When Better Report asked me about the estate planning mistakes that create the most trouble for families, five came to mind, and they match what I see in practice: having no plan at all, choosing fiduciaries late or badly, telling no one about the plan, never revisiting the documents, and planning for death but not for incapacity.
Most estate contests are not really about the law. They arise from surprise, from a sense that a sibling exercised influence, or from a decision that seemed arbitrary because it was never explained. Each of the five mistakes is a plan left unfinished, and the fix is the same: finish it, tell the people who need to know, and look at it again whenever life changes.
The full piece is at turnipseed.law.
