Life Events

Life events that change your financial picture

Major life events create planning needs that most people aren't prepared for. Find your situation below.

Business & Wealth

Selling a Business

A business sale is the highest-stakes estate planning moment most owners will ever face.

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Receiving an Inheritance

An inheritance can push a household into estate planning complexity they've never had to manage before.

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Large RSU Vest or Liquidity Event

A large RSU vest or IPO/acquisition event can double your taxable estate in a single year.

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Starting a Business

A new business changes your estate plan, your liability exposure, and your tax picture from day one.

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Selling a Home

A home sale at the $2M–$30M level often generates significant taxable gain and changes your estate picture materially.

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Multi-State Real Estate

Owning real estate in multiple states means multiple probate proceedings — unless you plan around it.

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Estate Tax Law Change

The federal estate tax exemption is scheduled to be cut nearly in half at the end of 2025 — affecting millions of households that were previously below the threshold.

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First-Time High Net Worth

Crossing $2M in net worth for the first time is the moment most people's existing planning becomes inadequate.

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Major Job or Income Change

A major job change — promotion, new employer, or departure — creates a cascade of financial and estate planning decisions that most people handle reactively.

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Family & Relationships

Death of a Spouse

The death of a spouse triggers legal and financial deadlines most surviving spouses don't know exist.

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Divorce

Divorce restructures every dimension of your estate plan — most of it urgently.

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New Child or Grandchild

A new child or grandchild changes who your estate goes to — and who raises them if something happens to you.

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Getting Married

Marriage merges two financial lives — and creates planning obligations most couples don't address until it's too late.

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Remarriage and Blended Family

Remarriage with children from a prior relationship is one of the most legally complex estate planning situations that exists.

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Aging Parent Needs Care

When a parent needs care, their estate plan — and yours — both need immediate attention.

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Loss of a Parent

Losing a parent often triggers an inheritance — and the planning obligations that come with it.

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Child Reaching Adulthood

When a child turns 18, they gain full legal capacity — which changes your estate plan in ways most parents miss.

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Health & Retirement

Serious Health Diagnosis

A serious diagnosis makes incapacity planning urgent — not someday, right now.

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Approaching Retirement

The 5 years before retirement are the highest-leverage planning window most people ever have.

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Disability or Early Retirement

Disability before retirement is one of the most financially devastating events a household can face — and one of the least planned for.

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5-Year Plan Review

An estate plan that was right 5 years ago is probably wrong today.

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RMD Start Age (73)

Required Minimum Distributions begin between age 72 and 75 — and the planning decisions you make before that birthday have decade-long tax consequences.

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Medicare Eligibility (65)

Missing the Medicare enrollment window at 65 causes permanent premium penalties that last for life.

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Social Security Timing Decision

The Social Security claiming decision affects lifetime income by $100K–$300K for most households — and most people make it without analysis.

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Not sure which applies? Take our planning assessment →