging to her. Her family proposes having the insurer pay the settlement directly into the existing trust to avoid creating another arrangement. Which issue governs the benefits review?
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Correct answer: D - Elena's ownership requires review under first-party trust rules, including the applicable Medicaid-payback requirements.
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