Gentle Wisdom Estate Education
Prepare before you're needed. Get support when you are. Estate and legacy planning isn't only about creating legal documents. It's also about making sure you - and the people you love - have the information, organization, and practical understanding needed to navigate what comes next.
Gentle Wisdom Estate Education helps older adults, families, future personal representatives, trustees, and others navigate the practical side of estate planning and administration. Whether you are planning for your own future, preparing to take on responsibility for someone else, or already administering an estate, Gentle Wisdom provides education, planning guidance, resources, and practical support.
With more than 15 years of experience in estate and legacy services, Gentle Wisdom brings clarity, compassion, and practical knowledge to an unfamiliar process.
Estate Education & Planning
You don't have to wait until someone dies to start preparing - and you don't have to wait until your personal representative is involved to begin getting your own affairs organized. You may be wondering:
- Have I organized the information my family will eventually need?
- Would someone know where to find my important documents and accounts?
- Have I made my wishes clear beyond what is written in my legal documents?
- What information should I gather about my finances, property, insurance, and belongings?
- What should I tell the person I've chosen to handle my affairs?
- What questions should I be asking my attorney, financial advisor, or other professionals?
- What will my personal representative or trustee actually have to do?
- How can I make things easier for my family when the time comes?
You can begin preparing these answers now.
Gentle Wisdom provides education, consultations, presentations, resources, and individualized guidance to help people understand the practical side of estate and legacy planning. Future personal representatives and trustees can learn about their responsibilities before they are trying to figure everything out during a period of grief and stress.
You don't have to do all the planning in one day.
One step at a time.
The elephant is an important symbol for Gentle Wisdom. It represents steadiness, memory, and wisdom, as well as the idea that even an overwhelming responsibility becomes more approachable when handled one step at a time.
Estate planning and administration can feel like an elephant-sized responsibility. You don't have to tackle everything at once. The goal is to understand what matters, identify what needs to happen next, and keep moving forward one step at a time.
Estate Administration Assistance
When a loved one has died, knowing what to do first - and what to do next - can be difficult. Gentle Wisdom provides practical estate administration support for personal representatives, trustees, and families navigating the many responsibilities that follow a death. You may find yourself asking:
- Where do I even begin?
- What exactly am I responsible for?
- What needs to be done first, and what can wait?
- How do I organize all the paperwork and information I've found?
- What am I supposed to do with everything in the house?
- How do I coordinate all the different people and services involved?
- What if I live in another state or can't take time away from work?
- What if my family members don't agree about what should happen?
- When do I need an attorney, financial professional, tax professional, or other specialist?
- How do I keep track of everything so nothing important falls through the cracks?
- Is there someone who can help me with the practical work?
Gentle Wisdom helps you understand what comes next, organize the process, connect with appropriate resources, and provide practical support with the many tasks involved in estate administration - so you don't have to do it all alone.
Services
Legacy Organizing: Start the conversation and put a plan in place before the crisis
Estate Administration Services: Personalized assistance to bring order and clarity to the estate administration process
Paper Management/Organization: Simplify paperwork, reduce clutter, and create organized, accessible records
Personal Property Management and Inventories: Thoughtful organization and detailed inventories of personal belongings
Revocable Living Trust Funding: Assistance and accountability to help ensure assets are properly titled and aligned with your trust Legacy
Planning and Estate Administration Workshops: Practical education and meaningful conversations to help families plan ahead or help
Personal Representatives understand the process 1:1 Consulting: Personalized guidance and support tailored to your unique needs and circumstances
BOOK: What I Learned Working for Dead People: A Practical Guide to Funerals, Paperwork, and Clearing a Loved One's Home by Michelle Stellick. Available on Amazon.com, and most other online book retailers.
