When I heard about Tenisha Warner’s lawsuit, my first thought wasn’t about the celebrity angle. It was: I’ve seen this before. Not the exact same story, but the same estate planning gap. A family where the right intentions were there. Where conversations happened. Where commitments were put in writing. And where, according to the complaint,...Read More

A family called me after their mother died. She had a will that was properly signed and perfectly valid. However, it didn’t tell anyone who had legal authority to care for her minor children in those first critical days, who could handle financial matters while her estate was being settled, or how she wanted her...Read More

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 friendship, not judgment. The same logic...Read More

You’ve brought it up before. Maybe it was after watching a friend endure a probate process that dragged on for years. Maybe it was after seeing a family scramble because no one knew where important documents were. Perhaps a health scare or a milestone birthday reminded you that life doesn’t always go according to plan....Read More

The call came four days after her husband died. A credit card company. Forty-one thousand dollars on his account. The representative told her she was responsible and asked when she could start paying. She was grieving and certain she had no choice. She started writing checks. She called me six weeks later, after three payments...Read More

She found the notebook in the top drawer of her mother’s desk. Six pages, every account listed by hand. Username, password, recovery question, one after another. Her mother had been organized her whole life, and the notebook was proof of it. Then she tried to log in. The bank account asked for a six-digit code...Read More

There are two kinds of fathers. The first kind coaches the games, makes the school plays, stays up late with the science projects, and loves his family in every way you can see. He thinks about what would happen if something happened to him. Maybe on a long drive home. Maybe after a close call....Read More

A cautionary tale still unfolding a decade later On April 21, 2016, the world lost one of the most meticulous, controlling, and visionary artists of the 20th century. Prince Rogers Nelson — the man who battled Warner Bros. over his master recordings, changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol in protest of his record label,...Read More

Every Mother’s Day, we scramble for the perfect way to say thank you. Brunch reservations at a favorite Tex-Mex spot. A bouquet of bluebonnets. A sentimental card filled with words we mean but rarely say out loud. And while none of that is wrong (your mom probably loves all of it), there’s a different kind...Read More

Jimmy Buffett built an empire around the laid-back “Margaritaville” lifestyle, but his $275 million estate has become anything but relaxing for his family. The legendary singer’s widow and his longtime business manager are now locked in a bitter legal battle that could have been avoided with better planning and communication. In this article, you will...Read More