Estate planning

Woman kissing child on the forehead while another woman holds him in a doorway.
by Brad Cummings • 11 October 2026
A Family Care Plan isn’t a will. How parents name a guardian, keep SGLI and TSP money out of a court-supervised account, and split the guardian and trustee roles.
Two people talking on a bench in a garden, with potted plants behind them.
by Brad Cummings • 3 October 2026
Every estate document hands authority to a person. How the three fiduciary roles differ, what each one requires, and the veteran-specific pieces most plans miss.
Notebook with pen on a wooden table by a window, with a house visible outside.
by Brad Cummings • 20 September 2026
An unfunded trust protects nothing. What funding means, which assets go in, which stay out, and why the pour-over will isn't the backstop you think.
Four people sit talking on a patio around a coffee table in a covered outdoor seating area.
by Brad Cummings • 6 September 2026
Leaving everything outright to a second spouse can disinherit your children. The trust structure that protects both, plus the veteran-specific traps.
Desk with framed quote, folded U.S. flag, planning books, and a notebook with pen.
by Brad Cummings • 2 August 2026
Estate plans go stale quietly. The life events, and the veteran-specific ones like rating changes and new diagnoses, that mean it's time for an update.
Three open white notebooks on a dark desk with a pen, glasses, and a small potted plant
by Brad Cummings • 25 July 2026
The estate plan's hardest job is incapacity, not death. The durable POA, health care directives, and veteran-specific wrinkles your plan needs while alive.
Young child in a pink dress and tiara, smiling while seated in a black chair
by Brad Cummings • 20 July 2026
A direct inheritance can cancel the benefits a disabled loved one lives on. How special needs trusts protect both the money and the safety net beneath it.
Rifle display on a wooden rack in a western-style storefront, with a sign above and shelves below
by Brad Cummings • 15 July 2026
Firearms are the one estate asset where an executor's mistake is a federal crime. How wills fall short, what gun trusts do, and the plan veterans need.
Hands holding a house icon with a family silhouette inside on a yellow background
by Brad Cummings • 12 July 2026
What a will actually does, when a trust earns its cost, and the veteran-specific pieces, from old SGLI beneficiaries to the VA folder your family needs.
Desk with a stack of papers, labeled document box, framed photo, and coffee mug by a window
by Brad Cummings • 6 July 2026
VA compensation stops at death, but a pending claim, unpaid benefits, and DIC can survive. What your family can claim, and the one-year clock they can't miss.