About The Estate Planning Guide

The Estate Planning Guide is an independent information site about wills, trusts, probate, life insurance, funeral planning, and the decisions that protect the people you love.

We are a publisher, not a seller. We don’t sell legal services, insurance policies, or financial products. We don’t collect your phone number. We don’t run sales calls. We write plain-English guides, cite our sources, and try to be useful.

Why this site exists

Estate planning is a heavy topic. Most of the content out there is either confusingly technical (written by attorneys for other attorneys) or aggressively sales-driven (written to sell you a $3,000 trust package whether you need one or not).

We started this site because the people we love deserve better content than that — and so do you.

The voice we aim for is the one a knowledgeable friend would use at the kitchen table: honest, plain-English, no pressure, no scare tactics. When the honest answer to a question is “you don’t need this product,” we say so. When something is genuinely worth doing, we explain why, with numbers and sources.

What we cover

The site is organized into a few clusters:

• Estate planning basics — what an estate plan is, what documents belong in one, who actually needs more than the basics.
• Probate — what it is, how it works, what it costs, how to avoid it (with state-specific guides for the most populous US states).
• Wills — how to write one, what makes it valid, and when a trust is the better tool.
• Life and final expense insurance — how much coverage you need, term vs. whole life, when the honest answer is “you don’t need this.”
• Funeral costs — what funerals actually cost, your rights under the FTC Funeral Rule, and how to spend less without spending poorly.
• What to do when someone dies — a calm, step-by-step checklist for the hard days.

Our editorial principles

These are the rules we apply to every page:

1. Honest first. If the honest answer is “you don’t need this,” we say so. Even on pages where saying so loses us potential affiliate income.
2. Plain English. No legal jargon without translation. No technical insurance terms without a definition.
3. Sources cited. Every meaningful number, every legal rule, every premium range has a named source. State-specific facts cite the statute.
4. Real numbers as ranges. “$2,500–$5,000 for a flat-fee will” is more useful than “about $3,750.”
5. Educational only. Every page carries an educational-only disclaimer. We don’t give legal, tax, insurance, or financial advice — we explain how things generally work so you can have a better-informed conversation with a licensed professional in your state.
6. No scare tactics. No fake urgency. No guilt. No invented horror stories.
7. Affiliate links disclosed. Where we link to a product or service we may earn from, it’s disclosed at the top and bottom of the page.

For more on where the facts come from, see How We Research.

Who writes this

The Estate Planning Guide is independently operated. Content is researched against primary sources (state statutes, IRS publications, NFDA data, LIMRA studies, state bar associations) and cross-checked against established secondary sources. Where a fact may have changed since publication, we tag it for re-verification before relying on it.

We are not licensed attorneys, insurance agents, or financial advisors. We do not provide individualized advice. For decisions specific to your situation, talk to a qualified professional in your jurisdiction.

What we won’t do

• Capture your phone number.
• Sell or share your information.
• Send you to a sales agent who works on commission.
• Recommend products without disclosing whether we earn from them.
• Tell you that you need a $3,000 trust when a $300 will would do.
• Use scare tactics, guilt, or false urgency to push you toward decisions.

Corrections and feedback

If you find an error, a fact that’s gone stale, or a page that needs work, please let us know via the Contact page. Corrections are made publicly with a dated note at the bottom of the affected page.

Disclosures

This site is supported by display advertising (Google AdSense) and, on some pages, affiliate links to insurance comparison services and legal document providers. Where affiliate links appear, they are clearly disclosed at the top and bottom of the page. Editorial decisions — what we cover, how we cover it, what we recommend — are made independently of any advertising or affiliate relationship.

For our full legal disclaimer, see the Disclaimer page. For privacy practices, see Privacy.