— Estate and legacy planning —
What you built, passed on as intended.
Beneficiary review, titling, and coordination with your attorney across the Kansas City metro.
Estate and legacy planning is the work of making sure what you have built passes the way you intend, through beneficiary designations, account titling, and coordination with your attorney.
What does estate planning involve?
Most people think of estate planning as documents. A will, a trust, powers of attorney. Those matter, and they are drafted by an attorney, not by us.
What is often missed is that a large share of a typical retiree's wealth does not pass through those documents at all. Retirement accounts, life insurance, and annuities generally pass by beneficiary designation. Jointly titled property generally passes by titling. Both operate independently of a will.
Our role is the coordination layer. We make sure the designations and titling on the accounts we can see actually match the intent your attorney has written down, and we flag the places where they do not. Our firm is not permitted to offer tax or legal advice.
— What it includes —
What we review.
- Primary and contingent beneficiaries on every account you hold
- Whether those designations still reflect your current intentions
- Account titling and how it interacts with your documents
- Whether a trust named as beneficiary is titled the way your attorney intended
- How inherited retirement accounts are generally treated, and what that means for heirs
- Roth balances and how they differ for the people who inherit them
- Charitable intentions, where you have them, and how they might be funded
- A written summary your attorney and CPA can work from
— Our approach —
We coordinate. Your attorney drafts.
The work starts with a Purpose Conversation, because legacy is one of the places where the why matters most. Wanting to leave something to grandchildren, wanting to give to a church or a cause, and wanting to spend it all on the life you have now are all legitimate goals, and they produce different plans.
From there the work is concrete. We inventory the designations. We compare them with what your documents say. We identify the mismatches and bring them to you and your attorney. Where a document needs to change, your attorney changes it. Where a designation needs to change, we help you file the form.
We do not draft documents, give legal advice, or offer opinions on tax consequences. That division is not a limitation on the service; it is what keeps the advice you receive from each professional worth having.
— Why it matters —
A beneficiary form usually beats a will.
A retirement account generally goes to whoever is named on the beneficiary form, regardless of what a will says. A designation left in place after a divorce, a remarriage, or a death can send an account somewhere no one intended, and by the time anyone notices it is too late to fix.
Contingent beneficiaries are the other common gap. If a primary beneficiary predeceases you and no contingent is named, the account may pass under default plan rules rather than under your plan.
None of this requires a complicated estate. It requires someone checking the forms against the intent, on a schedule, which is a small piece of work with a very large downside when it is skipped.
— At a glance —
What passes by which mechanism.
| Asset | Generally passes by | Who keeps it current |
|---|---|---|
| IRA, 401(k), TSP | Beneficiary designation | You, with our review |
| Life insurance and annuities | Beneficiary designation | You, with our review |
| Jointly titled property | Titling | You and your attorney |
| Individually held assets | Will or trust | Your attorney |
General information only. Our firm is not permitted to offer tax or legal advice and no statement on this website shall constitute it. Consult your attorney or CPA regarding your individual situation.
— Common questions —
Estate questions we hear most.
Does my will control my retirement accounts?
How often should I review beneficiaries?
Do you write wills or trusts?
What happens to an IRA my children inherit?
Should I name a trust as my beneficiary?
— Related services —
Where legacy planning connects.
— Start here —
Let's check that the forms match the intent.
There is no cost and no obligation for a first conversation.
