Resources
Everything we know, indexed.
20 cornerstone articles, 59 glossary entries, 6 topic hubs, 9 life-situation guides, and 2 interactive tools. Free, no email required.
Tools
Interactive decision tools.
Topics
Practice-area hubs.
Asset protection
Insurance, titling, and structures — what asset protection actually means for everyday households, and where it stops being worth the cost.
Charitable giving
Bequest in the will, beneficiary designation on a retirement account, or a charitable remainder trust. The right answer depends on what asset you're using and how big the gift is.
Special needs planning
If you have a disabled beneficiary, a generic will is dangerous. The right answer is a special needs trust, and the structure matters more than the amount.
Retirement accounts
IRAs, 401(k)s, life insurance, and TOD/POD bank accounts pass by beneficiary form, not by your will. The single most expensive estate-planning oversight is letting old beneficiary designations stay current.
End-of-life planning
Healthcare directives, hospice and palliative-care preferences, funeral wishes, organ donation, and the practical instructions that make a hard time easier on the people you leave behind.
Guardianship
If both parents die before the kids are adults, who raises them? The single highest-stakes decision in any estate plan, and the one most people put off the longest.
Life situations
Pick the path that matches yours.
- Married with children
Two parents, minor kids, mostly-shared assets.
- Blended family
Kids from a prior marriage. Common goals don't always match.
- Single, no children
Strong friends, intentional choices, no default heirs.
- Single with children
You're the only one. Plan like it.
- LGBTQ+
Same-sex couples, chosen family, families of origin who may not agree.
- Senior with grown kids
Adult children, possibly grandchildren, accumulated assets.
- Senior on my own
Independent, choosing carefully, no obvious next-of-kin.
- Military / service member
Active duty, deployment, SCRA — your situation needs specific provisions.
- Caring for someone with special needs
Public benefits, lifetime support, and getting it right.
Articles
Cornerstone reading.
How to actually sign your will — a step-by-step witness guide
The five-minute ceremony that turns a printed PDF into a legally binding will. Common mistakes and how to avoid them.
2026-04-25
When to update your will — life events that should trigger a refresh
A short list of life events and external changes that should send you back to your will. Not all of them need a full rewrite.
2026-04-25
Estate planning for unmarried couples
Without marriage, you're legal strangers. Long-term partners face the steepest gap between intention and default — and the simplest fix.
2026-04-25
How state law shapes your will — the variations that matter
Wills aren't federal. The witness rules, spousal rights, statutory shortcuts, and probate procedures all vary by state — and the differences matter.
2026-04-25
Special needs trusts — when and why
How a special needs trust supports a beneficiary with disabilities without disqualifying them from SSI and Medicaid, and the difference between first-party and third-party SNTs.
2026-04-25
Retirement accounts and your will
Why your will doesn't control your IRA or 401k — and how the SECURE Act changed what your beneficiaries inherit.
2026-04-25
Probate cost and timeline — what your survivors will actually face
Plain-English breakdown of what probate costs, how long it takes, and what makes one estate's probate cheap and another's expensive.
2026-04-25
Online wills vs paper templates vs working with an attorney
An honest comparison of the three ways you can create a will today, and which one is right for your situation.
2026-04-25
Marriage and estate planning — what changes the day you say "I do"
A clear walkthrough of how marriage shifts your estate-planning picture, what to update, and the conversations to have early.
2026-04-25
Intestacy in detail — what the state actually does
A state-by-state walkthrough of intestate succession, why state defaults rarely match family realities, and the specific cases that go badly without a will.
2026-04-25
The healthcare directive — what it covers and how it gets used
A walkthrough of the living will + healthcare power of attorney combination, the choices it asks you to make, and how hospitals actually use it.
2026-04-25
Durable power of attorney — what it actually does
A clear walkthrough of the financial POA, how it differs from healthcare POA, and the difference between durable and springing.
2026-04-25
Digital assets in your will
How to give your executor legal access to your email, photos, financial accounts, and crypto — and why a generic will isn't enough.
2026-04-25
12 common will mistakes that will cost your family
The mistakes that show up over and over in probate — most are five-minute fixes if caught while you're alive.
2026-04-25
Choosing an executor — what the job actually involves
A clear-eyed look at the executor's role, the qualities that matter, and the case for naming a professional in some situations.
2026-04-25
Charitable giving in your will
How to leave money to charity through a will, beneficiary designations, and trusts — and why the "where" matters as much as the "how much."
2026-04-25
Blended family estate planning
How to support a current spouse and children from a prior marriage at the same time, and the QTIP trust that makes it work.
2026-04-25
The 30-minute beneficiary forms audit
A structured checklist for auditing every beneficiary designation that could go wrong — most of which the will can't reach.
2026-04-25
Asset protection for everyday people
What asset protection actually is, who needs it, and what tools are realistic for households below ten million dollars.
2026-04-25
What happens if you die without a will
A plain-language explanation of intestate succession and why it usually isn't what you'd choose.
2026-04-21
Glossary
59 terms in plain English.
Every term you'll meet in a will, trust, healthcare directive, or probate proceeding — defined without legal Latin.
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