Crash Course in Wills & Trusts

(Last updated September 2026)

This Crash Course began around 1995 in Lexington, Kentucky, where I still live. My goal was to create a concise, practical guide explaining what experience had shown most people actually need to know about planning their estate. In other words: “getting your affairs in order.”

It is often the very last item on everyone’s to-do list, but getting your affairs in order is really just a series of bite-sized, manageable tasks. It isn’t rocket science.

Any hurdles you encounter are far more likely to be “people problems”—such as navigating complex family dynamics. But taking care of these tasks now is always easier, cheaper, and better than leaving your survivors with a chaotic mess.

With that in mind, I originally turned this material into a community college course. As the internet blew up in the late 90s, I taught myself HTML coding and built the predecessor to this website, also titled Crash Course in Wills and Trusts.

The digital course quickly gained popularity, and the publishing arm of Barnes & Noble asked me to write a book: Crash Course in Estate Planning. Eventually, AARP® took notice, had their legal team thoroughly review the text, and agreed to put their name on it. (Note: AARP® is not affiliated with this website and has not reviewed or endorsed its current contents.)

Now that I am semi-retired, I am reviving and updating my original website to stay active and remain helpful to others. Over the decades, I have gathered a wealth of additional experience dealing with real families, their practical questions, and their unique dilemmas. 

Because of that, I try to explain and organize the material here a bit differently—and hopefully better—than I did the first time around.

What We Will Cover

Together, we’ll examine wills, trusts, and a variety of other estate planning tools. We will also dive into the critical practical considerations you must weigh when choosing—or serving as—an executor, a trustee, or an agent under a power of attorney.

These are the individuals who take a will through probate court, carry out the specific instructions left in a trust, or manage your personal affairs if you are still breathing but unable to handle things yourself.

Choose the people who will fill these roles wisely. Despite their strict legal duties, they are in a position to take advantage of you or even steal from you. That is the blunt, unfortunate truth, and it happens far more often than people think. 

Because it is so important, I will repeat this warning—along with several other core concepts —multiple times throughout this site.

Moving forward, I will monitor visitor comments for general questions and new topics to cover in future updates. But please understand that nothing on this site or in any response constitutes legal advice. After all, I don’t know you or your family, and I’m not your lawyer.