Estate Planning Resources
Practical guidance on wills, trusts, probate, business succession planning, and protecting the people and businesses you care about most.
Friends Don’t Let Friends Go Without an Estate Plan
How to have the estate planning conversation with the people you love without making it weird. There's a phrase most of us remember from decades past: "Friends don't let friends drive drunk." It was simple, direct, and it worked, because it reframed a difficult conversation as an act of [...]
When Your Spouse Won’t Get on Board with Estate Planning: What to Do Next
If you've ever tried to talk to your spouse about estate planning, you know how quickly the conversation can stall. Maybe you brought it up after hearing about a friend whose family spent months in probate. Maybe a health scare, the birth of a child, or starting a business [...]
How the New Tax Law Could Affect Your Family Trust in Utah
Last week, one of my clients forwarded me a CNBC article with a simple question: "Does this affect our trust?" It's a fair question—and one I've been hearing more often from families across Southern Utah. The article discussed a little-known provision tucked inside the recently passed One Big Beautiful [...]
Divorce Doesn’t Update Your Estate Plan. Here’s What Actually Does.
If you're a divorced father, you already understand something many married fathers never have to think about. Being a good dad takes intention. You know which weekends are yours. You know how to make the most of every ballgame, school event, and late-night conversation. You've learned how to stay [...]
The Father the Law Doesn’t See: What Southern Utah Stepfathers and Father Figures Need to Know
If you are a stepfather, you already understand that there is a difference between the legal definition of a father and the real one. The real father is the one who shows up. He learns the allergies, the fears, and the names of the friends. He spends evenings at [...]
The Question Every Father Thinks He’s Answered (But Hasn’t)
There are two kinds of fathers. The first kind works hard, shows up, and loves his family deeply. He's coaching the games, helping with homework, teaching his kids how to work, and doing everything he can to build a good life for the people he cares about most. Maybe [...]
Who Would Raise Your Kids If You Couldn’t? The First 72 Hours Most Parents Never Plan For
As parents, we spend a lot of time thinking about our children's future. We work hard to provide for them, teach them, and protect them. We think about their education, their opportunities, and the values we hope they'll carry with them throughout their lives. But there's one question many [...]
Why Southern Utah Families Need a Mission Statement (Not Just a Will)
Most people know they should have a will or a trust. But far fewer have ever had a conversation with their family about something even more important: why their money exists in the first place. Here in Southern Utah, especially among business owners and hardworking families, wealth is rarely [...]
What Anne Heche’s Estate Is Still Teaching Families—Nearly 4 Years Later
When you pass away, your family isn’t just dealing with grief. They’re making phone calls. Digging through accounts. Trying to piece together your financial life while navigating a legal system they’ve never seen before. And if there’s no plan in place, that process can drag on for years. We’re [...]