Most estate plans for pilots look like estate plans for everyone else: a will, a trust if assets warrant, beneficiary designations, powers of attorney. The structure is fine. What gets missed are the items unique to airline life that almost no general-practice estate attorney thinks to ask about.

A handful that come up regularly in our pilot conversations.

Multi-state property situations

Pilots commute. Pilots own crash pads. Pilots maintain a primary residence in a no-tax state and a secondary residence near base. Pilots often inherit property from parents in third states.

This creates an estate planning issue most attorneys don’t anticipate: ancillary probate in every state where the pilot owns titled real estate. Without proper structuring, the surviving spouse or estate could have to open separate probate proceedings in each state — expensive, slow, and visible.

The fix is usually one of:

  • Title each property in the name of the revocable living trust (avoids probate entirely in most states)
  • Use an LLC for investment properties, with the LLC owned by the trust
  • For homes you intend to keep long-term, transfer-on-death deeds where the state allows them (cheaper than retitling to a trust)

Worth the conversation specifically with an estate attorney who has seen multi-state portfolios. The default “we’ll just title everything jointly” approach falls apart at the second probate.

State of domicile vs. state of residence

For pilots who moved to a no-tax state, the estate plan should explicitly reference the new domicile. Several practical items:

  • Will and trust documents should be drafted (or restated) under the new state’s law
  • Beneficiary designations should be reviewed for state-specific implications
  • Powers of attorney and healthcare directives should comply with the new state’s specific requirements (some states require specific witness or notary procedures)
  • State estate tax exposure should be evaluated — Tennessee has no state estate tax; some other no-income-tax states do

A pilot who moved to Tennessee 5 years ago but still has a 20-year-old California-drafted estate plan is leaving real value on the table. Worse, in some states, an out-of-state document may not be recognized cleanly.

International family or assets

Pilots who fly international routes sometimes accumulate international relationships — spouses, children, parents — who hold foreign citizenship or live abroad. International estate planning is its own specialty:

  • Foreign citizens as beneficiaries of U.S. retirement accounts are treated differently from U.S. citizens — the unlimited spousal rollover doesn’t apply to non-citizen spouses
  • Foreign-held assets (a property in a country where you’re based, foreign bank accounts) require separate U.S. reporting (FBAR, Form 8938) during life and in the estate
  • Treaty considerations — the U.S. has estate tax treaties with some countries that affect how cross-border estates are taxed

If any meaningful asset or beneficiary is international, the standard local estate attorney isn’t enough. You need a cross-border specialist. Some planning items become legally complicated to fix after death; many are easy to handle in advance.

SWAPA benefits in the estate plan

SWAPA loss-of-license coverage and any related disability benefits should be coordinated with the rest of the plan. Practical items:

  • Beneficiary designations on SWAPA-administered benefits should be reviewed at every life event
  • Lump-sum vs. monthly benefit options sometimes have estate implications
  • For pilots with significant outside disability insurance, the interaction between SWAPA and outside coverage at death is worth understanding

Most SWAPA documentation is clear, but it’s outside what a generalist estate attorney typically reviews.

The “what if I’m flying” contingency

A morbid but practical consideration: what happens if you’re incapacitated while on a trip — in the cockpit, in a hotel, in another country? Different from “what happens at death” but in some ways more pressing.

Specific items worth having in place:

  • Healthcare power of attorney that’s recognized in the states/countries you fly to (or at minimum, a clear medical directive)
  • A copy of the directive with someone reachable at any time (spouse, designated agent)
  • Known medication list and major health history in a place that travels with you
  • Spouse or designated agent authority to make immediate decisions about home/family logistics
  • A short, clear letter to your spouse about who to call (financial advisor, estate attorney, trustee) and where to find documents

This isn’t legal-document territory. It’s logistics. But it matters when something happens 1,500 miles from home.

Beneficiary designations on the SWA 401(k)

This deserves specific mention because it’s one of the most common errors we see across all clients, but particularly common among pilots whose work history includes multiple stops:

  • The SWA 401(k) has its own beneficiary form
  • Old 401(k)s from previous airlines or earlier roles may have outdated forms
  • Old Individual Account Plans (IAPs) and Pension Equity Plans (PEPs) from carriers in bankruptcy or in the PBGC system have their own beneficiary forms
  • IRAs that received rolled-over balances need their own designations

The single most expensive estate planning failure mode we see in pilots is an inherited 401(k) or IRA going to an ex-spouse from 15 years ago. See The #1 Estate Planning Mistake.

When to coordinate

Estate planning items for pilots should be reviewed:

  • At every life event — marriage, divorce, birth, death, second career
  • Every 3–5 years as a baseline
  • When SWAPA changes disability or death benefits
  • When tax law changes (current federal estate exemption is scheduled to sunset at end of 2025 unless extended)
  • When you move between states
  • When you’re considering retirement — particularly the Roth conversion decade interactions with estate planning

We work with several estate attorneys who understand the pilot picture. Happy to introduce — or to review your existing plan and flag what we’d want your attorney to look at. Get in touch.

General educational information for airline pilots about estate planning considerations. Specific decisions require coordination with a licensed estate attorney in your state. Pilots with international family, multi-state property, or SWAPA-specific benefits should ensure their attorney is comfortable with the relevant complexity.