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Resources
Plain-language guidance for the decisions, documents, and details that protect the people you love.
Estate Planning
Wills, essential documents, and how to get started without the legalese.
Power of Attorney: What It Is and Why Every Adult Needs One
A Power of Attorney is a legal document that lets you name someone to make decisions for you if you can't make them yourself. You're the "principal." The person you name is your "agent." Depending on the kind, they can handle your finances, your medical care, or both, during any stretch where you're alive but unable to act on your own. Here's what most people get wrong about it: they think it's a document for the elderly. It isn't. A Power of Attorney covers the gap a Will doesn't, because a Wi
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What Is Intestate Succession? Who Inherits When There's No Will
Here's the part almost no one realizes: even if you've never written a will yourself, you already have one. Your state wrote it for you. If you die without a Will of your own, a set of state rules called intestate succession steps in and distributes everything you owned, following a fixed formula written into your state's law. It's a real plan with real consequences. It's just not yours. That's what "dying intestate" means: not that there's no plan, but that you left the state's default one in
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A Will vs. a Living Will vs. a Trust: What's the Difference (and What Most Families Need)
These three get bundled together constantly, usually by someone trying to work out which ones they need. They sound related, and two of them are. The third isn't about your money at all. Here's the fast version. A Will directs your property and names guardians for your children, and it takes effect after you die. A Trust also directs your property, but it can skip probate and start working while you're alive. A Living Will has nothing to do with your property: it's a medical document that recor
Read articleGuardianship
How to choose a guardian, ask them, and document what matters.
Guardian Decision Worksheet for Parents
Choosing a guardian can get emotionally loaded pretty fast. One minute you’re responsibly “getting your affairs in order,” and the next you’re mentally ranking everyone in your phone contacts on emotional stability and likelihood of remembering the dance recital. This worksheet is designed to help you think through those decisions a little more clearly, and a little less catastrophically. You don’t need perfect answers. The goal is to surface instincts, priorities, and tradeoffs so your final c
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Common Guardian Mistakes Parents Make (and How to Avoid Them)
Choosing a guardian for your child can feel surprisingly high-pressure. Most parents approach guardianship with good intentions—and still get stuck. Not because they’re careless, but because this decision sits at the intersection of feelings, family dynamics, and uncertainty. And unfortunately, nobody hands you a clean little rubric titled: "How to choose the right person to raise your child without accidentally starting a family group chat spiral." So if you feel stuck, conflicted, or just ki
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How to Ask Someone to Be Your Child’s Guardian (And What to Say)
Deciding who you’d want as your child’s guardian is one thing. Actually asking them? That’s where many parents suddenly develop a powerful urge to reorganize the hall closet. The good news: this conversation does not need to sound like a courtroom scene or a deeply scripted emotional monologue. You’re just opening a thoughtful conversation with someone important to your family. How Do You Ask Someone to Be Your Child’s Guardian? The best way to ask someone to be your child’s guardian is hon
Read articleWills
What a Will does, what to include, and how to leave clear instructions.
What Is Intestate Succession? Who Inherits When There's No Will
Here's the part almost no one realizes: even if you've never written a will yourself, you already have one. Your state wrote it for you. If you die without a Will of your own, a set of state rules called intestate succession steps in and distributes everything you owned, following a fixed formula written into your state's law. It's a real plan with real consequences. It's just not yours. That's what "dying intestate" means: not that there's no plan, but that you left the state's default one in
Read articleA Will vs. a Living Will vs. a Trust: What's the Difference (and What Most Families Need)
These three get bundled together constantly, usually by someone trying to work out which ones they need. They sound related, and two of them are. The third isn't about your money at all. Here's the fast version. A Will directs your property and names guardians for your children, and it takes effect after you die. A Trust also directs your property, but it can skip probate and start working while you're alive. A Living Will has nothing to do with your property: it's a medical document that recor
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What Is a Will and What Happens to Your Family Without One?
A Will, formally a Last Will and Testament, is a legal document that says who inherits your property, who raises your children, and who's in charge of carrying it all out after you die. In plain terms, it's a set of instructions, written to your state's rules, that tells a probate court what you intended, so your wishes are the ones that guide what happens. That's the part most people know. Here's the part they don't: a Will doesn't avoid probate, doesn't override your beneficiary designations,
Read articlePower of Attorney
How to choose someone you trust to handle financial or medical decisions.
Advance Directives
How to document medical wishes and choose someone to speak for you.
Probate
What probate is, how it works, and how families can prepare for it.
Legacy Planning
The wishes, stories, and practical details worth passing on.
