fbpx

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

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

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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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...

Schedule a consultation with Apex today!

Creating a charitable trust was a benchmark of a lifetime…signing was a celebration of our ability to appreciate and thank two universities that empowered us; two schools in which we did our life work; and the church that sustained and steered us on our path. The gifts mean our work will continue after we are gone, developing citizens for the world and the future.”

“A lot of people don’t like to think about legacy issues, but Christy’s demeanor and process was extremely helpful and prompted important discussions. She helped us see the most tax-advantaged ways to leave an appropriate amount for our heirs—but also for ministries we care about—and effectively double our money.”

The discussions were very structured which helped keep us on track and stay focused on what we were there to accomplish. It also prompted my spouse and I to have follow-up discussions outside of our meetings.”

“The worksheets! The charts! The visual presentations were significantly better than numerical presentations. Sizes, proportions, and directions were represented. Suddenly I could “see the big picture.”

[Apex] provides a unique personalized service that is insightful, eye-opening, confidential, with patience to work with us through this important estate planning process.”

Share This