Vanilla Becomes First Estate Planning Platform to Independently Validate Its Calculation Engine

Brentmark's review spans federal estate and GST tax, every U.S. jurisdiction with a state estate or inheritance tax, and advanced planning strategies.

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vanilla, a leading estate planning platform for wealth management firms, today announced that its calculation engine has been independently validated by Brentmark, a trusted specialist in estate and tax planning serving advisors and attorneys for more than 40 years. Vanilla is the first estate planning platform to undergo this level of third-party scrutiny, with a review spanning federal estate and GST tax, all 13 U.S. jurisdictions with a state estate tax, all five inheritance tax states, and planning calculators and strategy scenarios including GRATs, SLATs, IDGTs, CLATs, and CRUTs.

Estate tax law doesn't stand still, and 2026 has brought changes advisors must now navigate carefully with clients whose plans were built around different assumptions. In this environment, the firms and advisors managing the most complex, highest-stakes estates are asking a sharper question: not just what a platform can do, but what stands behind the calculations underneath it. That scrutiny only intensifies at the ultra-high-net-worth level, where a miscalculation can carry significant financial consequences for a family. Every estate planning platform says its technology is accurate. Vanilla is the first to put its calculations through independent validation.

"As estate planning becomes more complex and more of it is powered by technology, advisors and their clients deserve the added confidence of an independent, third-party review behind the calculations they already trust," said Gene Farrell, CEO of Vanilla. "This is a level of scrutiny we sought out, not one we're required to meet, and that distinction matters for the families and advisors trusting us with their most important planning decisions."

Brentmark put Vanilla's calculation engine through the same rigor it has applied across its work for attorneys, CPAs, and financial advisors. The review went well beyond basic transfer tax math, testing portability between spouses, interrelated marital and charitable deduction calculations, multi-year projections with exemption growth, and the state-specific rules that most often complicate planning, including Connecticut's tax cap, the interaction between Maryland's estate and inheritance taxes, and how each state treats state-only QTIP elections. Every calculation in the review was validated against results Brentmark derived independently on its own calculation software.

"It's not often we come across a calculation engine with this level of sophistication, particularly in how Vanilla handles the estate, GST, and state-level tax scenarios that trip up less rigorous platforms," said Nicole Maholtz, President & CEO of Brentmark. "Our review process is thorough by design, and we applied the same standard to Vanilla's calculations that attorneys, CPAs, and advisors have relied on us for over four decades."

With validation now complete, Brentmark will continue to perform ongoing spot-check validation, giving advisors lasting, independent assurance behind a calculation engine built for the industry's most complex needs.

About Vanilla

Vanilla is the modern estate planning platform built for financial advisors. By transforming complex legal documents into clear, interactive visuals, Vanilla enables advisors to deliver more personal, impactful conversations around legacy, wealth transfer, and generational planning. With deep integrations, intuitive workflows, and expert support, Vanilla helps advisors bring estate planning into the heart of holistic financial advice. Learn more at www.justvanilla.com.

About Brentmark

Brentmark is an industry leader in legislatively accurate estate, tax, retirement, charitable, and financial planning software. For more than 40 years, Brentmark has developed sophisticated calculation engines trusted by attorneys, CPAs, financial advisors, institutions, and government users. Its expertise in complex tax laws, estate planning, retirement strategies, and wealth transfer, combined with technical rigor and proven accuracy, has made Brentmark a trusted calculation standard for financial and tax professionals. Learn more at Brentmark.com.