2024-06-24 by Sue Hunt
Having an estate plan is a great way to ensure you and your loved ones are protected today and in the future. When creating an estate plan, we look at what is going on in your life at that time. But because life is full of changes, it is important to make sure your plan can change to accommodate whatever life throws your way. Sometimes, we can make your first estate plan flexible to account for potential life changes. Other times, we must change or add to the tools we use to ensure that your ever-evolving wishes will be carried out the way you want.
Life is constantly changing. The following are some important events that may require you to reevaluate your estate plan:
It is important to know when you create your first estate plan that you are not locked into this plan for the rest of your life. The following are common changes we can make to your estate plan to ensure that we adequately address your evolving concerns and wishes.
A will (sometimes referred to as a last will and testament) is a tool that allows you to leave your money and property to anyone you choose. It names a trusted decision maker (a personal representative or executor) to wind up your affairs at your death, lists how your money and property will be distributed, and appoints a guardian to care for your minor children. If you rely on a will as your primary estate planning tool, the probate court will oversee the entire administration process at your death. A will may adequately meet some clients' needs.
On the other hand, a revocable living trust is a tool in which a trustee is appointed to hold title to and manage the accounts and property that you transfer to your trust for one or more beneficiaries. Typically, you will serve as the initial trustee and be the primary beneficiary. If you are incapacitated (unable to manage your affairs), the backup trustee will step in and manage the trust for your benefit with little interruption and with less potential for costly court involvement. Upon your death, the backup trustee manages and distributes the money and property according to your instructions in the trust document, again without court involvement.
If your wealth has grown or you have new loved ones to provide for, you may find the privacy, expediency, and potential cost-savings associated with a revocable living trust more appropriate for your situation.
At some point, you may decide that you need life insurance—or more of it—to provide for your loved ones sufficiently. If the value of your life insurance is especially high, you may want to consider adding protections for the funds in your estate plan, as well as engaging in estate tax planning. Both goals can be accomplished by using an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT). Once you create the ILIT, you fund it either by transferring ownership of an existing life insurance policy into the trust or by having the trust purchase a new life insurance policy. Once the trust owns a policy, you then make cash gifts to the trust to pay for the insurance premiums. These gifts can count against your annual gift tax exclusion, so you likely will not owe taxes at the point of these transfers. Upon your death, the trust receives the death benefit of the policy, and the trustee holds and distributes the money according to your instructions in the trust document. This tool allows you to remove the value of the life insurance policy and the death benefit from your taxable estate while allowing you to control what will happen to the death benefit. An ILIT can also be helpful if you want to name beneficiaries for the trust who differ from the beneficiaries you name in other estate planning tools.
If you have been contributing to your retirement account over the years, the balance has ideally increased. If you want to provide for minor children or loved ones who are not good at managing money, you may want to name a trust as the beneficiary of your retirement account as opposed to naming your loved ones directly. Naming an individual directly as a beneficiary will allow them to inherit the account without restrictions or protections.
A standalone retirement trust (SRT) is a special type of trust that is separate and distinct from your revocable living trust. It is designed to be the beneficiary of your retirement accounts so that the trust becomes the owner of the account after your death. The SRT is only meant to hold retirement accounts. When the SRT is created as an accumulation trust, the trust can protect the inherited retirement account from the beneficiary's creditors as well as guardianship or probate proceedings. An accumulation trust requires that any withdrawals taken from the retirement account be held in the trust (not given directly to the trust beneficiaries) and distributed to the beneficiaries according to the instructions you lay out in the trust agreement. There are, of course, drawbacks to an accumulation trust. One such drawback is that because income is held in the trust and not automatically distributed to beneficiaries, the income is taxed at the trust income tax rate, which is often higher than the individual beneficiary's tax rate. Most people, however, find that the benefits outweigh this potential burden. An SRT ensures that the inherited retirement account remains in the family and out of the hands of a child-in-law, former child-in-law, or creditor. It can also enable proper planning for disabled or special needs beneficiaries.
This type of trust can also be easier for your backup trustee to administer because they only have to worry about one type of asset: retirement accounts. An SRT can also be helpful if you want to name beneficiaries different from those you have named in other estate planning tools.
As you accumulate more wealth or become more philanthropically inclined, you may wish to include separate tools to benefit a cause that is near and dear to your heart. Depending on your unique tax situation, using tools such as a charitable remainder or charitable lead trust can allow you to use your accounts or property that are increasing in value to benefit the charity while offering you some potential tax deductions.
A charitable remainder trust (CRT) is a tool designed to potentially reduce both your taxable income during life and estate tax exposure when you die by transferring cash or property out of your name (in other words, you will no longer be the owner). As part of this strategy, you will fund the trust with the money or property of your choosing. The property will then be sold, and the sales proceeds will be invested in a way that will produce a stream of income. The CRT is designed so that when it sells the property, the CRT will not have to pay capital gains tax on the sale of the stocks or real estate. Once the stream of income from the CRT is initiated, you will receive either a set amount of money per year or a fixed percentage of the value of the trust (depending on how the trust is worded) for a term of years. When the term is over, the remaining amount in the trust will be distributed to the charity you have chosen.
A charitable lead trust (CLT) operates in much the same way as the CRT. The major difference is that the charity, rather than you as the trustmaker, receives the income stream for a term of years. Once the term has passed, the individuals you have named in the trust agreement will receive the remainder. This can be an excellent way to benefit a charity while still providing for your loved ones. Also, you may receive a deduction for the value of the charitable gifts that are made periodically over the term. These deductions may offset the gift or estate tax that may be owed when the remaining amount is given to your beneficiaries.
If you have not reviewed your estate plan since having or adopting children, you should consider incorporating some additional tools into your estate plan. Some states recognize a separate document that nominates a guardian for your minor child should you be unable to care for them, even if you are still alive. You can also reference this document in your last will and testament. Some people prefer using this separate document because it is easier to change the document than it is to change your will if you want to choose a different guardian or backup guardian for your minor child.
Another tool recognized in some states is a document that grants temporary guardianship (referred to as temporary power of attorney in some states) over your minor child. This can be used if you are traveling without your child or are in a situation where you are unable to quickly respond to your child's emergency. This document gives a designated individual the authority to make decisions on behalf of the minor child (with the exception of agreeing to the marriage or adoption of the child). This document is usually only effective for six months to a year but can last for a longer or shorter period, depending on your state's law. You still maintain the ability to make decisions for your child, but you empower another person to have this authority in the event you cannot address the situation immediately.
We are committed to making sure that your wishes are carried out in the way that you want. For us to do our job, we must ensure that your wishes are properly documented and that any relevant changes in your circumstances are accounted for in your estate plan. If you need an estate plan review or update, give us a call.
by Julia Walker
The Hidden Burden: What It Really Means to be an Executor, Trustee, or Agent under a Power of Attorney
An 80-year-old widower relied on his adult daughter for help with his daily life and finances for more than a decade. During that time, she managed his finances under a valid financial power of attorney, handling savings, pension income, and proceeds from the sale of his home. What began as routine assistance gradually became full financial responsibility.
After the father’s death, one of his sons—appointed executor of the estate—sued his sister for breach of fiduciary duty. The court ordered the sister to reimburse the estate more than $15,000, plus $35,000 in attorney’s fees.[1]
The issue was not abuse or bad intent. The father was, by all accounts, loved and well cared for. Rather, it came down to process. Incomplete records and the failure to keep funds fully separate turned well-meaning decisions into costly legal exposure.
This example is not hypothetical but a real case discussed by the American Bar Association,[2] and it illustrates what can happen when someone steps into a fiduciary role without fully understanding what it entails.
The people you choose for these roles could face similar consequences if they are not properly prepared, and part of that preparation falls on you.
More Than a Formality: Why These Roles Carry Real Risk
You may be familiar with fiduciaries in professional settings. A fiduciary is someone legally required to put another person’s interests ahead of their own. Your lawyer is a fiduciary. So are your accountant and other financial advisors.
What you may not know is that the people you name in your estate plan are held to the same legal standard.
Executors, trustees, and agents under powers of attorney are all fiduciaries. If they make mistakes, fail to keep proper records, or blur financial boundaries—even unintentionally—the consequences may include personal liability, family conflict, and court involvement.
When fiduciaries are unprepared, relationships can fracture, accusations of mismanagement can arise, and judges may need to step in. In an estate planning context, many fiduciary problems arise from inexperience and lack of guidance rather than from misconduct. The fiduciaries you name may have full-fledged professional responsibilities but lack professional background and training.
Being named to one of these roles can feel like an honor until the scope of responsibility becomes clear. And not knowing what the role requires is not a legal defense.
That is why it is important to understand these roles now, while you still have the ability to choose carefully, prepare the right people, and adjust your plan before avoidable oversights put your fiduciaries—and possibly your estate, finances, or health—at risk.
Know Your Role: Fiduciary Duties and When Engaging a Professional Makes Sense
Being named a fiduciary is a serious responsibility that, without support, can become an unworkable burden.
In some cases, hiring a professional makes more sense than relying solely on family or friends. Even when you choose someone familiar, that person should have access to a professional support team, such as your attorney, certified public accountant, or financial advisor, to help navigate the technical and legal aspects of the role.
Below is a plain-English overview of what each role involves, what can go wrong, and how professional support can help.
Agent Under a Power of Attorney
● The role: Authorized to manage your finances during your lifetime, including banking, investments, bill payment, and real estate transactions
● What can go wrong: Poor recordkeeping, informal reimbursements, or family disputes, often after your incapacity or death
● What it can cost: Required repayment, personal liability, legal fees, and court proceedings
● How a professional can help: A professional agent or co-agent can provide structure, documentation, and neutrality when finances or family dynamics are complex
Executor (or Personal Representative)
● The role: Settles your estate after death by gathering assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing property according to your plan and the law
● What can go wrong: Delays, disputes, or perceived favoritism that trigger objections or claims of fiduciary breach
● What it can cost: Personal liability, removal by the court, legal fees, prolonged probate, and erosion of estate value
● How a professional can help: A professional executor or coexecutor can reduce friction and keep administration on track when complexity or conflict is likely
Trustee
● The role: Manages and distributes trust assets according to the trust’s terms, often for many years
● What can go wrong: Misinterpretation of trust provisions, inconsistent distributions, or poor accounting
● What it can cost: Personal liability, removal, surcharge claims, legal fees, and depletion of trust assets
● How a professional can help: A professional trustee can provide technical expertise, consistency, and emotional neutrality
The Hidden Cost That Most People Miss
Beyond legal exposure, fiduciaries often give up hundreds of hours of personal time and may need to make major decisions while grieving, which can cloud judgment and increase risk.
Professional fiduciaries do involve out-of-pocket costs—typically 1–2 percent of assets—but those costs are often modest compared with the costs of delays, disputes, litigation, or court intervention. In many cases, professional support preserves more value than it costs.
Another option is compensating family fiduciaries at a similar rate, recognizing the role as the serious responsibility it is.
Preparing and Supporting Your Fiduciaries
Think about your choice of fiduciaries the same way you would your future caregivers. It is about capacity every bit as much as, or more than, trust and familiarity.
Before finalizing your estate plan, ask yourself the following questions about your fiduciaries:
● Does this person have the time, organization, and emotional steadiness the role requires?
● Do they know they have been named to a specific fiduciary role (and what that means)?
● Have I made my expectations clear to them?
● Do they know where my documents, records, and key contacts’ information are located?
● What happens if they cannot or should not serve when the time comes?
During the planning process, we can help you move beyond discussions to practical actions that include not only naming the right fiduciaries but also
● helping you organize assets and key contacts’ information in a single location;
● designing a guide for specific fiduciaries; and
● having a fiduciary walk-through meeting with you and them to clarify responsibilities before the role becomes active.
Being a fiduciary is a significant burden, but it is not one that fiduciaries must face alone. We are here to help.
[1] Katherine C. Pearson, Perils of Serving as a Financial Caregiver, ABA (Jan. 1, 2018), https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_aging/publications/bifocal/vol--39/issue-3--february-2018-/financialcaregiver.
[2] Id.
2025-04-02 by Sue Hunt
Approximately three-fourths of Americans do not have a basic will.[1] Many of the same people also have children under the age of 18, which underscores a major misunderstanding about estate plans: They can accomplish much more than just handling financial assets (money, accounts, and property).
One of the most important estate plan functions for parents of minor children is the ability to provide specific guidance about how their children will be cared for and who will care for them in case something happens to the parents.
To account for all emergency contingencies concerning you and your children, your estate plan should form a comprehensive safety net that addresses your children's care needs and protects them from the unthinkable.
Three Tools You Need If You Have Minor Children
As parents, we instinctively strive to shield our children from harm and set them up for success, now and in the future.
While we cannot predict the future, we can prepare for it. Estate planning is a crucial step in this preparation, especially when minor children are involved. It is not only about distributing your money and property after your death; it is also about establishing ways to care for your children if you no longer can.
Your death or incapacity (inability to manage your affairs) from a sudden illness or accident is a situation that you would likely rather not think about but must consider in preparing for worst-case scenarios that could lead to a court deciding who cares for your child.
Data on parental mortality is sobering: More than 4 percent of minor children have lost at least one parent.[2] If you wait too long to create your estate plan, it could be too late. More than any other reason, Americans cite procrastination as the reason they do not have an estate plan.[3] Procrastinating on creating your estate plan could mean it will not be there when you—and your children—need it.
To safeguard your children's future, three estate planning tools are particularly important: a will, a power of attorney for minors, and a standalone nomination of guardian.
Last Will and Testament
A last will and testament (also known as a will) is a cornerstone of any estate plan, but it takes on added importance when you have minor children. Your will outlines your wishes regarding the distribution of your money and property after your death. It also allows you to do the following:
Power of Attorney for Minors
A power of attorney for minors, sometimes called a designation of standby guardian or something similar depending on the state, is a legal document that empowers a chosen individual (your agent or attorney-in-fact) to act for your minor child on your behalf. This person steps in to make decisions regarding your child's care if you become incapacitated or unavailable.
The power of attorney can grant the agent broad authority to handle various aspects of your child's life, including the following:
Although the power of attorney grants the agent significant authority, there are limits to what it permits. The agent cannot consent to the child's marriage or adoption. In addition, many state laws impose expiration dates on these documents (e.g., six months, one year), so it is important to review and update them regularly to ensure that they remain valid.
Revocable Living Trust
In addition to a power of attorney, nomination of guardian, and will, the parents of minor children might consider a revocable living trust that holds their accounts and property during their lifetime and distributes them after their death.
You (the parent) maintain control of the accounts and property in the trust while you are alive as the current trustee. You can change the trust's terms as needed because you are the trustmaker, and this type of trust is revocable. A revocable living trust can help avoid probate and give your children faster access to the resources they need. You can also specify how and when your children receive their inheritance, name a successor trustee to continue management of the trust if you suffer incapacity, and provide financial support for the guardian, further synergizing your estate plan.
How These Tools Work Together—and What Can Happen If You Do Not Plan
These three estate planning tools are not interchangeable; they are complementary and designed to work together to address immediate and long-term needs in a range of potential scenarios.
Imagine a scenario where both parents are in a car accident. One parent dies, and the other is severely injured and temporarily incapacitated. The agent named in the temporary power of attorney or delegation of standby guardian immediately steps in to temporarily care for the children.
If the injured parent passes away, the designated guardian (who may be the same person as the agent under the temporary power of attorney) named in the will or standalone document can provide the children with a stable permanent home. The will can be structured so that the children's inheritance is managed through a trust that specifies how and when their inheritances should be spent and distributed.
Failure to have any one of these estate planning tools can lead to complications and unintended consequences for your minor children. For example:
Other Planning Tools and Tips for Parents
Parents should understand that they can only nominate a guardian for their child, not legally appoint one; the court has the final authority to decide, though it gives significant weight to the parents' nomination.
If there is evidence that your chosen guardian is unfit or unable to provide proper care, the court may appoint a different guardian in the child's best interest, even if it goes against your wishes. There is also the chance that a family member could contest your guardianship choice or your first choice of guardian is unavailable.
These outcomes are unlikely, but since they could undermine your wishes, there are additional steps you can take to minimize the risk and strengthen your case.
Fitting Together the Pieces of Your Estate Plan
Each part of an estate plan has a role to play, but they work best when considered as parts of a larger plan that addresses big issues such as the well-being of your minor children.
A will, temporary power of attorney, and standalone guardian document are not interchangeable; they are complementary. Incorporating all three into your plan, alongside other strategies such as a revocable living trust and a letter of intent, addresses the immediate and long-term needs of your minor children in any eventuality.
If you have minor children, estate planning is a necessity. Do not leave your children's future to chance. Consult with us to create a multipoint plan that protects you and your family.
[1] Victoria Lurie, 2025 Wills and Estate Planning Study, Caring (Feb. 18, 2025), https://www.caring.com/caregivers/estate-planning/wills-survey.
[2] George M. Hayward, New 2021 Data Visualization Shows Parent Mortality: 44.2% Had Lost at Least One Parent, U.S. Census Bureau (Mar. 21, 2023), https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/03/losing-our-parents.html.
[3] Lurie, supra note 1.
2025-02-04 by Sue Hunt
A home is often one of the most important assets that people own. Therefore, most people want to stay in their home until they die and then have a loved one receive it. One common way to pass a home to loved ones is through a will. However, transferring property with a will requires probate, which is generally considered a lengthy, costly, and public court process that many actively seek to avoid.
There are several ways an estate plan can transfer property without a will or probate court involvement when the owner passes away. In addition to a lifetime transfer of the property (by sale or gift), certain types of deeds can be used that take effect only upon the property owner's death and do not subject the property to probate. However, using these deeds for probate avoidance can potentially introduce new issues. A trust-based estate plan may be a better option if the goal is simply to avoid probate.
Home Ownership and Inheritance
We are living through one of the largest intergenerational wealth transfers in history. Roughly one in six Americans expect to receive an inheritance in the next 10 years, and among those, nearly half anticipate inheriting property such as a house.[1]
According to Pew Research, in 2021, nearly two-thirds of US households lived in a home they owned as their primary residence.[2] Homeowners have, on average, around $174,000 in equity in their homes—more than double the value of their next most valuable asset, retirement accounts, which have an average value of $76,000.[3]
Real Property, Legal Rights, and Trusts
A key concept in estate planning is honoring people's wishes by helping them control, as much as possible, what they own and what happens to it after their death.
An estate plan enables a homeowner to decide what happens to their property after they pass away, ensuring that it goes to the person (or people) they choose in a manner of their choosing, whether that means keeping it in the family and setting limits on its use or transferring the property to a beneficiary without restrictions.
Options for Transferring Real Property at Your Death
Estate planning is highly flexible, offering multiple ways to satisfy someone's wishes for what happens to their money and property when they die, each with a mix of benefits and downsides.
To avoid probate, there are many ways to transfer real property, both during the owner's lifetime and at their death. Some solutions can cost less than a trust, but as the examples below show, they can also have significant downsides and risks.
Deed-Based Transfers
A deed is a legal document that transfers real estate ownership from the current owner (the grantor) to another individual or entity (the grantee). Several types of deeds can be used to gift real property at the grantor's death. They include the following:
Again, not all of these types of deeds are legally valid in all states. An experienced estate planning attorney can explain what tools are available to you and discuss the benefits and potential risks.
Downsides to Using a Deed to Transfer Property at Your Death
There is no creditor protection for your beneficiaries. When a deed transfers property to a beneficiary, that property goes to the beneficiary outright. There are no strings attached and no protections. For instance, if the beneficiary were to receive the property during a bankruptcy proceeding, it might be used to satisfy the creditors because it is now considered the beneficiary's property.
There is no protection if the beneficiary is disabled or unable to manage their affairs. As previously mentioned, when the beneficiary receives the property, it is theirs. However, if they receive the property when they cannot manage their affairs, its management falls to another person. It may be handled by a court-appointed guardian or conservator or an agent under a financial power of attorney, who can do whatever they want with it (as long as it is in the incapacitated beneficiary's best interest). Also, if the beneficiary receives any means-based assistance, the sudden inheritance could jeopardize those benefits by placing the beneficiary above any applicable asset threshold.
There are no protections for you if you cannot manage your affairs. These deeds are a sufficient way to transfer property after you are deceased. However, if you cannot manage your affairs during your lifetime, the named beneficiary or remainderman has no access to or interest in the property to help you manage it until you pass away. You will have to rely on an agent under a financial power of attorney (if you have one) or a court-appointed guardian or conservator to manage the property on your behalf.
Your beneficiary is free to do what they want. As already discussed, if you use a deed to transfer ownership at your death, your beneficiary will receive the property outright. You cannot add any conditions or requirements regarding the property or its use. The beneficiary can sell, mortgage, or use it as a rental property (subject to applicable zoning restrictions). It is their property to do with as they please. Their intended use of the property may not align with your wishes.
Using a Trust to Transfer Real Property
While you may view your home as a place to live and not as an investment or financial vehicle, that perception can change when you pass away and the home passes to a loved one, particularly if that loved one already has a primary residence.
A beneficiary who inherits a home may decide to sell the property; turn it into a rental; renovate the property to use it as a farm or business; sell off individual structures on the property (such as a barn or historic structure); cash in on its natural resources (e.g., allow timber to be harvested); or even tear down the original home and build a new one in its place. When more than one beneficiary inherits the property, disagreements about how to best use it could arise.
You might not care what happens to your home when you are gone. However, if you want to set restrictions on its use for any reason—whether those reasons are sentimental or have the practical intent of reducing conflicts among multiple beneficiaries—you must use the right estate planning tool.
Consider placing your home in a living trust that legally owns the property, with you serving as a trustee and being the current beneficiary during your lifetime. This allows you to stay in your home—and maintain control over it—while you are alive. When you pass away, the home does not go through probate because you do not technically own it. Instead, a successor trustee assumes legal responsibility for the property and manages it or gives it away in accordance with your trust's terms.
The trust terms can be highly detailed, and limitations can be set on how the property can be used. You can stipulate, for example, that the property must be shared as a family vacation home and cannot be used for business purposes. You can require that the house be held in the trust until your minor children reach a certain age so they can remain in the home after your passing. While the trust owns the property, your terms will govern its use. As soon as the property is distributed from the trust, you lose all control over it.
The Best Way to Transfer Property for Every Situation
Estate planning is a highly personal process that must consider many factors, each of which can have multiple solutions that present a unique set of benefits and drawbacks.
Avoiding probate is usually just one estate planning consideration among many, and it may not be desirable in every situation.
Determining the best way to pass down real property at death depends on your preferences and family circumstances. An estate planning attorney can explain each available option and help you decide what is best for your situation.
[1] The "Great Wealth Transfer" is underway but nearly half expecting an inheritance are not ready to manage it, finds New York Life Wealth Watch Survey, New York Life, July 19, 2023, https://www.newyorklife.com/newsroom/2023/new-york-life-wealth-watch-great-wealth-transfer.
[2] Rakesh Kochhar and Mohamad Moslimani, 4. The assets households own and the debts they carry, Pew Research Center, Dec. 4, 2023, https://www.pewresearch.org/2023/12/04/the-assets-households-own-and-the-debts-they-carry.
[3] Id.
2025-04-02 by Sue Hunt
If you are like most Americans, you have at least one to-do list. You might also use lists when you are shopping, brainstorming, setting goals, and planning for events.
To-do lists, grocery lists, bucket lists . . . the list goes on. However, there is one crucial list that often gets overlooked: the list of trusted professionals and decision-makers who can step in for you during a time of need.
This list can be a centralized document of all the key players in your life who advise you on a regular basis or are legally designated to carry out your affairs when you become incapacitated (unable to manage your affairs), pass away, or experience an emergency. This simple yet powerful tool can help you, your professional team, and your loved ones be better prepared for future scenarios and more smoothly navigate challenging times.
Your List of Professionals
Your list of professional advisors should contain contact information for the following important people in your life:
You will also want to include on this list the following key decision-makers in your estate plan documents:
For each contact, provide the following information:
Why You Need an Advisor List
A list of professionals can prove invaluable for your loved ones if you pass away or a health crisis leaves you incapacitated. Without it, your loved ones may be left to navigate a maze of financial accounts, legal documents, and critical decisions. Having a centralized repository of who's who in your personal and professional lives can save your family time, money, and stress when managing and winding down your affairs. Here is a look at who may need to be involved and what they might need to know:
In addition to incapacity and death, there are everyday situations when you may need ready access to this list.
For example, if you must travel unexpectedly, get caught in a natural disaster, are hurt in an accident, lose your smartphone or internet access, or are forced to deal with a family crisis, you might need to reach out to people on the list who can act on your behalf or otherwise provide assistance. However, their contact information may be stored in different locations and hard to locate in a crisis. A single list containing this information is more accessible and efficient.
Ensure that the list can be accessed by the right people at the right time. Keep it in a secure location, such as a home safe or encrypted digital file, where your advisors and trusted decision-makers can obtain a copy via instructions and permissions you provide to them ahead of time. You might also want to include a copy of the list with other important documents, such as your estate plan, so that designated individuals such as your executor or trustee can refer to it. Consider keeping a copy of the list on file at your advisors' offices as backups and for safekeeping.
Add Making a List of Professionals to Your To-Do List
You may assume that your loved ones know whom to contact at a critical moment or that this information is readily available. Compiling a contact list can also get lost in the shuffle of bigger tasks such as making a will, setting up a trust, paying your taxes, and following a financial plan.
A list of professionals and key decision-makers is an underutilized planning tool that complements your existing documents and goals. This type of list is not just about names and numbers. It ensures that you, your loved ones, and your team can quickly and seamlessly collaborate for your best interests in difficult situations, both expected and unexpected.
Life and relationships change. The next time you meet with us, check that your advisor list is accurate, up to date, and stored in a secure, accessible place—and check this important task off your to-do list. If you have not already created one, we can assist you.
2026-05-20 by Julia Walker
Myth 4: Trusts are only for the wealthy.
Trusts are not about how much you own. They are about how much time, expense, and stress you may be able to save your family. A trust is a legal arrangement in which one person or institution, called a trustee, holds and manages assets for the benefit of one or more beneficiaries according to the terms you set out in the trust document. Trusts are not just for the wealthy. They can be a helpful tool for many homeowners by helping to avoid probate, simplifying the transfer of property, and providing clear instructions for how the home and other assets should be managed if something happens to you. Even a modest estate can become complicated when there are multiple beneficiaries, a mortgage, minor children, or other financial responsibilities to consider.
A trust can also help coordinate asset management, work alongside life insurance planning, and make it easier for a surviving spouse or other loved one to access and manage property when needed. Speaking with an estate planning attorney can help you determine whether a trust makes sense for your situation and how it can fit into your overall plan.
