Natural disasters seem to occur more frequently now more than ever, so I thought it might be a good time for us to secure the things we hold precious and in physical form. Photos, passports, family stories and mementos, social security cards, tax records, estate planning binders, and so on. But, how do we store them? One idea is to digitize these items and scan them so they can be stored as digital assets.

Incredibly, we are more than halfway through the year 2021. As the summer boils on and Cambridge continues to reopen, we hope you are all staying cool and refreshed, while still enjoying the bounties a New England summer has to offer. We are eager to continue cautiously returning to the office and, with the return to our home away from home, we are also thrilled to announce another new addition to our Estate Planning/Administrative team.

As we emerge from the pandemic, we are slowly welcoming back clients into our office. This is allowing us to conduct more in-person meetings and schedule what may be one of our most important services: the Family Legacy Meeting. Never has it felt so satisfying to connect with other members of our community and we hope to take full advantage of this newly regained privilege.

I am delighted to announce the release of my second book, The Inheritor’s Guide: A Legal, Financial, and Emotional Guide for Adult Children Managing Their Parents' Legacy. The Inheritor’s Guide is a manual for anyone who has lost a parent and wants to gain an understanding of the step-by-step process of transitioning wealth from one generation to the next.

Today, we celebrate #NationalLegacyDay, a day where we encourage you to review your estate plan and ensure your legacy documents are in order and up to date. Each year on May 24th, we recommend a comprehensive review of wills, trusts, health care directives, funding, passwords, and all the documents needed to secure one’s legacy, gain peace of mind, and make things easy for loved ones.

Navigating the probate process for an estate plan after losing a loved one can be a similar experience to Dorothy traveling on the yellow brick road - confusing and filled with unexpected surprises. Read our latest newsletter, authored by Kristin Dzialo, to learn more about the probate process and hopefully minimize any ‘flying monkeys’ or ‘wicked witches’ for you and your loved ones on this journey.