Your Trust Is Useless Until You Do This

December 16, 2025

Many affluent families believe their estate plan is complete the moment their trust is signed. In reality, an unfunded trust offers little to no protection and can expose families to probate, taxes, court involvement, and costly disputes. This article explains why trust funding is the critical — and often overlooked — second step of estate planning, and why skipping it can render even the most sophisticated trust ineffective.

When Your Business Partner Dies… Whose Legacy Are You Left Cleaning Up?

December 9, 2025

When a business partner dies without proper estate planning, their lack of organization can become your legal and financial crisis. Many successful business owners protect their personal estates with trusts, tax planning, and probate-avoidance strategies—yet never stop to consider whether their business partner has done the same. And when a partner’s outdated will, unfunded trust, or complete lack of planning collides with your carefully structured legacy, the result can be devastating: frozen shares, probate delays, hostile heirs, operational disruption, valuation disputes, and costly litigation that can drag on for months or even years.

The Real Estate Investor’s Estate Plan: Trusts, Entities, and Tax Strategies for Affluent Investors

December 2, 2025

Affluent real estate investors spend decades building their portfolios—spotting opportunities others miss, navigating market swings, repairing what breaks, and reinvesting through every season. But the truth few investors realize is this: your real estate portfolio becomes more vulnerable after you pass away than it ever was while you were alive. Not because of market volatility, but because of missing legal structure.