Parents and new homeowners
Name the people you trust, address care for minor children, and make a plan for property and responsibilities.
Complete Estate Planning
A complete plan is more than a set of documents.
Your estate plan should reflect the people, property, and decisions that matter to you—and make the next steps clearer for the people you trust.
What complete estate planning means
A useful plan looks beyond the signing appointment. It considers the documents, the people named to act, the way assets are owned, and the instructions your family may one day need to follow.
- A will and, when appropriate, a revocable living trust.
- Guardianship wishes for minor children.
- Financial powers of attorney.
- Health care powers of attorney and living-will instructions.
- HIPAA or information-access authorization, as appropriate.
- Beneficiary designations and asset ownership.
- Trust-funding and probate-avoidance steps.
- Clear roles for executors, trustees, and other decision-makers.
A plan should fit the life you are living now
The right combination of documents and next steps depends on your life, property, relationships, and goals.
People approaching retirement
Review older documents and whether accounts, beneficiaries, and decision-makers still fit your current life.
Retired families
Update an outdated plan, clarify your wishes, and reduce avoidable uncertainty for the next generation.
Adults caring for parents
Begin practical conversations about authority, health-care wishes, documents, and where important information can be found.
Will-based or trust-based planning
There is no single document that is best for everyone. A will may be an appropriate foundation for one family, while a trust-based plan may better support another family's goals.
Jennifer explains the available structures, what each can and cannot do, and the practical steps that may follow. The goal is to understand the tradeoffs before choosing a plan.
Plan for decisions during your lifetime
Estate planning also addresses what may happen if illness or injury prevents you from making or communicating decisions. Powers of attorney and health-care directives let you choose who may act and provide written authority and guidance.
Choosing decision-makers carefully can help the people you trust understand their roles before they are asked to step in.
Explore each part of a complete plan
Learn how the documents, decision-makers, and asset details may work together before deciding what fits your circumstances.
Wills & Trusts
Compare will-based and trust-based approaches and understand the practical differences that may matter to your family.
Explore Wills & TrustsPowers of Attorney & Health Care Directives
Choose who may handle financial or health-care decisions if you cannot and provide written guidance for those responsibilities.
Plan for IncapacityProbate Avoidance & Asset Transfer
Review ownership, beneficiary designations, and trust-funding steps that may help assets transfer as intended.
Review Asset-Transfer StepsA careful approach to building your plan
Harlow Law Office explains the choices that shape both the legal documents and the practical next steps.
Begin with your circumstances
Discuss the people, property, relationships, and concerns your plan needs to address.
Understand the available choices
Jennifer explains the options in plain language so you can make a responsible decision.
Create the right documents
Build the will, trust, powers, directives, or related documents that fit the plan you choose.
Align the practical details
Review asset ownership, beneficiary choices, and trust-funding steps that may be needed for the plan to work as intended.
Make the next decision with a clearer understanding of your options.
Start with a conversation about what matters to you, who you trust, and what you want your plan to accomplish.