What will happen when you are gone? How will your loved ones be cared for? What legacy will you leave behind?

This season offers a rare opportunity to bring love, not fear, into these important conversations. In this article, you will learn how to shift your mindset about death and money, how to open heartfelt conversations with your family, and how to turn those talks into meaningful action with a Life & Legacy Plan.

SHIFTING THE CONVERSATION ABOUT DEATH AND MONEY

Most people put off estate planning because they don’t want to face their mortality, or they think of death as something that won’t happen anytime soon. Money is also too often a taboo subject in our culture. It’s no wonder, then, that 55% of Americans don’t have an estate plan. And this number doesn’t account for those who have an outdated plan that no longer works, so the actual number is much lower.

But what if we flipped the script when we think of death and money? What if death and money weren’t topics to be avoided, but to be embraced? Death is a natural part of life, and planning for what happens to your assets and to your loved ones is an expression of love. Planning ensures everyone you love has clarity and knows exactly what to do when the time comes. Instead of viewing estate planning as preparing for the end, see it as protecting your loved ones’ beginning after you die.

Don’t put off making plans until you are unable to assert your wishes. Including health care documents in your estate plan can ensure your decisions are always your choice, even if you cannot speak for yourself.

Health care documents that clearly state your wishes should be included in your comprehensive estate plan. Here are three documents you need to include in your estate plan to ensure your wishes are respected:

Health Care Directive

This document allows you to name a health care agent. This will be the individual whom you grant the authority to make certain decisions on your behalf. A health care agent may also be called a health care surrogate or a personal representative.

In your directive, you can include specific instructions on the health care measures you desire if you are unable to make decisions for yourself. These are life and death decisions; make sure your agent is someone you trust.  Work closely with an estate-planning lawyer to ensure your directive provides clear guidelines for your agent to follow.

Research shows that a majority of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation, and by the third generation, the number climbs as high as 90%. That happens not because parents lack concern for their kids, but because key pieces of planning are missing.

Keeping wealth in your family isn’t just about signing legal documents or having a strong investment portfolio. True wealth preservation requires a shift in how you think about inheritance, practical systems that keep your assets accessible, and education that prepares the next generation to be responsible stewards.

In this blog article, you’ll learn three essential elements of building and preserving generational wealth: the mindset shifts that redefine what inheritance really means, the legal and financial strategies that keep assets from slipping through the cracks, and the education process that prepares your children to manage and grow what you’ve worked so hard to build. Most importantly, you’ll see why families who succeed in passing wealth down think differently about what they’re actually leaving behind.

That means if something happens to you, your partner could be left without legal rights to your property, finances, or even decisions about your medical care.

In this blog article, you’ll learn why unmarried couples face greater legal risks, what key planning steps you can take to protect each other, and how my Life & Legacy Planning® process ensures your wishes are honored, no matter what life brings.

WHY THE LAW DOESN’T PROTECT UNMARRIED PARTNERS

When married couples face illness or death, state law provides automatic rights and protections. But for unmarried partners, those rights don’t exist unless you’ve put them in writing.

Without an estate plan:

• Your partner can’t access your bank accounts or manage bills if you’re incapacitated.

• They might be excluded from medical decisions, even if they know your wishes best.

• Your property could go to biological family members, not your partner, regardless of how long you’ve been together.

This is a recipe for disaster because this means that the lawyer you are considering hiring is likely not versed in helping you make well-counseled decisions that you fully understand, and does not have a business model in place to support you in choosing what matters to you, and then pricing your planning accordingly. One-size fits all pricing (or hourly billing) for a set of documents is a red flag that you may not be working with the right lawyer on your estate plan. 

Our Life & Legacy Planning Process and the initial Life & Legacy Planning Session is the opposite. We don’t begin with a meet and greet style initial consultation. Instead, it’s a working meeting designed specifically to understand your family dynamics, your assets and how the law would apply in your unique situation, and then provide you with counseling frameworks for decision-making that leave you knowing you have made thoughtful, empowering choices for yourself and for the people you love. Importantly, it ensures your planning documents will work when your loved ones need them most.