I recently talked with Danielle Nuzzo, Senior Communication Manager at Trust and Will, an online estate planning platform. Given where she works, it’s no surprise she’s got her documents in order! That doesn’t mean she didn’t struggle a bit with certain decisions. Read on to hear more about her “real life” experience of getting her affairs in order.

Do you have all of your estate documents in place? 

Yes, but only because Trust & Will made it seamless to have all necessary documents to complete an estate plan. I currently have a Revocable Living Trust, Schedule of Assets, Certification of Trust, Living Will and Guardianship, Advance Healthcare Directive and HIPAA Authorization, as well as a Healthcare Power of Attorney. (See the Life in Motion Guide

When did you first create them?

I started on my estate plan the first week that I joined the Trust & Will team earlier this year. But I didn’t actually finish/sign/notarize my documents until a few months later. Even though I’m constantly telling everyone else that they need to get these documents in order, I somehow still found excuses and reasons to not just sit down and finish my own plan. 

Did you get ‘stuck’ on any part of the process?

Oh my goodness YES! I think the part of the process that took the longest was appointing a guardian for my daughter Zoey (2.5 years old). This was a really tough decision since all of our family lives out-of-state and we have no close relatives that would be up to the task of raising children. My husband and I scheduled time to sit down after work together when Zoey was asleep and make a pros/cons list of our potential guardians. We spent a lot of time and thought on this part of the estate plan and the only way we could do that was to get rid of all distractions of the day. That being said, we wound up doing most of our estate plan at 9 pm at night! 

Which document have you updated most recently? 

All of my documents were created this year. I had never even heard of an ‘estate plan’ before joining Trust & Will in January 2021 and I’m 37 years old. Money and financial planning was not something that my family ever talked about growing up. I kind of knew in the back of my mind that I should create a Will, but just never actually took the time to explore what that meant and all the tough decisions that come along with it. 

Which of the decisions did you find it hardest to make? 

I think the Healthcare elections were really heavy and tough to think about. It makes you contemplate your own life and what you think a ‘valuable’ life is. While making our estate plan, I learned a lot about my husband and my own preferences for end-of-life planning. We never talked about these topics before. Like where do we get buried? Or do we explore alternative funeral arrangements? Where do we want our child to grow up if we should both pass? It was really heavy but also critically important conversations to have as life partners and parents. 

Life in Motion Guide is a Trust & Will affiliate, which means if you use their digital estate planning product, I’ll get a small commission (at no extra cost to you.)

I chose to be an affiliate because Trust & Will makes it easy to start and keeps you engaged enough to FINISH your estate plan. I like that they clearly care about design and usability, not just the technical aspects of getting your estate plan done. I’m also impressed with their affordable plans and prices. For a straightforward estate (that’s most of us!) Trust & Will is a good choice.