Category: Estate Planning

You have decided to meet with an estate planning attorney to get your affairs in order and ensure that your loved ones are protected. Now that you have scheduled the appointment, it is time to get yourself organized and prepare for the first meeting.

Before You Meet with Your Attorney

Taking the time to sort through your important paperwork and organize your thoughts surrounding your goals or plans for the future will go a long way toward making the meeting productive and valuable. Skipping this step may turn the conversation into a scavenger hunt for the attorney and leave you feeling overwhelmed and confused due to the amount of information your attorney will need to know to accomplish your planning objectives. 

Here are eight practical ways to prepare yourself for your first meeting:

1. Gather basic personal information. Put together a list of full legal names, birthdates, and contact information for yourself, your spouse or partner, your children, and other important family members or friends. Having this information on hand can help your attorney understand family relationships and potential heirs and beneficiaries from the start. Also be sure to bring a valid form of photo identification.
2. Make a complete list of your assets (money and property) and liabilities (debts).
   • List what you own, such as bank and investment accounts, real estate, retirement accounts and pensions, life insurance, vehicles, business interests, and even digital assets. Also include the approximate values for each item to give your attorney a clear picture of your estate’s size and composition.
   • Jot down how each of these assets is owned. For example, note whether it is titled in your name alone or jointly with others, such as a spouse, business partners, or another family member.
   • Indicate whether you have already designated a beneficiary for any of your accounts or policies and, if so, whom you designated.
   • Make a list of any debts you owe, such as mortgages, home equity loans, credit cards, medical bills, auto loans, student loans, or personal loans.
   • Note the approximate balance for each debt and who the lender or creditor is.
   • If any debts are jointly held with a spouse, partner, or someone else, jot that down as well so your attorney knows who is legally responsible for repayment.
     
3. Think about whom you want to leave an inheritance to, when you would like them to receive it, and how you want them to receive it.
   Think about whom you want to inherit from you and in what proportions. It is also helpful to choose backup (contingent) beneficiaries in case any of your first-choice beneficiaries pass away before you or are otherwise unable to inherit. Also think about whether there is anyone you specifically wish to exclude from inheriting your property.
   Keep in mind that there are many ways to leave inheritances to beneficiaries. You can give an inheritance to them all at once outright, or you can distribute smaller portions over time at specific ages or after they reach certain milestones (such as completing college, starting a business, or getting married). You can also choose to keep the inheritance in trust for the beneficiary for an undetermined period of time, with the trustee choosing when and how to make distributions. This approach provides the strongest long-term protection and support for the beneficiary.
   Your attorney will walk you through different ways to structure these distributions, but taking time to consider each beneficiary’s current needs—and what they may need in the future—will help ensure that the terms are thoughtful and tailored to your loved ones’ unique circumstances.
4. Reflect on your end-of-life wishes. Think carefully about your preferences for medical care if you were to become seriously ill or incapacitated (unable to manage your affairs). Thinking through the following sensitive but important questions in advance will help your attorney properly prepare the right documents for you, such as a living will and healthcare power of attorney, so your personal choices are clearly documented and honored.
   • Do you want life-sustaining treatments if you have a terminal condition, are in a persistent vegetative state, or are severely incapacitated with no reasonable expectation of recovery?
   • What are your preferences regarding mechanical ventilation (life support) and medically supplied nutrition and hydration (tube feeding or IV fluids)?
   • If you become seriously ill, do you prioritize prolonging life or maximizing comfort and quality of life (even if that means potentially hastening death)?
   • Where would you prefer to receive end-of-life care (at home, in a hospice facility, in a hospital, or somewhere else)?
   • Would you like to be an organ or tissue donor? If so, are there any limits you would place on that donation?
5. Think about whom you want to make decisions for you and handle your affairs if you become incapacitated or pass away. Choosing the right people to serve in these fiduciary roles is one of the most important decisions you need to make. You can select different people for different roles. The most common roles you will need to assign include the following:
   • Executor or personal representative (manages your estate after death if probate court is needed)
   • Guardian for your minor children
   • Agent under your financial power of attorney (handles your finances and legal matters if you are alive but incapacitated)
   • Agent under your healthcare power of attorney (makes medical decisions on your behalf if you are unable to communicate your wishes yourself)
   • Trustee or successor trustee (manages assets held in a trust if you become incapacitated and after your death)
     Why are these decisions so important? If you choose the wrong person or someone who cannot or will not serve when needed, the estate plan you have so carefully put together will be much harder to carry out.
     If you are like most people, you will want your attorney’s advice in selecting the right people or institutions to serve in these roles. Still, it is helpful if you think about which family members or friends might be good candidates—and which ones may not be.
6. Gather relevant legal and financial documents. It is very helpful for your attorney if you can locate and bring the following key documents. Having them on hand makes the meeting more productive and helps your attorney create a plan that is truly tailored to you. Gather what you can, but do not feel overwhelmed if you cannot find everything.
   • Documents that show details about what you own, such as recent statements for your bank, investment, or retirement accounts; property deeds; business agreements; and life insurance policies
   • Recent statements or documents for any debts you have, such as mortgages, home equity loans, credit cards, auto loans, student loans, or personal loans
   • Existing estate plan documents, such as wills, trusts, or powers of attorney
   • Any marital agreements, such as a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement or divorce judgements, if you have any
7. Consider any special circumstances that your attorney should know about. Every family is unique, and your estate plan should be tailored to reflect your specific needs and circumstances. You may be part of a blended family, have a child with special needs, own a business, own property in another state, or hope to leave a charitable legacy.
8. Write down your questions. It can be easy to lose track of the questions you have once the meeting starts. Preparing a list of questions helps ensure that nothing slips through the cracks. You may want to ask about costs and timelines, the differences between a will and a trust, or why many people seek to avoid probate court. This is your meeting, and the attorney wants to ensure that you are comfortable with the choices you are making, so no question is off-limits.

Estate planning can be surprisingly emotional. You may face questions that touch on sensitive topics, including family dynamics, your preferences for end-of-life care, and whom you would want to raise your minor children if you cannot. You may also learn about planning options you never knew existed. Being open and honest with your attorney will enable them to tailor a plan that best suits your circumstances and wishes. These eight points may seem like a great deal to consider and organize, but the peace of mind you gain from creating your comprehensive estate plan will make it well worth the effort.

Retirement can mean many different things to different people. For some, it opens up a new world of travel, experiences, and creative pursuits. For others, it may herald quiet days at home with a good book, a steaming mug of tea or coffee, and no other plans for weeks.

Between those extremes are countless ways to spend one’s postworking years. Like work itself, retirement takes various forms, shaped by practical needs and personal preferences. However, retirement demands one thing above all: adaptability.

While the pace of your days may be slower in retirement, life does not stand still. We are living longer, spending more years in retirement, and dealing with new financial and personal realities. Whether you are approaching retirement or already in it, this stage calls for a fresh look at your estate plan and timely adjustments that match your next chapter.

Retirement Today: Key Trends Shaping Your Estate Planning

Work is not just something we do to make money; rather, we typically see our jobs as a defining part of our identity.

However, no matter how much we may like our jobs, or at least recognize the structure and stability they bring, many of us also find that there is more to life than working. Retirement is supposed to be the reward for a lifetime of hard work, and it still is for many Americans. They turn age 65, start collecting Social Security and enroll in Medicare, and begin to do all the things they never previously had time for.

The retirement picture has changed over the decades. While it theoretically remains the final phase of the American Dream, retirement for most of us looks much different than it did for our parents or grandparents. These differences reflect cultural changes and evolving financial conditions that shape how we live, work, and, ultimately, retire.

Living Longer, Often with Higher Costs

Retirees are living longer, increasing the length of their retirement and their expected healthcare expenses. These factors affect how long savings last and may influence estate planning priorities as well.

• As of 2025, the projected life expectancy for Americans who have reached age 65 is 83 years for men and 86 years for women.¹ In 1940, the projected life expectancy for a 65-year-old was 77 years for men and 79 years for women.²
• Today, median retirement savings for households aged 55–64 is about $185,000,³ below many recommended benchmarks.
• About one-third of retirees are very concerned about being able to cover healthcare costs,⁴ and for good reason. A 65-year-old retiring today could spend more than $170,000 on healthcare alone during retirement.⁵

Estate Planning Perspective: Due to longer lifespans and rising healthcare expenses, your estate plan may need updates to ensure that your lifestyle and legacy goals are supported well into retirement, including provisions for medical care, long-term support, and financial flexibility.

Retirement Is Not What It Used to Be

Older adults today are often working longer or pursuing encore careers, meaning that retirement does not always start at a set age. Working past traditional retirement age can affect income, assets, and estate-planning timelines.

• The average retirement age is now around age 62, up from age 57 in the early 1990s.⁶ In 2023, approximately 19 percent of adults age 65 and older were still working, up from 11 percent in 1987.⁷
• Nearly one in four adults age 50 and above who are still working expect to never fully retire,⁸ and workers age 75 and older are the fastest-growing age group in the workforce, more than quadrupling in size since 1964.⁹
• Many retirees pursue part-time work or side ventures,¹⁰ adding new assets or income streams to their financial picture.

Estate Planning Perspective: Your estate plan should address your current income, any new assets, and the possibility that retirement may start later or look different than you originally expected.

Fixed Incomes and Savings Pressures

Many retirees rely on fixed income, drawing from Social Security, pensions, or savings. Inflation, market volatility, and healthcare costs can affect how long assets last.

• Nearly 50 percent of adults age 60 and above have household incomes below what is needed for basic living expenses.¹¹
• Inflation hits retirees harder than near-retirees because retiree income often does not rise as quickly as prices do.¹²
• Approximately 64 percent of Americans are worried that they will outlive their retirement savings.¹³

Estate Planning Perspective: If you rely on fixed income or are drawing down investments, revisiting your estate plan can help protect both your current lifestyle and the financial legacy you intend to leave for loved ones.

Shifting Family and Lifestyle Dynamics

Downsizing, relocating, or buying new homes later in life is increasingly common, which can significantly affect asset ownership and estate planning priorities.

• Baby boomers, at 42 percent, represent the largest share of home buyers, a significant increase from previous years.¹⁴
• A growing number of retirees are embracing multigenerational living, often taking the form of sharing a home with children and grandchildren¹⁵ or cohousing, where they live in private homes within a community that shares common spaces and support.¹⁶
• More retirees are ditching their homes for recreational vehicles (RVs) and year-round life on the road.¹⁷

Estate Planning Perspective: Changes in living arrangements, whether downsizing, moving in with family, or spending extended time on the road, can affect property ownership status, associated taxes, and the effectiveness of your current estate plan. It is important to review how your property is titled, provisions regarding what you would like to happen to your property within any trusts, and beneficiary designations to ensure that all are aligned with your current situation and goals for the future.

Staying Active, Traveling, and Lifestyle Considerations

Living longer and with better overall health means that retirees today are far from slowing down. Between bucket-list travel, volunteering, and new hobbies, retirement is increasingly more about reinvention than rest.

• Senior travel trends include more “golden gap years”¹⁸ or long-term travel among retirees.
• Older Americans are getting out more in retirement, with senior participation rates in outdoor activities such as hiking, camping, and fishing showing a marked rise in recent years.¹⁹
• A growing number of Americans over 65 are launching small businesses to stay active, pursue passions, and have more control over their work in “retirement.”²⁰

Estate Planning Perspective: A more adventurous, entrepreneurial, and mobile retirement can introduce new risks and responsibilities. Tweaking your estate plan to account for business interests, recreational vehicles, new retirement investments, and contingency plans keeps it aligned with how you live today.

Thinking More Intentionally About Legacy, Gifting, and Long-Term Care

Retirees are increasingly focused on intentional legacy planning, including lifetime gifting and charitable contributions, while balancing higher healthcare costs and the potential need for long-term care as they age.

• More older Americans are embracing a “giving while living” approach to their heirs and inheritance.²¹ In fact, older people are also the most likely to make donations to charities.²²
• Long-term care costs are skyrocketing. Average costs range from more than $150,000 per year for in-home health aide and homemaker services to more than $125,000 per year for a private nursing home room.²³

Estate Planning Perspective: As your priorities shift toward value-driven giving, charitable contributions, and planning for long-term care costs, your estate plan should evolve to reflect not only financial goals but also personal values and the impact you want to leave on your family and community.

Revisiting Your Estate Plan: Practical Scenarios for Retirees

While retirees and near-retirees have a sense of the cultural and economic forces that are shaping the current retirement landscape, they may be unsure about how these changes should translate to their estate planning decisions. Here are some real-world scenarios that take into account what retirement means today—and what it might mean for your estate plan.

Longevity and Healthcare Costs

Situation: You are retired, living longer than expected, and facing rising medical or long-term care expenses.

Scenarios to evaluate:

• You find yourself relying more on Social Security or pension income than you had originally anticipated.
• Market fluctuations are affecting the sustainability of your retirement portfolio.
• Healthcare, long-term care, or caregiving costs are higher than anticipated.

Possible estate planning updates:

• Review and update beneficiary designations on your retirement accounts and insurance policies. This is especially important after opening new investment or retirement accounts, rolling over a 401(k) into an individual retirement account (IRA), or purchasing new life insurance or hybrid life and long-term care policies. Even one outdated beneficiary form can derail an otherwise solid estate plan.
• Evaluate tax-efficient withdrawal and distribution strategies, including how required minimum distributions (RMDs), Roth conversions, Social Security timing, and Medicare premium brackets may affect both your lifetime cash flow and the assets ultimately passing to your beneficiaries.
• Review long-term care planning options such as incorporating provisions for incapacity, updating powers of attorney, or considering a trust structure designed to help protect assets from future care expenses (based on your state’s laws and eligibility rules).

Health and Lifestyle Adjustments

Situation: A new medical diagnosis, evolving long-term care needs, or living in multiple states is prompting changes in your medical or personal planning.

Scenarios to evaluate:

• You or your spouse has received a chronic or progressive health diagnosis.
• You want to remain safely at home with appropriate in-home care or are considering assisted living as part of your long-term care strategy.
• You split time between residences in different states—each with different rules for healthcare documents, guardianship, and Medicaid eligibility.

Possible estate planning updates:

• Update healthcare directives and powers of attorney to confirm that your chosen agents are still appropriate and that documents comply with the requirements of every state where you live or may receive medical care. This includes health care proxies, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) releases, and durable financial powers of attorney.
• Revise your living will or advance directive to reflect your current preferences for treatment, end-of-life care, pain management, and life-sustaining procedures.
• Review your long-term care strategy, such as exploring traditional or hybrid long-term care insurance, Veterans’ benefits, or state-specific Medicaid planning strategies designed to help preserve assets while meeting eligibility requirements if care needs escalate.
• Consider trust structures for incapacity planning, such as a revocable living trust or, in some states, an irrevocable trust designed for long-term care or asset protection, depending on the timing of your planning and applicable laws.
• Coordinate medical and legal planning across states, especially if you own real property in more than one jurisdiction or if your primary residence for healthcare purposes differs from your legal domicile.

Property Changes and Relocation

Situation: You sold a long-term residence, acquired new property, or moved to another state.

Scenarios to evaluate:

• You purchased a new primary or vacation home.
• You joined a multigenerational household or cohousing community.
• You relocated to a state with different probate, tax, or property rules.

Possible estate planning updates:

• Retitle newly purchased real estate, vehicles, or other assets in the name of your trust to avoid probate.
• Review estate planning documents under the laws of your new state of residence to ensure compliance.
• Confirm homestead, property tax, or community property implications of your new state of residence.

Family Changes and Evolving Relationships

Situation: A marriage, a divorce, or a birth has shifted your priorities.

Scenarios to evaluate:

• Your children or grandchildren have new partners or are expanding their own families.
• Your stepchildren or other dependents should be added to or excluded from your estate plan.
• You provide ongoing financial support to family members.

Possible estate planning updates:

• Revise your will or trust to include or exclude beneficiaries as appropriate.
• Add letters of intent explaining any unequal distributions to help reduce family conflict.
• Update your guardianship, trustee, or executor appointments to reflect current relationships.

Intentional Legacy, Gifting, and Philanthropy

Situation: You wish to give gifts during your lifetime, leave charitable contributions at your death, or pass along personal values to your loved ones.

Scenarios to evaluate:

• You intend to provide financial gifts to family members or loved ones during your lifetime, either annually or through larger strategic transfers.
• You are considering charitable giving, such as donor-advised funds, charitable trusts, or planned bequests.
• You want to document and share your values, life lessons, or hopes for how inherited assets will be used by future generations.

Possible estate planning updates:

• Review your revocable living trust to ensure that it reflects your gifting goals, incorporates charitable intentions, and simplifies the transfer of assets to beneficiaries and charitable organizations.
• Integrate gifting or charitable strategies into your estate plan to optimize taxes and enhance the impact of your legacy.
• Document your legacy beyond the legal documents by creating an ethical will, legacy letter, or family mission statement expressing your values, stories, lessons, and intentions for the assets you are passing on.
• Coordinate with your financial advisorto ensure that gifting aligns with your own financial security, tax profile, and long-term planning needs. Lifetime gifts should support—not undermine—your ability to maintain quality of life.

Planning for Change

The transition to retirement can reshape nearly every aspect of your financial and personal life. Your estate plan should evolve alongside it.

As retirement stretches longer than ever, what once seemed sufficient in your original plan may no longer meet your needs. Lifestyle changes, family dynamics, and financial realities all influence the effectiveness of your estate planning documents. It can be helpful to pause at major life milestones such as retirement to reflect, revisit, and reevaluate how life will be different moving forward and to take actions that support the new circumstances of your next chapter.

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1. How Long Will You Live During Retirement?, TIAA, https://www.tiaa.org/public/learn/lifetime-income/understanding-longevity-risk-in-retirement (last visited Dec. 22, 2025). ↩︎
2. K. Mark Bye, Kent Morgan, & Michael Morris, Unisex Life Expectancy at Birth and Age 65, Soc. Sec. Admin. (May 2024), https://www.ssa.gov/oact/NOTES/ran2/an2024-2.pdf. ↩︎
3. Donna LeValley, The Average Retirement Savings by Age, Kiplinger (Dec. 10, 2025), https://www.kiplinger.com/retirement/retirement-planning/average-retirement-savings-by-age. ↩︎
4. Bridget Bearden, Retiree Reflections, EBRI Issue Brief No. 561, at 1 (June 16, 2022), https://www.ebri.org/docs/default-source/pbriefs/ebri_ib_561_retrefl-16june22.pdf. ↩︎
5. Fidelity Investments® Releases 2025 Retiree Health Care Cost Estimate, a Timely Reminder for All Generations to Begin Planning, Fidelity (July 30, 2025), https://newsroom.fidelity.com/pressreleases/fidelity-investments–releases-2025-retiree-health-care-cost-estimate–a-timely-reminder-for-all-gen/s/3c62e988-12e2-4dc8-afb4-f44b06c6d52e. ↩︎
6. Josh Garber, What Is the Average Retirement Age in the U.S.?, NerdWallet (Dec. 6, 2025), https://www.nerdwallet.com/retirement/learn/average-retirement-age-us. ↩︎
7. Richard Fry & Dana Braga, The Growth of the Older Workforce, Pew Rsch. Ctr. (Dec. 14, 2023), https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/12/14/the-growth-of-the-older-workforce. ↩︎
8. Fatima Hussein, About 1 in 4 US Adults 50 and Older Who Aren’t Yet Retired Expect to Never Retire, AARP Study Finds, Associated Press (Apr. 24, 2024), https://apnews.com/article/aarp-older-adults-retirement-savings-prices-c4f1353d97e8c0a9973c9c67a8eab800. ↩︎
9. Fry & Braga, supra note 7. ↩︎
10. Linda Childers, Why More Retirees Are Going Back to Work, AARP (Sept. 29, 2023), https://www.aarp.org/work/careers/retirees-returning-to-work. ↩︎
11. Addressing the Nation’s Retirement Crisis: The 80%, NCOA (Oct. 7, 2025), https://www.ncoa.org/article/addressing-the-nations-retirement-crisis-the-80-percent-financially-struggling. ↩︎
12. How Does Inflation Impact Near Retirees and Retirees?, Ctr. for Ret. Rsch. of Boston Coll. (June 4, 2024), https://crr.bc.edu/how-does-inflation-impact-near-retirees-and-retirees. ↩︎
13. Lorie Konish, Americans Are More Worried About Running Out of Money in Retirement Than Dying. Experts Offer Ways to Reduce That Risk, CNBC (Apr. 25, 2025), https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/25/many-americans-are-worried-about-running-out-of-money-in-retirement.html. ↩︎
14. Andrea Riquier, OK, Boomer: Why Older Americans Have the Upper Hand in the Housing Market, USA Today (May 7, 2025), https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/personalfinance/real-estate/2025/05/07/boomers-vs-millennials-housing-market/83470785007. ↩︎
15. Kristina Byas, Why More Families Are Turning to Multigenerational Living—And Is It Right for You?, Investopedia (July 22, 2025), https://www.investopedia.com/why-more-families-are-turning-to-multigenerational-living-11763603. ↩︎
16. Senior Cohousing, Cohousing, https://www.cohousing.org/senior-cohousing (last visited Dec. 22, 2025). ↩︎
17. J. David Herman, Why More Retirees Are Choosing RV Living: Financial Benefits and Drawbacks, Yahoo! Finance (Dec. 7, 2024), https://finance.yahoo.com/news/why-more-retirees-choosing-rv-120046225.html. ↩︎
18. Nicola Donovan, Senior Travel Trends: Exploring the Boom in Retirement Travel, Booking.com (Feb. 11, 2025), https://partner.booking.com/en-us/click-magazine/trends-insights/senior-travel-trends-retirement-travel. ↩︎
19. Owen Clarke, Outdoor Recreation Is Booming, According to a New Report, Outside (Aug. 20, 2025), https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/outdoor-industry-association-2025-report. ↩︎
20. Minda Zetlin, What’s the Best Age to Start a Business? It Just Might Be Your 60s: Entrepreneurship After Retirement Age? It Could Be a Really Good Idea, Inc. (Oct. 6, 2025), https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/whats-the-best-age-to-start-a-business-it-just-might-be-your-60s/91247520. ↩︎
21. Tifany Boyles & Nageeb Sumar, Giving While Living, Fidelity Charitable, https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/articles/giving-while-living.html. ↩︎
22. Oscar Anderson et al., Charitable Giving Across the Lifespan, AARP (Sept. 2020), https://datastories.aarp.org/2020/charitable-giving. ↩︎
23. Christine Benz, How Much Should You Budget for Long-Term Care?, MorningStar (July 21, 2025), https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/how-much-should-you-budget-long-term-care. ↩︎

People often have a ready list of reasons—or depending on how you look at it, excuses—for putting off completing their estate plan: “I just haven’t gotten around to it yet”; “I don’t own anything of value”; “It’s too complicated”; “It’s too expensive”; “My family can handle things when I’m gone”; or “I’ll wait until I’m older and really need one.” These attitudes are reflected in the numbers; most Americans have no estate plan, and many do not intend to create one.¹

However, lurking beneath the surface is perhaps a more powerful and all-encompassing motivation for their inaction: a desire to avoid the complex emotions that often accompany estate planning.

Estate planning requires confronting emotionally charged topics. While thinking about your potential incapacity (inability to manage your own affairs) or death may be unsettling, avoiding uncomfortable topics and the feelings they trigger can often make the situation worse for you and your loved ones.

Instead of avoiding these topics, try to recognize and reframe the estate planning process as the opportunity to take control and create something positive and productive. You will feel more empowered by taking action now, and your family will thank you later.

Why We Avoid Estate Planning: The Psychology Behind “Not Yet”

Estate planning is not merely a legal process; it is also an emotional one.

Some people may admit that they would “rather not think about” estate planning or they are “not ready yet.” But among those who keep putting off their plan, chances are that estate planning is never far from their mind, at least indirectly.

A 2025 survey found that nearly one in five people think about their own death at least once daily and about two-thirds have given serious thought to their end-of-life arrangements.² Many have even decided on the details of how they want to be buried (29 percent), the location of their final resting place (19 percent), and the type of service they want (17 percent).³ Fourteen percent said they have even curated their funeral playlist.⁴

At the same time, death and estate planning ranked as the second-most difficult subject to talk about with loved ones, along with topics such as mental health, past mistakes, and regrets.⁵ Twenty-five percent of respondents called death and estate planning “uncomfortable.”⁶

The survey reveals a key barrier to the estate planning process: thinking about death privately and discussing it with others are two very different things.

While avoiding topics that spark complex emotions may feel easier in the short term, it can reinforce negative feelings over time and make it harder to act on important matters, including estate planning, even when you know it is necessary.

However, the same emotions that make estate planning difficult can become the very means that help you complete it—if you learn how to appropriately reframe your feelings.

Turning a Negative into a Positive: Estate Planning and Emotional Reframes

Emotion and cognition are closely linked. Strong emotions make it harder to think and act by disrupting the very processes required to analyze problems and identify possible solutions.

Psychological research indicates that naming and reframing emotions can enhance emotional regulation, sharpen thinking, and improve decision quality.

This approach, known as cognitive reappraisal, involves changing how you interpret a situation to alter its emotional impact.⁷ By focusing on aspects of a situation that evoke positive emotions rather than negative ones, you make it easier to solve problems and achieve your goals.

In the context of estate planning, you should not be expected to ignore difficult emotions. In fact, these strong emotions often mean that what you are doing truly matters. Denying your emotions can hinder progress, while reframing them as useful signals can help you move forward.

In practice, applying cognitive reappraisal to estate planning might look something like this:

• Fear → Control and Readiness
  Fear often arises when the unknown feels bigger than what we can manage. Reframing it as a cue to gain control by organizing documents, clarifying intentions, and identifying decision-makers can help transform fear into action. Fear, in this light, becomes the starting point for readiness.
• Sadness → Legacy and Meaning
  Sadness often appears because of real or perceived loss, but it can also reveal what matters most to you. By channeling that emotion into expressing your legacy—writing letters, creating trusts for loved ones, or supporting causes that reflect your values—you can turn grief into purpose.
• Anger → Fairness and Clarity
  Anger often grows from family conflicts, blended family tensions, or perceived injustices. Reframing anger as a drive toward fairness and clarity enables that energy to fuel precise, balanced planning, which reduces later confusion and conflict.
• Anxiety → Preparedness and Confidence
  Anxiety often stems from uncertainty. By naming what worries you, such as finances, taxes, and medical decisions, and directly addressing those issues in your plan, you replace vague dread with concrete action and certainty. Each completed step reinforces calm and confidence.

Ultimately, the goal of cognitive reappraisal is to turn negative emotions such as anger, fear, and sadness into positive ones, including happiness, peace, and joy: happiness that you finally got your plan together, the peace of mind that comes from transforming uncertainty into vision, and the joy of knowing that your loved ones will be taken care of and protected when you are gone.

The process itself can be a powerful act of self-understanding. If, at the end of it, you feel lighter, calmer, or more at peace, it is because of the relief that comes from clarity and resolution, not from avoidance, denial, or wishful thinking. You have faced something difficult and deeply human, taking control not just of your money and property, but also of your narrative and legacy.

Be Courageous and Meet with Us

There is an idea in philosophy that all stories are ultimately about fear of death and reflect our struggle to face mortality. A similar psychological truth might explain why so many people hesitate to create an estate plan.

Even when they do, the process often touches every emotional nerve. It can surface old family conflict, unspoken expectations, and differing ideas of what is “fair.” It asks us to imagine a world without ourselves in it, to assign value to what we have built, and to make choices that may please some loved ones but not others. That is a tall emotional order, even for the most pragmatic person.

But estate planning can also bring moments of connection, reflection, and gratitude. It can stir up difficult emotions—and resolve them as well. The difference ultimately lies in your perception.

Estate planning is more than paperwork. It is an act of courage. A simple reframe may be all you need to take that next step and meet with an attorney to help you address your feelings and channel emotions into action. If you are ready to name and reframe those emotions and take charge of your legacy, call us.

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1. Victoria Lurie, 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Study, Caring (Sept. 17, 2025), https://www.caring.com/resources/wills-survey. ↩︎
2. Two-Thirds Of Americans Have ‘Planned’ Their Funerals, But Majority Avoid Estate Planning Conversations, StudyFinds (Sept. 30, 2025), https://studyfinds.org/americans-planned-funerals-avoid-estate-conversations. ↩︎
3. Id. ↩︎
4. Id. ↩︎
5. Id. ↩︎
6. Id. ↩︎
7. Cognitive Reappraisal, PsychologyToday, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/cognitive-reappraisal (last visited Nov. 20, 2025). ↩︎

Many employees save for retirement by participating in their employer’s 401(k) plan and maybe even opening an individual retirement account (IRA) or Roth IRA for additional savings.

As a business owner, planning for retirement requires more effort, foresight, and strategy. In addition to navigating the wide range of retirement account options available to business owners, you must also ensure that your chosen strategy aligns with your overall estate plan.

Like any other working individual, business owners want to ensure that they will have sufficient retirement savings. They often pour all their time, resources, and extra funds into their business, assuming that it will serve as their retirement plan. However, relying solely on the future success of your business, instead of proactively saving for retirement, could be a costly mistake.

Retirement Account Options for Business Owners

Instead of relying on a single strategy, it is wise for business owners to diversify their retirement planning. Like any other important financial decision, having multiple backup options in place can provide greater security, flexibility, and tax efficiency over time. Business owners have access to a wide range of retirement accounts—far more than traditional employees—and each option comes with its own contribution limits, tax benefits, and administrative requirements.

Although the number of choices can feel overwhelming, working with a qualified tax or financial professional can help simplify the process. An advisor can evaluate your business structure, income patterns, and long-term goals to recommend the most appropriate retirement vehicles.

Traditional Retirement Plans for Business Owners

Opening a retirement plan such as a solo 401(k); a Simplified Employee Pension IRA (SEP-IRA); a Savings Incentive Match Plan for Employees (SIMPLE) IRA; or a pension plan can offer numerous benefits that allow business owners to grow their wealth outside of their business. A solo 401(k) is a retirement plan designed for self-employed business owners who have no employees other than a spouse. One of its biggest advantages is that the owner can make contributions in two roles—as both the “employee” and the “employer”—which can allow for significantly higher total contributions than many other retirement plans. Other plans, such as SEP-IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and pension plans, can cover both the owner and eligible employees, offering retirement savings and tax benefits for everyone involved. When a business owner contributes to one of these plans, they can lower their taxable income in the year the contributions are made. Additionally, because investments in these accounts grow tax-deferred, business owners do not pay taxes on earnings until retirement, allowing their savings to compound and potentially grow more rapidly over time.

The best plan for your business will depend on several key factors, including

• how much income your business earns,
• the stability of your business,
• how many employees you have, and
• how much you are willing to contribute on behalf of your employees.

Most tax-deferred retirement plans must comply with federal nondiscrimination laws, which are designed to ensure that benefits do not unfairly favor business owners or highly compensated employees—for example, by offering a plan that covers only the owners while excluding full-time staff. Only certain plans, such as a solo 401(k), are designed specifically for business owners with no employees and can legally exclude others without violating these rules. However, offering retirement plans to employees does not have to be seen as a drawback; many employees highly value the opportunity to save for their retirement, and your contributions may be rewarded with improved employee performance and long-term loyalty.

Self-Directed Accounts for the Bold Business Owner

Depending on how many employees you have and your comfort level with investing, you may also consider a self-directed retirement plan, which allows you to invest some or all of your retirement funds in alternative investments, such as precious metals, private lending arrangements, real estate, or interests in closely held businesses. These self-directed accounts may not be suitable for everyone. They require a high level of responsibility and risk tolerance, the tax rules governing them are complex, and penalties for mistakes can be severe. However, for the right person, they can open up a wider range of investment opportunities. Still, these should always be managed with the guidance of qualified professionals, such as a tax advisor, a financial planner, or an attorney experienced with self-directed retirement accounts.

Beyond Your Business: Traditional Retirement Accounts

Besides your business retirement plan, you may also be able to contribute to a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. Doing so can serve as a way to add more money to your retirement, especially if you have maximized your contributions to the plans tied to your business. Additionally, contributing to an IRA outside of your business can help diversify some of your retirement savings and provide extra stability. Specific contribution limits apply across all IRAs, so it is important to be aware of how much you can contribute each year to stay compliant with Internal Revenue Service rules. The differences between traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs are as follows:

• Traditional IRA contributions may be tax-deductible, depending on your income and whether another retirement plan covers you (or your spouse). Earnings grow tax-deferred until withdrawal in retirement.
• Roth IRA contributions are funded with after-tax dollars, so they are not tax-deductible. Qualified withdrawals are tax-free in retirement.

Similar to the employer-sponsored retirement plans you can establish and participate in as a business owner, traditional IRAs and Roth IRAs can also be self-directed, allowing you to further expand your investment options beyond traditional stocks and mutual funds into assets such as real estate, private lending, and other alternative investments.

Healthcare-Related Savings Tools

As a business owner, you likely have a great deal of control over your health insurance decisions. If you are relatively young and healthy or are otherwise an infrequent user of healthcare services, consider pairing a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) with a health savings account (HSA) to boost your savings. HDHPs enable you to contribute pretax money to an HSA, which can be invested similarly to IRAs. Once you set up the account, you can withdraw your contributions and earnings tax-free at any time to pay for qualified medical expenses. However, withdrawals for nonqualified medical expenses are subject to income tax and a 20 percent penalty. After you turn 65, you can use the money for any purpose without facing the 20 percent penalty, though withdrawals for nonmedical expenses will be subject to regular income tax.

Funding Retirement by Selling or Transferring the Business

Many business owners dream of a financially lucrative exit from their company funded by selling, going public, or otherwise transferring their ownership interest for a substantial profit that reflects years of hard work and growth. A successful exit does not happen by accident; a business owner must first build and maintain a profitable enterprise that is attractive to potential buyers. From there, careful legal and tax planning is essential to minimize burdensome taxes and avoid the common legal risks that can arise during a sale. The net proceeds from selling a business often become a significant component of the owner’s retirement savings. When supplemented by one or more of the retirement accounts discussed above, such a strategy can create a strong foundation for long-term financial security.

Additional considerations exist for owners of family businesses who want to pass their company down to children or grandchildren. As with any other exit strategy, this approach still requires creating and sustaining a profitable enterprise. However, determining how the business owner will tap into the company’s value to fund their own retirement is less straightforward. Thoughtful planning for the transition to the next generation is essential. A business may be transferred to heirs outright or through a trust, which effectively moves ownership to them. Without additional planning, that transfer can limit or eliminate the owner’s ability to rely on the business’s value to fund retirement. Alternatively, the next generation or even key employees could buy out the owner’s interest or pay consulting fees during the owner’s retirement years, allowing the owner to draw on the business’s value while ensuring a smooth transition of control to the next generation.

The Importance of Estate Planning

Regardless of which retirement accounts or strategies you select, integrating them into your estate planning is crucial. Fortunately, several planning tools exist to help you do so effectively.

You can use basic estate planning tools to help ensure that your retirement assets transfer smoothly to your chosen beneficiaries. One strategy is to name your intended beneficiaries directly on your retirement accounts, allowing those assets to pass to them immediately without going through probate. Another option is to coordinate your beneficiary designations with your revocable living trust so that the funds flow into the trust and are managed and distributed according to its terms, helping to ensure greater control, protection, and consistency with your overall estate plan.

A more-advanced planning tool is an IRA trust, which can either be established as a standalone trust or included as a subtrust within your revocable living trust. This specialized trust is designed to maximize the financial benefits of inherited retirement assets, minimize the income tax burden, and provide robust asset protection for your beneficiaries.

Leverage the Team Approach

We can work with you and your team of professionals, including business advisors or consultants, tax advisor, and financial advisor, to develop a comprehensive retirement, business transition, and estate planning strategy. Working collaboratively, we can focus on setting aside assets for your retirement and preserving tax advantages while freeing you to do what you do best: build and grow your business.

Contact us today to develop a customized strategy tailored to your specific needs.

More couples than ever are building deep, lasting relationships without ever walking down the aisle. Whether by choice, circumstance, or principle, many Americans are opting out of marriage—but not out of commitment. Data indicate that cultural norms regarding marriage in the United States have undergone significant shifts over the past several decades. Consider the following:

• The number of unmarried partners in the United States more than tripled between 1996 and 2018, from 6 million to 19 million.¹
• Among adults aged 30 and younger, 12 percent were living with an unmarried partner in 2019, compared with 5 percent in 1995.²
• The percentage of US households headed by married couples as of 2024 (47 percent) was at its second-lowest point since the US Census Bureau began tracking marital status in 1940.³

However, the law has not kept pace with modern relationships. If you and your partner choose not to marry, you must have an estate plan tailored to your individual situation. Without an estate plan, your partner generally has no legal authority to make decisions for you if you become injured or incapacitated (unable to manage your own affairs) or to inherit from you when you pass away. Dying without an estate plan—known as dying intestate—means state law determines who receives your assets. These laws rarely account for long-term, unmarried partners, making it essential to create a will or trust to ensure that your wishes are honored and your partner is protected.

Revocable Living Trusts

A revocable living trust allows you to set clear instructions for how your money and property are to be managed and distributed—during your lifetime, while you are alive and well, if you become incapacitated and unable to manage your own affairs, and after your death. While you are alive and well, you are typically the trustee and can use the money and property in your trust just as you normally would use your money and property. If you become incapacitated, your chosen successor (backup) trustee can step in to manage your affairs seamlessly, without court involvement. After your death, the trust directs how your assets are distributed to or managed for your beneficiaries, often avoiding probate and keeping matters private.

Though trusts often cost more to create than the common alternative—a last will and testament—the benefits they provide cannot be easily or reliably replicated with other planning tools. Overall, a trust is often the stronger choice and can serve as the cornerstone of almost any comprehensive estate plan, especially for couples who have not formalized their relationships with a legal marriage.

Wills

A last will and testament (commonly called a will) is an estate planning tool that allows you to direct what will happen to your accounts and property at your death. It also allows you to nominate someone—often called an executor, a personal representative, or an administrator—to wind down your affairs when you die and ensure your wishes are carried out. If you have minor children, this is also the document in which you can nominate a guardian to care for them in the event of your passing. While a will can accomplish many of the same goals as a revocable living trust, it does not provide a means to manage your affairs during your lifetime or in the event of potential incapacitation. It also has to go through the court-supervised probate process, which can make things more time-consuming, public, and expensive for your loved ones.

A special type of will, known as a pour-over will, is a straightforward yet crucial component of any trust-based estate plan. Think of it as a safety net for anything you may have forgotten to transfer into your trust during your lifetime. If you still own something—such as a bank account or piece of property—in your sole name and without a beneficiary when you pass away, the pour-over will ensures that it “pours over” into your trust after your death. While your loved ones may still need to go through probate to transfer those things to the trust, this type of will ensures that everything ultimately ends up in the right place and is handled according to your trust’s instructions.

Beneficiary Designations

Most retirement accounts and insurance policies (and many other types of accounts, too) allow you to designate a beneficiary, which is the person who will automatically receive what is in the account when you die. It is essential to periodically review the beneficiaries listed on your accounts to ensure they are up-to-date. Imagine naming your ex-spouse as the beneficiary of your 401(k) before your divorce and then forgetting to update it once the divorce was finalized. Unfortunately, that oversight could mean your ex is still legally entitled to receive the account when you pass away, unintentionally cutting out your current partner or other loved ones you intended to provide for. 

Depending on your trust’s design, your personal circumstances, and your specific goals, you may choose to name one or more trusts as the beneficiary instead of, or in addition to, individual people. This approach can provide more control over how and when these accounts are distributed, especially if you want to protect beneficiaries from taxes, creditors, or their own spending habits.

Powers of Attorney, Advance Directives, and Similar Legal Documents

Planning for what happens after death is only one part of a comprehensive estate plan. Incapacity—when you are alive but unable to make decisions for yourself—is another situation where legal planning can help you stay in control, ensure your wishes are followed, and reduce the likelihood of family conflict. Without documents that address incapacity, your loved ones may have to go to court to have someone appointed to manage your medical and financial affairs (often referred to as a guardianship or conservatorship). When that happens, the judge looks to state default rules about who gets priority—and unmarried partners are often left out entirely. To avoid this situation, you should consider creating or updating the following estate planning documents:

• Medical power of attorney: allows you to name someone (such as your significant other) to make healthcare decisions for you if you cannot communicate them yourself
• Financial power of attorney: allows you to name someone you trust (again, possibly your significant other) to handle your financial and legal matters if you are unable to do so
• Advance directive: where you can express your wishes regarding end-of-life care, including what you would like to happen if you are in a persistent vegetative state or end-stage condition
• Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) authorization: gives the people you name permission to access your protected health information so they can stay informed about your medical condition

Securing Your Shared Future

Whether you have been together for decades and are nearing retirement or are just beginning to build your life as a couple, it is important to ask some key questions about how you want to protect each other. Who will make decisions for you if you cannot? Who will inherit what the two of you have worked so hard for? And how can you make sure the law does not overlook the person who means the most to you? Taking the time now to create or update your estate plan ensures that your wishes are honored and that your partner is protected—no matter what the law says about your relationship status.

Our experienced estate planning attorneys can help you identify a strategy to get the peace of mind you need. Call us to schedule a private consultation.

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1. Mike Schneider, Unmarried partners in US have tripled in 2 decades, AP News (Sept. 24, 2019), https://apnews.com/article/848605aad88a418c9b606c0f745ae33f. ↩︎
2. Juliana Menasce Horowitz et al., The landscape of marriage and cohabitation in the U.S., Pew Rsch. Ctr. (Nov. 6, 2019), https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/11/06/the-landscape-of-marriage-and-cohabitation-in-the-u-s/. ↩︎
3. How has marriage in the US changed over time?, USAFacts (Feb. 11, 2025), https://usafacts.org/articles/state-relationships-marriages-and-living-alone-us/. ↩︎

While many proactive individuals understand the importance of having a comprehensive estate plan, they often assume that their plan addresses only what happens after they pass away. However, a comprehensive estate plan is also meant to positively impact your life by planning for and providing necessary protections while you are still around to reap the benefits.

Planning for Incapacity

Incapacity—the inability to handle your own personal or financial affairs because of a mental condition—can happen at any stage of life. Nearly 29 percent of adults across all age groups live with some form of disability, and about 14 percent live specifically with a cognitive impairment.¹ The likelihood of experiencing incapacity only increases with age: More than 30 percent of Americans over 65 have a disability, and that number goes up to more than half for those above 75 years of age.² Many people who reach advanced age eventually experience physical or cognitive decline that affects their ability to manage their personal, financial, or legal affairs. In many cases, this loss of capacity is caused by dementia, a stroke, or other age-related cognitive impairments that make it difficult or impossible for an individual to make informed decisions or advocate for themselves. Proactive estate planning allows you to decide in advance how your affairs will be managed if you become incapacitated. Without a comprehensive plan, the court may have to intervene and appoint someone to act on your behalf. At that point, decisions made (or not made) earlier in life can have major repercussions for you and your loved ones, affecting your lifestyle, medical care, and financial security.

Here is an example:

When Alex was in his 40s, he put together a cursory estate plan—a simple will detailing who would get his accounts and property upon his death. However, Alex did not update his plan as he aged. In his late 70s, he developed Alzheimer’s disease, and his family suddenly found themselves unclear about who could step in and act on his behalf or even what his healthcare and financial wishes were. Because Alex had not legally appointed an individual to handle his affairs for him if he became incapacitated, the court had to get involved and appoint a guardian.

What Is a Guardian or Conservator?

A guardian or conservator is an individual appointed by the court to make decisions on behalf of an incapacitated person who did not appoint someone to do so through comprehensive estate planning prior to losing capacity. A guardian or conservator of the person makes decisions about an individual’s personal and medical care, while a guardian or conservator of the estate manages their financial and legal affairs. The specific terminology may differ by state, but the underlying responsibilities are generally the same. The name of the court proceeding for appointing a guardian or conservator may also vary. Some states call it a guardianship, others a conservatorship, and still others use the term plenary guardianship. People may also informally refer to it as living probate.

Four Reasons to Avoid Guardianship or Conservatorship

In a living probate proceeding, the court’s goal is to determine and implement solutions that will serve the incapacitated individual’s best interests. However, relying on a court-appointed guardianship or conservatorship is not an ideal substitute for comprehensive estate planning for several reasons:

1. High costs. Simply put, living probate is expensive. Legal fees and court costs can quickly chip away at the value of your money and property, leaving less for your care and for your loved ones after you pass.

• Family conflict. Another significant drawback of living probate is the potential for family conflict. When a court must decide who will manage an incapacitated person’s affairs, relatives may disagree over who is best suited for the role or how decisions should be made. These disputes can quickly escalate into emotional and expensive legal battles, straining relationships and diverting focus from the incapacitated person’s care and well-being.

• Lack of privacy. Living probate is a court-supervised proceeding and becomes part of the public record, meaning that aspects of your private, medical, and financial affairs are often open to public view. Returning to our example, if Alex had known he could have addressed incapacity in his estate plan, he might have appreciated that doing so would spare his loved ones the financial and emotional burden of a living probate proceeding. Perhaps even more important, he may have seen the value of keeping his personal and financial affairs private rather than having them aired in a public forum.

• Lack of clarity. Living probate is also full of guesswork. If Alex had appointed people he trusted as agents under medical and financial powers of attorney and expressed his wishes for end-of-life medical care in his estate plan, his affairs would be handled exactly as he wished during his incapacity. However, without having legally documented his preferences, he has no control over clarifying his wishes, and the court must intervene. While the court does its best to determine what is in Alex’s best interests, it may appoint someone whom Alex would not have wanted to act for him. Additionally, once Alex’s care is under court supervision, the court may impose restrictions or require prior approval before certain decisions or transactions can be made.

How to Structure Your Estate Plan

Fortunately, living probate can be avoided. You can take a few specific steps in your estate plan to ensure that your affairs never end up in a court-appointed guardian’s hands:

• Powers of attorney. A complete estate plan includes durable powers of attorney, which allow you to appoint trusted individuals, called agents,to act on your behalf if you become unable to manage your financial or medical affairs. These documents ensure that the people you select, not the court, are the ones making decisions for you. In addition to granting authority over healthcare or finances, powers of attorney can also include nominations for a guardian or conservator in case court involvement ever becomes necessary. While a judge still makes the final appointment, naming your preferred person in advance gives you a voice in the process and significantly increases the likelihood that your wishes will be honored. There are several types of powers of attorney, each serving a specific purpose. For example, a healthcare power of attorney allows a trusted individual to make medical and personal care decisions if you cannot, while a general durable (financial) power of attorney authorizes someone you trust to manage your financial affairs, such as paying bills, handling investments, or making business-related decisions. Together, these documents ensure continuity, reduce family conflict, and keep control in the hands of those you choose instead of leaving those decisions to a judge who has never met you.

• Long-term care planning. You may never need long-term care in the form of ongoing assistance with daily activities or medical support that can arise from illness, disability, or aging. However, building a long-term care strategy into your estate plan provides peace of mind and ensures that you will receive care according to your wishes if it becomes necessary. For example, you can state in an advance directive your preferences regarding your end-of-life medical treatments. This type of planning may also help protect your money and property from being used up on medical expenses instead of going to your beneficiaries.

Avoiding guardianship and conservatorship—and the stress and expense of living probate—is a relatively pain-free process if handled well ahead of time. Call us today to review the parts of your estate plan that may need updating to ensure the best possible outcome for you and your loved ones. We can quickly ensure that your plan is comprehensive, current, and built to protect your wishes.

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1. Disability Impacts All of Us Infographic, CDC (Apr. 14, 2025), https://www.cdc.gov/disability-and-health/articles-documents/disability-impacts-all-of-us-infographic.html. ↩︎
2. Aging and the ADA, ADA Nat’l Network, https://adata.org/factsheet/aging-and-ada (last visited Nov. 7, 2025). ↩︎

Creating an estate plan is a huge accomplishment. However, your work is not done when the documents have been signed. You must still ensure that the chosen strategy gives you peace of mind and protects the legacy you have worked so hard to build.

An estate plan is not static; it is a living tool that should evolve with the changes in your life. Over time, your family circumstances, financial picture, and estate planning goals will likely shift. Whether through new births or children getting older; career or business developments; or changes to your investments, health, or where you live, countless factors can affect your evolving estate planning goals. External factors, such as new tax legislation or emerging financial instruments, could also throw your plan off track or open the door to new planning opportunities.

You do not need to spend countless hours worrying about your estate plan. Just ask yourself these nine simple questions to stress test your plan and determine whether it is time for an update.

1. When did you last update your will or living trust? In most cases, reviewing an estate plan every three to five years is sufficient, but if a major life change happens sooner, it is a good idea to take another look immediately. The more time that has passed, the more likely there have also been changes in the law that could affect how your plan works.

2. Whom have you named as executor and trustee? Are the people you chose to wind down your affairs still the right fit? Sometimes people choose a loved one out of obligation, even if that person may not be the best at managing money or handling difficult situations. Ask yourself: Is the person I chose still willing and able to handle this responsibility? Am I confident that they understand my values and will act in a way that reflects my wishes?

3. Do you have adequate life insurance? Life insurance is an effective way to provide for yourself (depending on the type of policy) and your loved ones after your death. But instead of just purchasing any policy, it is important to ensure that you have the right kind of insurance (for example, term, whole, or universal) and the right amount of coverage for your needs. For each of your policies, regularly review and update your beneficiary designations. Each policy should name both a primary beneficiary who is first in line to receive the proceeds when you pass and a contingent (backup) beneficiary, in case the primary beneficiary cannot inherit the proceeds. If you have a trust-based estate plan, your attorney may have recommended naming your trust as a primary or contingent beneficiary. This strategy allows the proceeds to flow directly into your trust, which can be managed and distributed according to your wishes. Regularly reviewing your beneficiary designations ensures that your life insurance policies will pass smoothly and according to your wishes, protecting your loved ones from delays, confusion, or unintended outcomes.

4. Which of your accounts or pieces of real property are jointly owned with someone other than your spouse? Jointly owned property can sometimes cause unexpected tax issues. Look at your real property records and seek advice from a professional to ensure your accounts and property are titled in the most tax-efficient way while still carrying out your planning objectives.

5. How is your recordkeeping? Good recordkeeping will make your loved ones’ job much easier if they need to step in for you while you are alive but unable to manage your own health or finances, or when the time comes to wind down your affairs after your death. Do you have an up-to-date list of all your bank and investment accounts, employee benefits, retirement plans, online passwords, and key legal documents in one safe place? If not, now is a good time to create one. Having this information organized, accessible, and secure helps ensure that your loved ones can step in smoothly without unnecessary stress or delay.

6. Has your health or the health of a loved one changed? If you or someone close to you has been diagnosed with a serious illness, it is important to review your estate plan to ensure that it reflects your current circumstances. You may want to update your healthcare and financial powers of attorney to ensure that your decisions will be managed by someone you trust who understands your wishes. You may also consider revisiting your living will, trust provisions, or long-term care planning to ensure your plan provides the right protection and support for yourself and your family.

7. Have you experienced a major financial change? Your estate plan should always reflect your current financial picture. If you have received an inheritance, come into a large sum of money, sold or purchased significant assets, or made new investments, reviewing and updating your estate plan is important. Such changes can affect tax exposure, distribution goals, and even beneficiary designations. Keeping your plan aligned with your financial reality ensures that your wealth is protected and passes according to your intentions.

8. Do you have a plan for your digital life? In today’s world, so much of our personal and financial life exists online, yet many overlook these assets in their estate plans. Digital assets include cryptocurrency, online accounts, social media profiles, email, cloud storage, and even monetized platforms or websites. A thoughtful plan should identify these assets, authorize who can access them, and provide clear instructions on managing or transferring them. Without proper planning, valuable or sentimental digital property can be lost, locked, or mishandled. Including your digital life in your estate plan ensures that your online presence and assets are protected and passed on according to your wishes.

9. When did you last give your plan a thorough once-over? Even if nothing major has happened, we recommend having your plan reviewed by an experienced estate planning attorney every three to five years. This precaution can help you catch small issues before they become big problems. If any of these questions made you pause, it might be time to review your plan. We are here to help you get the peace of mind that comes from knowing that you and your loved ones are protected. Please call us to schedule an appointment to review your estate plan.

Creating an estate plan is typically a private matter, not something you share in detail with everyone in your life. After all, what you choose to do with your money and property is your business. Your partner might know what is in your plan, especially if you created it together. But beyond that, does anyone else really need to know?

The short answer is yes. There are good reasons for keeping certain aspects of your estate plan to yourself. However, if you keep too many details to yourself—or forget to keep others in the loop—your well-thought-out plan may not work the way you intended.

An estate plan cannot work if it is invisible. If no one knows that your plan exists or if no one can access your documents, it may as well not exist. Verbal promises carry no weight—simply telling someone about your goals and wishes is not enough. Your wishes must be properly documented.

A Tiered Approach to Divulging Your Plans

Keeping an estate plan private makes sense to an extent. That is why people often use a trust-based plan instead of a will-based plan: The latter is subject to the public probate process, and almost anyone can obtain court records of that process and learn details about you, your family, and what you owned at your death.

Within your family, you may keep your estate plan private to avoid drama and hurt feelings over who will play a role in your plan and who will receive your money and property at your death. Or you may worry that if word gets out about your plan, others’ opinions will sway your decisions. You may instead prefer to make rational, unemotional choices, removed from the competing voices of friends and family who stand to inherit.

While you absolutely have the right to keep your estate plan private, doing so is not always in your best interest. The real question then becomes how do you share something so personal without feeling like you are broadcasting it to the world?

The trick is knowing whom to tell what, when to tell them, why to tell them, and how to tell them. “Telling” someone can mean different things, from giving them copies of all your plan documents and keys to your digital vault to letting them know that they are named in the plan and whom to contact later for more details.

You might use a tiered communication approach that aims to put the right information in the right hands at the right time to prevent confusion, avoid family disputes, and create as little stress as possible for your trusted decision-makers and beneficiaries.

Tier One: Trusted Decision-Makers (Full Access)

Who: The people you have legally appointed to act on your behalf, including:

• your spouse or significant other (especially if you planned together, share joint accounts or property, or live in a community property state, or if you appointed them to one of the roles below, since they may need to act quickly or coordinate with other decision-makers)
• a personal representative or executor (carries out the terms of your will and oversees the probate process, if one is needed)
• a trustee and a successor trustee (manages accounts and property that were or will be funded into the trust according to your trust agreement)
• an agent under a financial power of attorney (handles your finances, either immediately or, in some cases, only if you are unable to manage them)
• an agent under a medical power of attorney (makes healthcare decisions if you cannot make them or communicate your wishes)
• a guardian for minor children (provides care for those who rely on you)

What: Enough information to act immediately and effectively, including:

• the location of your completed estate planning documents (will, trust, powers of attorney, healthcare directives), including where originals are kept and where copies or electronic versions can be found
• information on how to access these documents if the originals are stored somewhere such as in a safe deposit box or home safe
• a list of everything you own (including financial accounts, real property, business interests, digital assets)
• instructions for special property (for example, businesses, firearms, intellectual property, pets)
• digital storage location and credentials (secure cloud vault, encrypted drive) for any digital assets (emails, business documents, electronic financial accounts)
• contact information for your estate planning attorney
• your wishes and goals, including the choices you have made in your plan and how you want your decision-makers to carry out their responsibilities once they step into their role

You may decide that the agents named in your medical power of attorney are less likely to need detailed financial information. However, they should still know where to access your estate planning documents.

When:

• as soon as possible after you appoint them to the role
• any time you appoint new decision-makers or change the order in which you have appointed them to serve
• whenever you move your estate planning documents to store them in a new location
• periodically, to confirm that they are still willing and able to serve

Why:

• they cannot do their job if they do not know they have been appointed and how to access what they need
• delays in knowing or confusion about who is in charge and where your documents are located can cost money, result in unintended property damage, or cause unnecessary family stress and conflict

How:

• meet in person or via video to explain their role and your goals and desires
• provide a written “roadmap” with tasks they will need to perform, a list of everything you own, and key contacts (for example, your financial advisor, attorney, accountant, insurance agent, etc.)
• store digital copies securely and share controlled access with the relevant decision-makers
• confirm that they accept the role and understand the responsibilities

Tier Two: Primary Beneficiaries (Selective Access and Strategic Sharing)

Who: The individuals or entities you have chosen to inherit from you upon your passing, even if you have not appointed them to any decision-making role, such as:

• spouse or significant other
• children, grandchildren, or other relatives
• friends or nonrelatives
• charities or nonprofits
• religious institutions
• educational institutions

You may also choose to share your plans with loved ones who might expect an inheritance,  especially if you intend to leave them out, provide for them in other ways (for example, as a direct beneficiary of something or by providing funds to them during your lifetime), or give them less than others in similar relation to you. While the conversation may feel uncomfortable, addressing it now can prevent painful surprises later and ease the burden on your decision-makers and loved ones, who would otherwise be left without your explanation.

What:

• the nature of the gift (money, real estate, investments, personal property)
• any obligations attached to the inherited item (taxes, upkeep, management, legal restrictions)
• their right to refuse the gift (disclaim an inheritance), with the caution that the disclaimer must be made before they take ownership or control of the item

When:

• the sooner the better if the gift is complex, burdensome, or potentially unwanted
• more flexibility in timing if the gift is straightforward and unlikely to cause issues—but do not wait until it is too late

Why:

• prevents surprises that can cause stress or resentment
• allows time for the beneficiary to prepare for upkeep, sale, or management
• gives you a chance to reallocate gifts that might otherwise be refused

How:

• communicate in person, by phone, or in writing
• explain expectations or conditions attached to the gift
• for sensitive gifts (disinheritance, unequal shares, heirlooms, pets, business interests), consider having the conversation with your attorney present if you feel uncomfortable addressing it on your own or if you want to create a record of the discussion to demonstrate your intent and legal capacity in the event your plan is contested in the future

Failing to plan—and to clearly communicate your wishes—can have the following serious consequences for your estate:

• Safe deposit lockout. The executor cannot find your original will and believes it may be in your safe deposit box at the bank, but their name is not on the account, forcing a court order to open it.
• Forgotten password. Digital estate planning documents are stored in the cloud, but the account credentials were never shared, leaving files permanently inaccessible.
• Disappearing executor or successor trustee. Your named executor or successor trustee moved away years ago, changed phone numbers, and cannot be reached when needed, and you did not appoint a backup.
• Unwanted gift. You leave your classic car to a loved one who you know will treasure it as you did. However, they do not have the space or resources to maintain it and reluctantly refuse the gift. If you did not name a backup beneficiary, the car passes to your residuary beneficiaries, who may not value or appreciate it.
• Long-lost co-owner. If a vacation home left to a nephew is actually co-owned with a distant cousin, your nephew is forced into a joint ownership arrangement that leads to years of awkward and expensive disputes.
• The “final will” problem. Multiple unsigned drafts are found on the decedent’s desk, with no clear final version. Your loved ones are left to argue among themselves and in court over what your true intent was.

Legal Advice and Establishing a Need-to-Know Basis for Your Plan

Your death is more than an administrative process, but thinking about your estate plan in that way can inform practical choices that make wrapping up your estate smoother for everyone involved.

An estate plan works best when paired with a communication plan that shares the right amount of information with the right people at the appropriate time, balancing privacy with transparency and flexibility.

If you are unsure how to strike that balance, call us to discuss your plan and devise the best strategy for informing your loved ones.

Estate planning often feels complex, leading many people to rely on assumptions that can have devastating consequences for their loved ones and their legacy. From who can make decisions for you to whether you need an estate plan, common myths can stand between you and a secure future. Let’s debunk these widespread misconceptions and reveal four essential truths about effective estate planning.

Myth 1: My spouse can make all my healthcare and financial decisions because they are my spouse.

Reality: This is a dangerous misconception that can lead to significant stress and financial hardship for your family. While your spouse has certain rights, they generally do not automatically have the legal authority to make all medical decisions or manage all your financial accounts if you become unable to manage your affairs (i.e., become incapacitated). Without properly executed legal documents, you and your spouse may face obstacles handling the following:

• Medical decisions. Your spouse may be unable to access your medical information, direct your care, or make critical end-of-life decisions without a medical power of attorney (also known as a durable power of attorney for healthcare) and an advance directive (or living will). Without these documents, a court may need to appoint a guardian or conservator in a public, costly, and time-consuming process.
• Financial decisions. Similarly, your spouse could be locked out of accounts in your sole name, unable to pay bills or manage investments without a financial power of attorney. This can prevent timely financial management and even payment of day-to-day expenses. As with medical decisions, a court may need to appoint a guardian or conservator before your spouse can access these important accounts.

Proper planning ensures that your spouse or another trusted individual you choose has the immediate legal authority to act on your behalf and honor your wishes without court involvement.

Myth 2: My family knows my wishes. They will divide everything the way I want it divided.

Reality: While your family may genuinely intend to honor your verbal wishes, discussions about your affairs—without proper legal documentation—carry no legal enforceability. After your death, without a legally binding plan, your estate may be distributed according to your state’s intestacy laws, which may not necessarily be what you intended. This could lead to the following outcomes: 

• Unintended beneficiaries. If you rely on the state’s default distribution plan, your money and property could go to distant relatives rather than close friends, stepchildren, or other nonrelated loved ones.
• Family disputes. Even well-meaning family members can disagree on what your true wishes were, leading to bitter conflicts and costly litigation that depletes your hard-earned money and property.
• Loss of control. Without a last will and testament or revocable living trust, you have no say regarding who inherits your money and property and how they receive it, who will raise your minor children, or who will be in charge of winding down your affairs.

A comprehensive estate plan is the only way to legally ensure that your estate is passed on as you intend, protecting your legacy and providing clear guidance for your loved ones.

Myth 3: I signed a will before, so I do not need to do it again.

Reality: Life shifts, laws change, and your goals evolve over time. An outdated estate plan can be just as detrimental as having no plan, so be sure to review your estate plan regularly—ideally, every three to five years. You should also review your estate plan whenever significant life events such as the following occur:

• Family changes. Such changes include marriage, divorce, remarriage (yours and your children’s), birth or adoption of children or grandchildren, and deaths of beneficiaries or trusted decision-makers (for example, agents under a financial or medical power of attorney, executor or personal representative, or guardian of your minor children).
• Financial changes. In addition to seeing significant increases or decreases in the value of what you own, you may have purchased or sold real property or businesses, experienced changes in your retirement accounts, or received an inheritance.
• Location changes. Moving to a different state or country can dramatically impact the validity and effectiveness of your existing estate planning tools, as state and country laws can vary widely.
• Tax law changes. Estate, gift, and income tax laws constantly evolve at federal and state levels, potentially affecting how your money and property will be distributed, how they will be taxed, and how much a beneficiary may ultimately receive.
• Changes in goals. Your philanthropic desires, legacy goals, or wishes for specific personal property, accounts, or real property may shift over time. Your estate plan should reflect that.

A comprehensive review of your estate plan every three to five years or after any major life event is crucial for ensuring that your estate planning tools still reflect your wishes, minimize taxes, avoid probate, and align with current legal requirements.

Myth 4: I am not wealthy enough to need an estate plan.

Reality: This myth is perhaps the most dangerous. Almost everyone, regardless of their net worth, can significantly benefit from thoughtful estate planning. While an estate plan certainly addresses your financial accounts, estate planning encompasses far more than just money.

• Protecting your children. If you have minor children, a will is the primary legal document for nominating a guardian to care for them if something happens to you. Without one, a court will decide who will raise your children—without your input—often through a public and potentially contentious process. 
• Caring for pets. You can ensure that your beloved pets are cared for after you have passed away or during a time when you cannot care for them.
• Distributing sentimental items. A personal property memorandum can specify who receives your cherished family heirlooms, artwork, or other nonmonetary items, which can help prevent family squabbles.
• Planning for your incapacity. A comprehensive estate plan allows you to name trusted individuals to manage your finances, make medical decisions, and carry out your wishes without the delays and expenses of court involvement if you become incapacitated. Such protection is valuable regardless of how much money or property you own.

Estate planning is about taking control, ensuring that your wishes are honored, and providing peace of mind for you and your loved ones, no matter what you own. To learn how estate planning can benefit your specific situation, call us to schedule a consultation.