Established Legacies

By this stage of life, you've built something substantial: a successful career or business, meaningful assets (real estate, investments, retirement accounts, perhaps a family business or significant inheritance), and often a complex family structure with blended families, children from prior relationships, grandchildren, aging parents, or charitable priorities.

Yet many accomplished individuals in this position still operate with either no estate plan at all or one that was created decades ago when life looked very different. A simple will from your 20s or 30s rarely provides the protection, tax efficiency, or control needed today.

Sophisticated estate planning at this stage is about more than just "who gets what." It's about preserving wealth across generations, minimizing taxes and court interference, protecting assets from creditors or future divorce, ensuring a surviving spouse is financially secure without losing control, and reflecting your values, whether that's supporting specific charities, incentivizing education or work ethic in heirs, or maintaining family harmony in blended situations.

Common reasons clients seek advanced planning now include:

• Significant net worth growth or liquidity events (business sale, large inheritance, stock concentration, real estate portfolio)
• Blended families – wanting to provide fairly for a current spouse while protecting children or grandchildren from prior relationships
• Concerns about long-term care costs, Medicaid planning, or protecting assets from future healthcare expenses
• Desire to reduce estate, gift, and generation-skipping taxes through strategic use of trusts, annual gifting, irrevocable life insurance trusts, or charitable strategies
• Family business succession – ensuring smooth transition of ownership and management while minimizing disruption and taxes
• Grandchildren or other loved ones – creating education funds, special needs trusts, or dynasty-style planning for future generations
• Privacy and control – avoiding probate, keeping financial details private, and retaining influence over how and when assets are distributed
• Second (or third) marriages – balancing the needs of a surviving spouse with children from earlier relationships
• Philanthropic legacy – establishing donor-advised funds, private foundations, or charitable remainder trusts to create lasting impact

Advanced planning gives you:

Layered control — Using revocable and irrevocable trusts to manage distributions over time, protect assets, and reduce tax exposure.

Asset protection — Shielding wealth from lawsuits, creditors, divorce claims, or long-term care spend-down.

Tax efficiency — Leveraging current exemptions, lifetime gifting, spousal lifetime access trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, and other tools.

Family harmony — Clear communication and structures that reduce conflict, especially in blended or multi-generational families.

Peace of mind at every level — Knowing your spouse is cared for, your children and grandchildren are positioned for success, your legacy is protected, and your wishes will be carried out exactly as intended.

This stage of planning is highly personalized. It's not one-size-fits-all, it's built around your specific wealth, family story, values, and objectives. The good news: acting now, while you're healthy and in control, gives you the widest range of options and the most flexibility.