The love you have for your children is close to the surface right now. And I want to talk about something that sits right in the middle of that love - something most parents think they've handled, but haven't. Not because they don't care. Because they do, deeply. But caring isn't the same as planning. Let me ask you this: if something happened to you tonight, who would pick your children up from school tomorrow?

Almost all of them love their families in the most visible, devoted ways. They show up. They coach the games and sit through the school plays and stay up too late helping with projects that are due tomorrow. They think about what would happen if something happened to them - usually in a quiet moment, watching their kids sleep, or on a long drive home after a close call.

Most people assume that having a Power of Attorney means their family is protected. I understand why - you did the work, you planned ahead. But I've taken enough calls from adult children standing at a bank counter, valid document in hand, being turned away, to know that a signed POA and a working POA are not always the same thing. Let me show you the difference.

If you've ever called an estate planning attorney asking for a quick look at your documents, you're not alone - and I completely understand the impulse. But here's what I want every client to know: a real estate plan review is never quick, and the reason why matters more than you might think.

If you've ever called an estate planning attorney asking for a quick look at your documents, you're not alone - and I completely understand the impulse. But here's what I want every client to know: a real estate plan review is never quick, and the reason why matters more than you might think.

There is something I think about often as a mother - that quiet, ever-present awareness that you are the person standing between your child and the uncertainty of the world. Most of the time that feeling lives in the background. But sometimes a story brings it right to the surface.

A recent Michigan court case did that for me. And I want to share it with you, because it reveals a gap in estate planning that most parents never see coming - one that a basic will simply cannot fill.

Most of us spend decades building our retirement accounts. A 401(k) here, an IRA there. Contributions made consistently, sometimes sacrificially, with the future in mind. For many families, those accounts end up being the single largest piece of wealth they've accumulated - more than home equity, more than savings, more than anything else on the balance sheet. And yet, most people have no idea what actually happens to those accounts after they die.

I don't say that to alarm you. I say it because understanding this is one of the most important things you can do for the people you love.

If you're in a blended family, a simple "leave everything to my spouse" plan may not protect your children the way you think it will. In this post, I'm walking through what actually happens legally when a spouse passes - why good intentions aren't enough, how children from first marriages can end up with nothing, and what a complete estate plan looks like when it's designed to protect everyone you love.