Death Readiness

Most people think a power of attorney allows someone to step into their shoes and handle anything that needs to be handled.

It doesn't.

A power of attorney can be an incredibly powerful document. It may allow someone to pay your bills, manage your bank accounts, communicate with financial institutions, and handle many aspects of your financial life.

But there are important limits.

For example, if you're serving as:
• Executor of an estate
• Trustee of a trust
• Conservator for a disabled adult
• Board member of a nonprofit
• Treasurer of an organization

The person you name as agent under your power of attorney cannot automatically take over those roles.

Why?

Because those positions don't belong to you personally. They exist because of an election, a court appointment, a governing document, or an organization's rules. Your power of attorney gives someone authority over your affairs, not over every responsibility in which you’re acting on someone else’s behalf.

This distinction matters more than many people realize.

Today, I share the story of a woman who discovered this limitation while helping a friend in hospice care, and how thoughtful estate planning ended up helping not only her family, but a young family she had never even met.

Check out the full episode here:

Why Your Power of Attorney Can't Do Everything When someone you love names you as agent under a power of attorney,...

One of the first things I tell clients is that your important documents need to be accessible when your family needs them.

This is not exactly what I had in mind.

Yesterday, our foster puppy decided to take possession of some legal papers and conduct his own review.

And it reminded me of something important: if your loved ones don't know where to find your estate planning documents, powers of attorney, passwords, and key account information, they may spend weeks, or months, trying to piece everything together during an already difficult time.

Estate planning isn't just about having documents. It's about making sure the right people can actually find them when they need them.

And preferably before the dog does.

P.S. Michael may not be qualified to handle your estate planning documents, but he is qualified to steal your heart. He's available for adoption through Detroit Dog Rescue

Most people spend a lot of time deciding who they want to name in their estate plan.

Who will serve as executor or trustee or act under a power of attorney.

Far fewer people ask a much simpler question:

Will that person actually agree to do it?

I recently worked with a family whose loved one had created a trust to avoid probate. He had thoughtfully chosen a corporate trustee because he wanted neutrality between his second wife and his children from his first marriage.

There was just one problem.

The bank declined to serve.

The trust assets didn't meet the bank's minimum requirements, and no other corporate trustee was willing to step in. The result? The trust remained stuck for 14 years before the family was able to move forward.

Estate planning isn't just about putting names into documents.

It's about asking the practical questions:
• Is this person willing to serve?
• Does this institution know I've named them?
• What happens if my first choice can't do the job?
• Do I have a Plan B?

A plan that works in theory isn't enough.

The people you love deserve a plan that works in real life.

I share the full story, along with what corporate trustees do and the questions to ask before naming one, in this week's episode of The Death Readiness Podcast.

Check out here:

What You Need to Know About Corporate Trustees Michael thought he had done everything right. He created a revocabl...

Every morning on my run, my dog makes a stop at a house in the neighborhood where a very kind woman leaves out ice water for passing dogs.

She fills a heavy bowl, places it in the shade under a tree, and freezes a huge block of ice so that the water stays cold even on hot days. It takes planning, effort and valuable freezer space.

And yet, she does it anyway.

It got me thinking about the small things we can do to care for the people we love after we're gone, or during a crisis when they need us most.

You don't have to create the perfect estate plan in a weekend.
But what if you just did one thing?

One podcast listener emailed me this weekend to say that the worksheet I shared—Healthscape: My Health Story and Who Knows How to Fix Me—was a lifesaver. Literally.

So here's your gentle nudge: Fill out a health information sheet. Write down your medications and make a list of your doctors.

I've linked to the worksheet in the comments. Take ten minutes to complete it, then share it with someone who might need to advocate for you someday.

Sometimes love looks like a bowl of cold water waiting under a tree. And sometimes it looks like making life a little easier for the people who love you most.

Yesterday, my doctor asked me what I had eaten the day before.

I told her about the eggs, the watermelon, the grilled cheese, the yogurt and the sweet potatoes.

What I somehow failed to mention was the baklava I ate after dinner.

She gently suggested that the four slices of bread I'd eaten that day might have been a little carb-heavy. At that point, I decided introducing the baklava into the conversation would probably overwhelm everyone involved.

But it got me thinking...

I really hope people don't do the same thing when we're talking about estate planning.

The things people are most tempted to leave out are often the things I most need to know.

The estranged child, the second marriage, the “temporary” loan to a sibling, the house that’s still in Mom’s name even though she died 13 years ago, the beneficiary designation that names your ex-spouse, the adult child you’re worried about inheriting money outright.

The embarrassing, complicated parts are often the most important parts.

I'm not judging anyone’s baklava.

I'm just trying to help you build a plan that actually works.

“Why can't we just distribute the inheritance and close the estate?”

I hear this question from clients all the time. And I understand the frustration.

Probate can feel painfully slow. There are court filings, deadlines, paperwork, beneficiaries asking when they'll receive their inheritance, and the constant reminder that someone you loved has died.

But here's what many people don't realize: Closing an estate doesn't automatically erase a creditor's rights.

In Tennessee, a creditor may have up to one year from the date of death to file a claim against the estate, even if the court has already allowed distributions to beneficiaries.

This means that if beneficiaries receive their inheritances too early and a valid creditor later appears, those beneficiaries may have to give some of the money back.

A few takeaways for anyone serving as an executor:

✔️ Don't ignore unopened mail or outstanding bills.
✔️ Formal creditor notice requirements matter.
✔️ “Everybody knows the bill is valid” isn't a substitute for following the legal process.
✔️ Sometimes the hardest part of probate is simply having the patience to let the process work the way it's designed to work.

I break it all down in today’s episode:

How Creditors Can Delay a Probate Estate Can you open a probate estate, distribute the assets, close the fil...

New foster puppy alert 🚨

Meet Michael (Jackson) from Detroit Dog Rescue

Michael is foster puppy #4 in our house. So far, our foster track record is pretty good—Boots, Padme Amidala, and Han Solo all found their forever families. ❤️

This weekend, Michael and his sister Janet said goodbye after Saturday’s adoption event and are now each searching for homes of their own.

Michael's qualifications include:

✔️ Professional snuggler
✔️ Enthusiastic shoe collector (whether you volunteered your shoes or not)
✔️ 13/10 good boy

If you're looking for a cuddle buddy and don’t mind keeping a close eye on your footwear, Michael just might be your perfect match.

This photo makes me laugh.

In 2005, I graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in Russian language and literature. I worked hard and got good grades.

And yet, on graduation day, I was holding a blank piece of paper.

Why?

Because I forgot to pay my final month's rent.

The day before graduation, I checked my campus mailbox for the first time in ages and discovered a notice informing me that my diploma was being withheld until I paid my bill. So while my classmates posed with their diplomas, I posed with a blank sheet of paper.

My mother thought it was hilarious.

The older I get, the more I realize that most mistakes don't happen because we're careless or unintelligent. They happen because we don't know what we don't know.

That's one of the reasons I'm so passionate about making estate planning more approachable.

Most people aren't avoiding it because they're irresponsible. They're avoiding it because nobody has ever explained it to them.

We're all learning as we go.

Some lessons just happen to come with a blank diploma.

When I was 30 years old, I was already an estate planning attorney.

I still didn't have a Will.

What I did have were the three documents I think matter most for many young adults:

✅ A healthcare power of attorney
✅ An advance directive
✅ A financial power of attorney

Most young adults don't need a trust fund strategy.

They need someone who can:
• Talk to doctors if they can't speak for themselves
• Handle finances if they're incapacitated
• Know what medical treatment they would want
• Find important information in an emergency

I think one of the reasons young people often put off estate planning is that nobody has ever explained it to them. We tend to treat estate planning as something you do after retirement, after kids, or after you've accumulated wealth.

But bad things happen to young people, too.

The good news is that estate planning isn't a pass/fail test. You don't need everything at once.

Adding a beneficiary designation is a step.

Signing a healthcare power of attorney is a step.

Documenting your wishes is a step.

Writing down information for the people who love you is a step.

Check out the full episode here:

What You Need to Know About Estate Planning at 30 What estate planning documents does a healthy 30-year-old actually ...

As a solopreneur who just started practicing on my own, I’m still bringing my own mail to the local post office.

And it’s become one of my favorite parts of the day, especially with our newest foster puppy riding shotgun.

Starting your own business isn’t glamorous. There isn’t a giant team or a mailroom. Sometimes it’s just you, your laptop, and a Detroit Dog Rescue puppy.

And there’s something very real about it.

You build the systems yourself, carry the responsibility yourself and show up before everything looks polished. Little by little, something meaningful starts taking shape.

So, here’s to the unglamorous parts!