Legacy Planning Resources
We love helping people put together thoughtful legacy plans that fit their goals, values, and stage of life. But we also know that a full, comprehensive deep-dive isn’t right for everyone. We’ve put together all sorts of legacy-related tools and resources that our team and our clients use all the time. Whether you’re just starting to think about your legacy, or you’ve had a plan for years and want to look through it from a different angle, we hope these resources are helpful to you. If you get stuck or want to chat with one of our expert legacy consultants, let us know!
How to Guides
Blog Post Resources
4 Tips for Storing and Sharing Your Digital Assets
As legacy planners, we get a lot of questions about how to store important documents, photos, and other digital assets for the long haul...and how to securely share them with trusted loved ones who will play a role in our estate plans. We've written all about setting...
Including Pets in Your Legacy Plan
If you have a pet, I’m sure you’ve made plans for their care at some point. Maybe you were taking a vacation or had a busy workday and just wanted to ensure they were properly taken care of. Most of us don’t bat an eyelash at these forward-thinking plans for our furry...
Our Favorite Charitable Giving Tools (And Who Should Consider Them)
Our focus is on legacy planning…but we’re always helping donors identify the most effective ways to give charitably–starting now! There are CRUTs and CRATs and DAFs and ILITs and QCDs, and while we’ve just scratched the surface of the many charitable giving tools out...
7 Questions to Ask a Nonprofit Before Making a Major Gift
“We can give HOW much?!” That’s one of my favorite questions, and it’s one that comes up often with the people and families we work with. During meeting one of our legacy planning program, I do a “deep-dive” with clients. I learn about their family and their goals. I...
Travel Can Be Risky: Here’s How to Prep for Your Next Trip
People often want help "getting their ducks in a row" before a major life change or milestone. Another reason people reach out to Apex: international trips. It’s smart to prepare well, communicate your travel plans with loved ones, and take precautions for your safety...
Thinking Beyond the Checkbook: Consider Non-Cash Gifting Strategies
As a gift strategist at WaterStone, Stephanie Hoff helps donors envision creative and tax-efficient ways to make a difference for their favorite causes. We send some donors her way after they’ve created a full legacy plan–and want to set up trusts or donor-advised...
Plan (and Fund) Your Own Funeral As a Gift to Your Family
When you make key decisions about how you want to be remembered, you’ll make it the celebration you want while eliminating a significant burden for your family. Our family friend, Jean, loved to throw a good party. The woman had closets full of colorful, seasonal...
Legacy Planning Basics
If you’re a car dealership, it doesn’t take a lot of explaining for people to understand what you’re about and why they’d stop in to see you. When we say we’re legacy consultants, we sometimes get blank stares from people. People understand what a will is. They might...
How to be a Guardian or Minor’s/Spendthrift Trustee
Memorial Day is a chance to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. It’s a time to stop and think about those who gave their time–and some, their lives–in the name of freedom. It’s a precious time of remembrance and solitude. In a way, we live...
Guide to Powers of Attorney & Healthcare Directives
In our work, we spend a lot of time talking with clients about what will happen after they’re gone. We help them think through where their assets will go, who will handle their estate-related decisions, and who will take care of their children/pets if something...
How to: Communicate Your Legacy Plan
“It seems so easy or obvious to communicate a plan, but it’s amazing the reaction we get from families who see an estate document for the first time and can’t understand why the creator did it a certain way,” says Says Katie Kranz, Vice President of the Trust...
These Resources Didn’t Exist, So We Created Them
“There are just no resources out there for people like me.” That’s what my mom told me when she stepped in to help settle the estate of a third loved one within just a handful of years. As she is known to do, she then poured herself an extra-strong cup of coffee and...