I was a very competitive distance runner in high school. Cross country races in New York were freezing at the starting line, but once the race got going, I’d overheat. And because of the uniform rules, whatever I wore had to stay underneath my racing singlet.

Death Readiness Dispatch

May 13, 2026

Hi there,

 

I was a very competitive distance runner in high school. Cross country races in New York were freezing at the starting line, but once the race got going, I’d overheat. And because of the uniform rules, whatever I wore had to stay underneath my racing singlet.

 

So my mom and I came up with a solution. We took a long-sleeve shirt, cut the sleeves off, and reattached them with Velcro. Mid-race, I could rip the sleeves off without breaking stride. Today, you can buy removable sleeves at any running store. But in the late 90s, we were just out there inventing things on our own.

That creativity is often necessary with estate planning, too. Sometimes you don’t get to start over with a perfectly clean slate. Sometimes the goal is figuring out what still works, what authority already exists, and how to creatively adapt to the reality in front of you.

When a dementia diagnosis changes the plan

This week’s Tuesday Triage question came from a listener whose father has dementia. The family was told it was “too late” to update the estate plan. But is it?

 

Today, I walk through:
• What powers of attorney may still allow families to do,
• Why how assets are titled matters just as much as the documents themselves,
• The difference between probate and non-probate property,

• Why many revocable trusts were never properly funded in the first place, 
• And how families may still be able to create meaningful planning opportunities even after capacity changes.

One of the biggest misconceptions I see is people assuming that once dementia enters the picture, all planning stops. That’s not always true. Often the focus simply shifts from creating an entirely new plan to understanding and creatively using the tools already in place.

The Death Readiness Playbook

This episode is a reminder that “too late” and “perfectly prepared” are not the only options. The Death Readiness Playbook helps you start where you are and move forward from there.

Thanks for being here.

PS:  Curious what's inside the Playbook?