It is a topic no parent wants to think about: What would happen to your children if you were gone? However, facing this question is one of the most loving and powerful things you can do for your kids. If you take no steps to legally nominate a guardian for your minor...
Category: Estate Planning
New Baby? Time to Create Your Estate Plan
Have you just welcomed a baby to the family? Protecting your newborn goes beyond car seats and babyproofing. Ensure that your child is protected no matter what life brings by creating an estate plan. Establishing an estate plan is one to-do task that many people put off. They may delay this very...
Treating Children Fairly Does Not Necessarily Mean Equally
Parents generally try to treat all their children fairly. We often assume that fairness means leaving an equal inheritance to each child. However, “fair” does not always mean “equal.” A thoughtful estate plan considers each child’s unique circumstances to create distributions that truly support their needs.
Here are some...
The True Cost of Inheriting a Home
The United States is in the midst of the largest generational wealth transfer in history. Over the next few decades, baby boomers are expected to pass down an estimated $84 trillion in money and property,[1] around $18–19 trillion of it related to residential real estate.[2]
How a Directed Trust Can Change Everything
The idea of one-size-fits-all no longer fits a world where people expect products and services to be tailored to their individual preferences.
The estate planning world, long rooted in tradition, has relied on time-tested tools such as trusts to plan for what happens to a person’s money and property....
What to Do After a Loved One Dies
If you have been named the person responsible for settling a deceased loved one’s affairs, commonly called an executor or personal representative (if your loved one had no estate plan or had a will) or a successor trustee (if they had a trust), you may find yourself overwhelmed by grief and a...
How to Make Your Inheritance Last
Receiving an inheritance, whether large or small, often comes with a wide range of emotions, from the grief of losing a loved one to the hope and excitement about the possibilities the inheritance may create. According to Northwestern Mutual’s 2025 Planning & Progress study, over half (57 percent) of Americans who expect...
Help! This Probate Is Taking Forever!
After a loved one dies, their money and property that goes through probate must be distributed to the people legally entitled to it, either according to a last will and testament (also called a will) or the state’s default distribution scheme (found in its intestacy statute). While most people want the settlement...
Trust Funding: Setting Your Trustee Up for Success
A revocable living trust can serve as a valuable estate planning tool to help ensure that your finances remain well managed if you become incapacitated (unable to manage your affairs while you are alive) and to provide future financial security for your loved ones upon your passing. However, merely signing the trust...
How to Help Your Loved Ones (and Your Life Savings) Avoid Probate
Today, many people use a revocable living trust instead of a will, joint ownership, or beneficiary designation as the foundation of their estate plan. When properly prepared, a trust avoids the costly public, and often time-consuming, court processes of conservatorship or guardianship (due to incapacity) or probate (after death). Still, many people...