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What we seeacross thousandsof plans

Shorter pieces on the mistakes that turn up most often, why families stall, and the parts of this that nobody tells you until it is too late to be useful.

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30 articlesWritten by the teamNo sponsored posts
Latest

The most recent one

Business

Estate planning for small business owners

17 November 2026 / 6 min read

Your company keeps operating after you. Four documents decide whether it survives the handover.

Everything else

More from the team

Family

How to talk to your parents about their estate plan

The conversation adult children put off for a decade, in a form that usually works.

13 November 2026 / 5 min read

Trusts

Do I need a trust if I own a home?

Owning property is the most common reason to consider one. It is not an automatic yes.

10 November 2026 / 5 min read

Costs

How much does a living trust cost?

From $149 to $3,000+, and the part nobody quotes is the funding.

6 November 2026 / 5 min read

Wills

Do I need a will if I am married?

Yes. In many states a spouse does not automatically inherit everything.

3 November 2026 / 4 min read

After a death

What to do when a parent dies: a practical order

The first week, the first month, and the things that genuinely can wait.

30 October 2026 / 6 min read

Wills

Are online wills legally binding in the US?

Yes, in all 50 states, and the thing that makes or breaks them is not the website.

27 October 2026 / 4 min read

Getting started

Estate planning by decade: your 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond

What actually changes as you age, and what to add at each stage.

23 October 2026 / 6 min read

Family

Estate planning for unmarried couples

Default rules follow marriage and bloodlines. A partner of twenty years appears in neither.

20 October 2026 / 5 min read

Incapacity

Living will vs medical power of attorney

One says what you want. The other says who decides. You need both, and they are usually one document.

16 October 2026 / 4 min read

Incapacity

Power of attorney vs guardianship: the difference that costs the most

One you choose in advance for nothing. The other a court decides, at your family’s expense.

13 October 2026 / 5 min read

Wills

How often should you update your will?

Every three to five years, and immediately after any of eight events.

9 October 2026 / 4 min read

Digital

What happens to your online accounts when you die?

Photos, email, crypto and subscriptions. The law caught up in 2015; most plans have not.

6 October 2026 / 5 min read

Probate

What happens to your debt when you die?

It is paid from the estate, not inherited. With four exceptions worth knowing.

2 October 2026 / 5 min read

Family

Estate planning for new parents: the four things that matter

You have less time than you have ever had. Here is the version that fits in one evening.

29 September 2026 / 5 min read

Beneficiaries

What is a beneficiary designation, and why does it beat your will?

The form on your 401k outranks the document you signed last week. Here is how that works.

25 September 2026 / 5 min read

Trusts

Living trust vs will: which do you actually need?

They are not alternatives. Most trust based plans include a will, and here is why.

22 September 2026 / 6 min read

Wills

Does a will need to be notarized?

Usually not. But the optional notarised attachment is the one most people should add.

18 September 2026 / 4 min read

Wills

Who should be my executor?

It is an administrative job that runs for months, not an honour. Choose accordingly.

15 September 2026 / 5 min read

Probate

How long does probate take?

Six months to two years, and the four things that decide where in that range you land.

11 September 2026 / 5 min read

Wills

What happens if you die without a will?

Your state has already written one for you. Here is what it says, and who it leaves out.

8 September 2026 / 6 min read

Wills

Do I need a lawyer to make a will?

No, in every US state. But there are five situations where you genuinely should have one.

4 September 2026 / 5 min read

Costs

How much does a will cost in 2026?

What an attorney charges, what online services charge, and where the difference actually goes.

2 September 2026 / 6 min read

Professionals

What a professional sees when you connect with them

Exactly what is shared, when it is shared, and why the answer is not "nothing".

25 August 2026 / 3 min read

Wills

You moved state. Your documents did not.

A will validly executed in one state is generally recognised in another. The documents that quietly stop working are the other ones.

20 August 2026 / 4 min read

Wills

Nobody asks the executor first

It is an administrative job that runs for months, and a surprising number of people find out they have it from a solicitor’s letter.

13 August 2026 / 4 min read

Why we exist

Why the score is free and always will be

Charging people to find out how exposed they are would be a good business and a bad idea. Here is what we charge for instead.

6 August 2026 / 4 min read

Wills

The form that quietly overrides your will

You filled it in on your first day at a job you have since left. It may still decide who gets your retirement account.

25 July 2026 / 4 min read

Trusts

The most expensive mistake in estate planning is an empty trust

Signed, notarised, filed in a binder, and holding nothing. It happens to thousands of families who did everything they were told to do.

21 July 2026 / 6 min read

Why we exist

Two out of three families have nothing written down

It is not apathy and it is not ignorance. It is that the first step has always cost more than most people can justify for a document they hope never matters.

14 July 2026 / 5 min read

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