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.

When actress Anne Heche passed away in August 2022 after a car accident, her oldest son Homer was in his early twenties. Just barely an adult. And within weeks of losing his mother, he found himself appointed by a court to manage her estate - one with roughly $110,000 in assets, over $6 million in creditor claims, and financial records that, by most accounts, were deeply incomplete. As of early 2026, that estate still isn't closed.

Here's a question most of my clients haven't thought about until we're sitting across from each other.

Will your loved ones have to pay taxes on what you leave them?

The answer isn't a simple yes or no. It depends on what you're leaving, how much it's worth, and where you live when you die. But here's what I know for certain: understanding the tax side of inheritance is one of the most loving things you can do for the people you'll leave behind.

So let's talk about it.