Estate planning
You don't need a large estate to need an estate plan. You need your wishes written down, your documents current, and your accounts set up to follow them. Getting there is easier than you'd expect.
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Nobody enjoys planning for their own absence, which is why this is the piece that stays on the to-do list for years. The discomfort lives mostly in the anticipation, though. In practice, estate planning is a handful of documents plus a set of account settings, and the bulk of it can be finished in a few focused weeks.
Putting it off doesn't avoid the decisions; it hands them to a probate court and to state law, at an already hard moment for your family. A finished plan keeps those choices where they belong: with you, written down, easy for the people you love to follow.
I don't draft legal documents, and nothing on this page is legal advice. My part is making sure the financial side of your estate, the accounts and beneficiaries and titling, actually carries out what the legal documents say. That alignment is where good estate plans most often come apart, and it's the part I watch year after year.
Three form the core: a will that says who receives what and who cares for minor children, a healthcare directive that names your medical decision-maker and records your wishes, and durable powers of attorney so someone you trust can act for you if you can't. An attorney drafts them; I help you arrive prepared.
Because retirement accounts, life insurance, and any account with a named beneficiary or transfer-on-death instruction pass by contract, outside your will entirely. If an ex-spouse is still listed on your 401(k), the will won't fix it. Reviewing those designations is one of the highest-value hours in estate planning.
That's also why it leads the blind-spots checklist further down this page.
Titling is how an account is legally owned: individually, jointly with survivorship, or with a transfer-on-death instruction. Ownership form decides where the money goes before your will gets a say. Two accounts with identical balances can pass to different people purely because of how they're titled, which is why we review both together.
Titling can also shape how exposed an account is to creditors, not only who inherits it. In Florida, for instance, many married couples open a joint account with rights of survivorship when a tenancy by the entirety account can offer stronger protection: a creditor of just one spouse generally cannot reach it, while a survivorship account is exposed if either owner is sued. Both pass to the surviving spouse outside probate, so the stronger protection often comes at no added cost. Which form is right is a question for your attorney, and it's the kind of detail I make sure gets asked.
An attorney drafts the documents; that's their craft and their license, not mine. My part is everything around it: helping you think through decisions before the meeting, making sure account beneficiaries and titling match the documents afterward, and flagging when a life change means something needs updating. You get one coordinated plan, not two.
Estate plans drift. Marriages, divorces, births, deaths, moves between states, and new accounts all change what should happen, and none of them update your documents automatically. We put beneficiaries and titling on a regular review cycle and revisit the documents with your attorney after any major life event, so the plan always says what you mean.
Whether you need a trust depends on your state, your assets, and how much you value privacy and control. Here's the short version; the article below goes deeper, and your attorney makes the final call.
| Will | Revocable living trust | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Directs who receives what and names guardians for minor children. | Holds assets during your life and passes them directly to your beneficiaries at your death. |
| Probate | Goes through probate, the court process that validates a will; timelines and costs vary by state. | Assets titled to the trust skip probate entirely. |
| Privacy | Becomes a public court record. | Stays private. |
| Upkeep | Simple to update with your attorney as life changes. | Requires retitling accounts and property into the trust, and maintaining that as accounts change. |
| Often the better fit when | Your state's probate process is manageable and your accounts carry current beneficiary designations. | Privacy, property in more than one state, or control over the timing of inheritances is a priority. |
Jesse Plunkett, CEPA®, CRPC®
Financial advisor in Sanford, FL, serving clients across the country virtually. Meet your advisor, or check my record on 
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A quick, useful starting point
1. Named beneficiaries override your will Beneficiary listings on investment accounts override your will entirely. Named an ex-spouse or a late parent? They still inherit, no matter what your will says…
A short, low-key call. We'll talk through what you have in place, what's missing, and whether your beneficiaries still match your intentions.
For many families, a will plus current beneficiary designations covers what a trust would, at lower cost. A trust earns its extra setup effort when you want to avoid probate, keep your affairs private, own property in more than one state, or control when heirs receive money. Your attorney helps you make the final call.
Your state's intestacy laws decide who inherits, following a fixed family formula, and a court names guardians for minor children without your input. Accounts with named beneficiaries still pass as designated. It's rarely the disaster people imagine, but it hands choices to a formula that doesn't know your family. A basic will returns those choices to you.
No. Drafting legal documents is an attorney's job, and I stay in my lane. What I do is get you ready for that meeting, coordinate with the attorney so everything hangs together, and then align your beneficiaries and account titling with what the documents say. That last step is where plans most often fall apart.
Once a year is a good rhythm, and right away after any major life event: marriage, divorce, a birth, a death, or changing jobs and rolling over a retirement account. Designations don't update themselves, and an outdated one overrides your will. The review takes minutes per account, which is a small price for getting it right.
Titling is the legal form of ownership on an account: individual, joint with rights of survivorship, or transfer-on-death, among others. That form decides where the money goes before your will is even read. Jointly titled accounts pass to the surviving owner automatically, so a will leaving everything to your children can be overridden by a single signature card.
Almost always. Everything is handled virtually, so where you live is rarely a barrier. The only exception is a handful of states where I'm not registered yet, and if that's you, I'll tell you on our first call.