Reports
Estate Planning Field Report - June 2026
There's a lot of planning gaps we're seeing over and over again.
This post is adapted from today's Next in Line newsletter for advisors:
As we spend more and more time with advisors and their clients, certain patterns emerge. This post highlights what we continue to see lacking.
When we look at clients who have no plan—or plans that no longer reflect reality—certain issues appear again and again. Three groups of people stand out in particular:
Young parents not understanding the need for a plan,
Successful adults who never quite get around to making a plan, and
Clients who misunderstand the role that a Will plays.
#1: Young Parents Are Still Delaying the Most Important Planning Conversation
Few life events create a stronger case for estate planning than the birth of a child. New parents update nearly every aspect of their financial lives. They purchase life insurance, review employee benefits, open college savings accounts and think carefully about their family's future. Yet estate planning often remains on the to-do list.
Many parents assume they don't have enough wealth to justify creating a Will. What they often fail to recognize is that the most important estate planning question for young families is often not a financial one; instead, it's a guardianship question.
If both parents were to pass away unexpectedly, who would raise their children?
A Will allows parents to formally nominate guardians and provide guidance regarding who they trust to step into that role. Without a Will, those decisions ultimately fall to a court. While courts strive to reach the right outcome, the process can create uncertainty and conflict among family members at precisely the moment stability is needed most.
But there’s another one. If something happened to both spouses while the children are minors, should the children really be handed their inheritance on their 18th birthday? This is what would happen without a trust. Everyone would agree that’s probably not the best idea…
In this regard, we’ve observed that young couples who are clients of financial advisors are much more likely to make an estate plan. So, especially if you have older clients, think about pitching estate planning to their children—it’s a great form of continuity.
#2: Successful Adults Continue to Treat Estate Planning as a Future Project
The second group is comprised of individuals who are financially successful, professionally accomplished and generally organized. They have investment accounts, retirement plans, insurance coverage and long-term financial goals. Yet they still do not have an estate plan.
The issue is rarely a lack of awareness. Most know they should create an estate plan. The problem is that estate planning lacks the urgency that drives action elsewhere in financial life. Taxes have filing deadlines. Insurance premiums come due. Estate planning always feels like something that can wait until next month.
Meanwhile, their lives become more complex. They acquire additional assets, have children, purchase real estate and accumulate retirement savings. Their financial lives continue to evolve while their estate planning remains unfinished.
Every adult already has an estate plan. The only question is whether they created it themselves or whether state law created it for them.
So, we suggest: consider treating your estate plan the same way you treat your business.
Would you take this risk with your business, or would you put a proper succession plan in place? Don’t do for your own family what you would never do for your own business.
#3: Most People Still Don't Understand The Role of the Will
Perhaps the most common source of confusion we encounter involves the relationship between probate assets and non-probate assets.
Many people assume that their Will controls everything they own. In reality, a large portion of household wealth passes outside of probate altogether. Retirement accounts transfer according to beneficiary designations. Life insurance proceeds generally pass directly to named beneficiaries. Joint accounts may transfer automatically to a surviving owner. Brokerage accounts often contain transfer-on-death designations.
As a result, a family's estate plan frequently exists in multiple places at once.
We routinely encounter former spouses listed as beneficiaries, children named outright despite the existence of trusts and newly opened accounts that were never coordinated with the overall estate plan. In many of these situations, the documents themselves are perfectly drafted, but the issue is implementation.
A beneficiary designation will control regardless of what the Will says. That's why reviewing account titling and beneficiary designations can be just as important as reviewing the estate planning documents themselves.
Yet—even if all of this is in place—many clients still believe the Will is the operative document. In reality, the Will often functions as a backstop. Assets with beneficiary designations or survivorship features generally pass outside of the Will entirely.
Nevertheless, you still need a Will. A Will remains essential because it governs assets that do pass through probate and can address guardianship and other critical issues that beneficiary designations cannot.
The Common Thread
In general, many foundational estate planning concepts remain misunderstood by clients. Continuing education makes a difference and should be reinforced for both clients and advisors. And in this case, the fundamentals remain key.
This post is adapted from today's Next in Line newsletter for advisors:
As we spend more and more time with advisors and their clients, certain patterns emerge. This post highlights what we continue to see lacking.
When we look at clients who have no plan—or plans that no longer reflect reality—certain issues appear again and again. Three groups of people stand out in particular:
Young parents not understanding the need for a plan,
Successful adults who never quite get around to making a plan, and
Clients who misunderstand the role that a Will plays.
#1: Young Parents Are Still Delaying the Most Important Planning Conversation
Few life events create a stronger case for estate planning than the birth of a child. New parents update nearly every aspect of their financial lives. They purchase life insurance, review employee benefits, open college savings accounts and think carefully about their family's future. Yet estate planning often remains on the to-do list.
Many parents assume they don't have enough wealth to justify creating a Will. What they often fail to recognize is that the most important estate planning question for young families is often not a financial one; instead, it's a guardianship question.
If both parents were to pass away unexpectedly, who would raise their children?
A Will allows parents to formally nominate guardians and provide guidance regarding who they trust to step into that role. Without a Will, those decisions ultimately fall to a court. While courts strive to reach the right outcome, the process can create uncertainty and conflict among family members at precisely the moment stability is needed most.
But there’s another one. If something happened to both spouses while the children are minors, should the children really be handed their inheritance on their 18th birthday? This is what would happen without a trust. Everyone would agree that’s probably not the best idea…
In this regard, we’ve observed that young couples who are clients of financial advisors are much more likely to make an estate plan. So, especially if you have older clients, think about pitching estate planning to their children—it’s a great form of continuity.
#2: Successful Adults Continue to Treat Estate Planning as a Future Project
The second group is comprised of individuals who are financially successful, professionally accomplished and generally organized. They have investment accounts, retirement plans, insurance coverage and long-term financial goals. Yet they still do not have an estate plan.
The issue is rarely a lack of awareness. Most know they should create an estate plan. The problem is that estate planning lacks the urgency that drives action elsewhere in financial life. Taxes have filing deadlines. Insurance premiums come due. Estate planning always feels like something that can wait until next month.
Meanwhile, their lives become more complex. They acquire additional assets, have children, purchase real estate and accumulate retirement savings. Their financial lives continue to evolve while their estate planning remains unfinished.
Every adult already has an estate plan. The only question is whether they created it themselves or whether state law created it for them.
So, we suggest: consider treating your estate plan the same way you treat your business.
Would you take this risk with your business, or would you put a proper succession plan in place? Don’t do for your own family what you would never do for your own business.
#3: Most People Still Don't Understand The Role of the Will
Perhaps the most common source of confusion we encounter involves the relationship between probate assets and non-probate assets.
Many people assume that their Will controls everything they own. In reality, a large portion of household wealth passes outside of probate altogether. Retirement accounts transfer according to beneficiary designations. Life insurance proceeds generally pass directly to named beneficiaries. Joint accounts may transfer automatically to a surviving owner. Brokerage accounts often contain transfer-on-death designations.
As a result, a family's estate plan frequently exists in multiple places at once.
We routinely encounter former spouses listed as beneficiaries, children named outright despite the existence of trusts and newly opened accounts that were never coordinated with the overall estate plan. In many of these situations, the documents themselves are perfectly drafted, but the issue is implementation.
A beneficiary designation will control regardless of what the Will says. That's why reviewing account titling and beneficiary designations can be just as important as reviewing the estate planning documents themselves.
Yet—even if all of this is in place—many clients still believe the Will is the operative document. In reality, the Will often functions as a backstop. Assets with beneficiary designations or survivorship features generally pass outside of the Will entirely.
Nevertheless, you still need a Will. A Will remains essential because it governs assets that do pass through probate and can address guardianship and other critical issues that beneficiary designations cannot.
The Common Thread
In general, many foundational estate planning concepts remain misunderstood by clients. Continuing education makes a difference and should be reinforced for both clients and advisors. And in this case, the fundamentals remain key.
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