3 Priorities for My Estate Plan
Estate planning is rarely easy to think about. It can bring up deeply personal concerns about loss, incapacity, and how those we care about will be affected in our absence. These are sensitive, emotionally charged topics, and it can be tempting to delay the conversation. But the truth is that not making decisions now only creates harder ones for loved ones later. Thoughtful planning can preserve your wishes, your assets, and the well-being of those you care about.
At Cobb Cole, we’ve helped families across generations work through these conversations and craft legally sound estate plans that prioritize both clarity and compassion. Whether you’re starting from scratch or revisiting an older plan, these three priorities are a powerful place to begin.
1. Preserving Control: Health and Financial Decisions During Incapacity
One of the most overlooked aspects of estate planning is that it needs to happen while you’re still alive. Illness, injury, or cognitive decline can happen without warning. Without a plan, families often struggle to make decisions or access accounts.
A strong estate plan addresses these contingencies with two essential documents:
- Durable Power of Attorney (DPOA): This allows someone you trust to manage financial matters if you are unable to do so. It can cover everything from paying bills to managing property.
- Health Care Power of Attorney / Advance Health Care Directive: These outline your wishes regarding medical treatment and designate someone to make healthcare decisions on your behalf.
These documents are all about realistically planning for the unexpected, and while you hope (as we do) to never need them, not having them when you do need them can result in truly tragic and traumatic scenarios.
Having these tools in place often spares families from court intervention or conflict during already difficult moments. It also ensures your voice is heard—even when you can’t speak for yourself.
2. Clarity About Who Gets What and How
Every estate plan should answer two questions:
- What happens to my assets when I die?
- Who handles the process?
Wills, beneficiary designations, and, in many cases, trusts, are used to provide those answers. These tools don’t just transfer assets; they prevent uncertainty, minimize disputes, and reduce costs and court involvement.
Depending on your goals and the complexity of your assets, your estate plan may include:
- Last Will and Testament: Specifies beneficiaries, names a personal representative, and appoints guardians for minor children.
- Revocable Living Trust: Allows for asset management and distribution while avoiding probate.
- Updated Beneficiary Designations: For retirement accounts, insurance policies, and payable-on-death accounts.
In Florida, improper titling or outdated beneficiary forms are a common cause of litigation after death. Taking time to coordinate your documents can prevent surprises and delays for your loved ones.
The importance of clarity cannot be overstated for estate planning, and when you don’t have an estate plan at all, you may leave your loved ones in a position of uncertainty and potential conflict that makes your bequests more burdensome than beneficial.
The legal soundness of an estate plan goes hand in hand with clarity and a lack of ambiguity. In fact, many of the legal disputes around wills and testamentary bequests revolve around interpreting something unclear in the drafted documents. To avoid challenges and ensure your last wishes hold up under legal scrutiny, working with a seasoned estate lawyer like Kathleen Crotty is almost always a much better choice than attempting a DIY or internet-based approach.
3. Reducing Conflict, Preserving Family Relationships
At its core, estate planning is an act of care. It protects those left behind from uncertainty and reduces the risk of disputes. Most people want to avoid the following:
- Legal challenges to their will or trust
- Unclear instructions leading to conflict among siblings or heirs
- Unexpected tax burdens that diminish what beneficiaries receive
Even simple planning steps can make a major difference. Choosing a capable personal representative, using plain language in your documents, and updating your plan as life changes (births, deaths, divorce, asset shifts) all contribute to peace of mind.
Family dynamics are rarely simple, especially across generations. That’s why Cobb Cole’s Estate Planning team often takes the time to work with entire families—not just individuals—to build plans that address generational wealth transfer, family business succession, and shared decision-making.
Additional Considerations
While these three priorities anchor most estate plans, others often follow naturally:
- Minimizing tax burdens, especially when estates involve significant real estate or business interests.
- Business succession planning for those who own companies or family enterprises.
- Legacy planning, such as charitable giving, education trusts, or other long-term goals.
- Avoiding probate, particularly in Florida, where the probate process can be costly and time-consuming.
But regardless of those details, the unifying principle is this: Estate planning gives clarity and guidance to reduce stress, conflict, and uncertainty.
Why Legal Guidance Matters
Online templates and DIY solutions can give the illusion of preparedness, but too often, they fail to deliver where it counts: in court. A form that isn’t executed properly, doesn’t follow state law, or contradicts another document can trigger costly disputes.
At Cobb Cole, our Estate Planning group includes attorneys who focus exclusively on this area, working side by side with colleagues in business law, tax law, litigation, real estate, and family law. That means we’re equipped to answer not just estate questions, but those that intersect with your entire financial and personal life.
Attorney Kathleen Crotty, for example, brings both technical fluency and compassionate counsel to her work with individuals and families at every stage of life.
Cobb Cole’s Estate Planning team takes pride in working closely with you to develop customized estate planning to meet the needs of your unique situation. Working with a Firm like Cobb Cole means you always have access to a legal team that understands the bigger picture, especially when it comes to asset preservation, multi-generational planning, or evolving tax and probate rules.
Planning for incapacity, creating clarity for asset distribution, and reducing conflict are the backbone of any well-crafted estate plan. While each person’s priorities will differ, nearly everyone benefits from having clear, up-to-date documents and a thoughtful plan. These are hard conversations, but they only get harder when they’re avoided.
An estate plan isn’t something you draft once and forget. It should be reviewed regularly, especially after a marriage, birth, divorce, or major asset change. It’s also an opportunity to make sure your documents still reflect your values and wishes.
Your life will change. Your plan should, too.
If you’re ready to talk through your next steps, our team is here to listen, clarify, and help you move forward. Not just with documents—but with confidence.
Explore our Estate Planning group or schedule a conversation today.
