How to Start the Estate Planning Conversation with Your Parents
By Spiro Verras
A conversation about estate planning can begin with care rather than urgency. You may want to understand how your parents would like to be helped, who they trust to make decisions, and where important information can be found. The purpose is to support their choices...
How Is My Property Transferred at Death?
By Spiro Verras
Property can pass at death in several different ways. Understanding the route for each asset helps you coordinate the plan, estimate the work your family may face, and avoid unintended gaps between a will and other arrangements.
Property passing through probateA will generally directs the distribution...
Attorney Spiro Verras Interviewed by Andrew Chen for Hack Your Wealth
Interview with Spiro Verras, hosted by Andrew Chen. Current-law notes by Spiro Verras. Updated October 26, 2026.
In this Hack Your Wealth interview, first published by the host on October 6, 2020, Spiro Verras joined Andrew Chen to discuss wills, trusts, probate, planning for incapacity and family business succession....
Don’t Forget to Alter Your Estate Plan When You Divorce
By Spiro Verras
Divorce changes many of the assumptions on which an estate plan may have been built. Reviewing the plan during the process, and again after the judgment, can help you make informed choices about your property, your children and the people authorized to assist you.
Begin with...Times to Consider Updating Your Estate Plan
By Spiro Verras
An estate plan should grow with your life. You do not need to revise every document after every change, but certain events are good reasons to check whether the plan still reflects your wishes and works with your current assets.
A marriage, divorce, or change in...An estate plan for avoiding probate
By Spiro Verras
An estate plan should give every important asset a clear route to its intended recipient. Some assets pass through probate, some through a trust, and others through beneficiary designations or survivorship ownership. Coordinating those routes helps your family carry out your wishes with confidence.
What Is a Legacy Trust?
By Spiro Verras
A legacy trust is an estate planning tool used to manage an inheritance over time rather than distributing assets outright. It can help you support loved ones, set conditions for distributions, and preserve family wealth according to your priorities.
“Legacy trust” is a planning...
Estate Planning When You Have Young Children
By Spiro Verras
Estate planning helps parents prepare for the people and responsibilities that matter most. Even when children are young and finances are still developing, a plan can identify trusted caregivers, arrange financial management and give others authority to help if needed.
Estate Planning When You Have...Ensuring the Most Vulnerable Have an Estate Plan
By Spiro Verras
Illness, disability, or a move to a care facility can make planning feel more difficult just when clear arrangements are especially valuable. A thoughtful approach helps the person receiving care remain at the center of the decisions, with support suited to that person's abilities and...
Estate Planning Lessons from the Coronavirus Pandemic
By Spiro Verras
Historical context: This article began as a discussion of estate planning during the early COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The original case counts and predictions about a future estate-tax reduction are no longer current. The continuing lesson is the value of making a practical plan before...