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Americans 60 and older reported $7.75 billion in losses to the FBI in 2025, up 59% in a single year. The newest scams (AI voice clones, fake government calls, gold couriers) are built to fool careful people, which means “just be careful” isn’t a plan anymore. In this episode, Michael Haslam and Brian Edwards break down how the latest scams actually work and how an estate plan can be designed to make them harder. They explain the “safe and wallet” idea: keep everyday spending money accessible, and keep larger assets in a trust where an independent distribution trustee has to sign off before money moves. They share a real client story where a fake “grandson in jail” call ended with a signed document that carried no authority, and close with free tools anyone can set up this week. Key Takeaways: The Safe and the Wallet: Everyday accounts stay easy to use, while larger assets sit in a trust where moving them takes a second person. It limits how much a scam can take, though no setup is foolproof.The Distribution Trustee: A second decision-maker who approves large withdrawals, with no say over how the money is invested or spent. When a caller demands money right now, there’s a built-in pause.Checks on the Checker: Fraud often comes from family and friends too. A trust advisor who can replace a trustee, a trusted team (attorney, financial advisor, banker), a co-trustee, or a corporate fiduciary all help keep everyone honest.Free Tools for This Week: A credit freeze, a ChexSystems freeze, a family safe word for voice-clone calls, and the habit of hanging up and calling back on a number you already have.Michael Haslam and Brian Edwards are practicing attorneys at Voyant Legal in Utah. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Visit voyantlegal.com or call 801.951.0500.

An estimated 7.4 million Americans age 65 and older are living with Alzheimer's or dementia, about 1 in 9. Chances are good you know someone, and chances are also good their family didn't plan for how fast it can move. In this episode, Nathan Croxford and Taylor Stone explain what to put in place before a loved one loses the capacity to sign anything. They cover the two documents that matter most, why a name on a parent's bank account isn't a plan, how to choose between a springing and an immediate power of attorney, and why those documents still matter even if a court-supervised guardianship or conservatorship ends up being needed. Key Takeaways: The Closing Window: Cognitive decline can move from a little forgetfulness to a loss of capacity faster than most families expect. Once someone can't sign, the power of attorney is off the table and a court proceeding is the only path left.The Bank Account Shortcut: Adding your name to a parent's account may solve some problems, but it won't handle things like a retirement plan election, and a co-owner's own financial trouble can put a parent's money at risk.Springing vs. Immediate: A springing power of attorney requires proof of incapacity, usually a physician's letter. An immediate one lets your agent help on good days and bad days. Which fits depends on the family's situation.The Seatbelt and the Airbag: Even when documents don't prevent a later guardianship, the person you named gets top priority under the appointment statute, which can keep the process streamlined and out of family disputes.Nathan Croxford and Taylor Stone are practicing attorneys at Voyant Legal in Utah. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Visit voyantlegal.com or call 801.951.0500.

Not all estate plans are created equal, and most people have no way to tell the difference until it's too late. In this roundtable episode, Michael Haslam, Taylor Stone, Brian Edwards, and Cody Millward get candid about what separates real expertise from checkbox planning. They walk through what they actually see when a client brings in a plan built somewhere else (trusts that were never funded, revocable living trusts drafted with no Medicaid protection despite claiming otherwise, documents with blank fields nobody caught), the exact questions that reveal whether an attorney knows their craft, and what genuine experience looks like from the inside. Key Takeaways: The Funding Gap: A trust is only as good as what's actually inside it. One attorney describes a family who paid for a complete trust, but the house deed was never transferred, meaning the asset protection clock never started.What Expertise Actually Costs: A real estate plan takes real time. A quote far below what other firms charge is a sign of shortcuts happening behind the scenes, and the family pays for it later.The Questions That Reveal an Expert: How will you help me fund my trust? What happens if my trustee and beneficiaries disagree? What did you consider and rule out for my plan, and why?The Special Needs Blind Spot: Most trusts the attorneys review never address what happens if a child later qualifies for state benefits, a gap that can force a family to spend down assets before that child can requalify. Michael Haslam, Taylor Stone, Brian Edwards, and Cody Millward are practicing attorneys at Voyant Legal in Utah. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Visit voyantlegal.com or call 801.951.0500.

In one year, the share of Americans who trust AI more than an attorney for estate planning jumped from 20% to 30%, the biggest single-year shift Trust & Will has measured in six years of surveying. Among Gen Z, that number is 46%. In this episode, Michael Haslam and Brian Edwards break down what that shift actually looks like in their own practice: clients showing up more educated after researching with AI, clients arriving with long AI-generated lists of "suggestions" that take real time to sort through, and the rare but real case of someone trying to treat a fully AI-drafted document as finished. They lay out where AI genuinely helps, where it creates more work than it saves, and the one question that changes everything: have you asked your attorney if they've run your plan through AI themselves. Key Takeaways: The Trust Shift: AI trust for estate planning jumped from 20% to 30% in a single year. But only 5% of people say they'd use AI to create documents with zero attorney review.The "AI Slop" Problem: A long list of AI-generated suggestions often runs 80% irrelevant, and sorting the real recommendations from the noise costs real attorney time and client money.Ask Your Attorney First: A firm's AI is trained specifically on the law and prompted by someone who already knows what matters. That combination beats a client's own AI search almost every time.The Hard Line: Using AI to organize your thinking or draft a rough starting point is fine. Treating an AI-drafted document as finished, with no attorney ever reviewing it, is the one use that genuinely worries them. Michael Haslam and Brian Edwards are practicing attorneys at Voyant Legal in Utah. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Visit voyantlegal.com or call 801.951.0500.

A brand new federal savings account for kids just opened, with a free $1,000 attached for a lot of families. Most parents have heard the headline and none of the fine print. In this episode, Nathan Croxford and Taylor Stone break down what a Trump Account actually is (hint: it's not a 529, it's closer to a retirement account), who qualifies for the free seed money, and how it stacks up against Utah's my529 and a UTMA account. They walk through what happens the moment a child turns 18, when the account converts and the IRS starts treating withdrawals like income, and make the case for why most Utah families shouldn't choose just one of these accounts. Key Takeaways: Not a 529: A Trump Account is legally treated like a traditional IRA for a minor. There's no tax-free withdrawal bucket for education the way a 529 offers.The Free Money: Kids born 2025 through 2028 get a one-time $1,000 federal deposit, no strings attached beyond filing the election. Every other child under 18 can still open an account and contribute.What Happens at 18: The account converts to a standard IRA the child controls. Early withdrawals get hit with ordinary income tax plus a 10% penalty, with the same exceptions as any IRA (education, a first home, certain medical costs).Why My529 Still Wins for College: Utah's 529 offers a 4.5% state tax credit and fully tax-free withdrawals for education. A Trump Account can be used for school too, but every dollar of growth still gets taxed as income. Nathan Croxford and Taylor Stone are practicing attorneys at Voyant Legal in Utah. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Visit voyantlegal.com or call 801.951.0500.

87% of people who inherit an IRA make a mistake that can destroy up to half the account's value. Most of them have never heard of the rule they broke. In this episode, Michael Haslam and Brian Edwards break down what actually happens after an IRA or 401(k) gets inherited. The old "stretch IRA" that let heirs spread withdrawals over their own lifetime disappeared in 2020, replaced by a flat 10-year window. And as of 2024, the IRS clarified something most families still don't know: many heirs also owe an annual required distribution in years one through nine, not just a deadline at year ten. Miss it, and the penalty is steep. Key Takeaways: The Stretch IRA Is Gone: Why the old model of "leave it to the kids, they'll spread it over their lifetime" stopped being true in 2020, and why so many plans are still built around it.The Real 10-Year Rule: How the 2024 final regulations settled years of confusion. If the original owner had already started required distributions, the heir owes annual distributions too, not just a lump sum by year ten.The 25% Penalty: What happens if a required distribution gets missed, and the two-year window that cuts the penalty from 25% down to 10%.The Roth Conversion Move: Why converting before death, while the owner is in a lower tax bracket than their kids will likely be, can shift the entire tax bill to a cheaper rate. Michael Haslam and Brian Edwards are practicing attorneys at Voyant Legal in Utah. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Visit voyantlegal.com or call 801.951.0500.

62% of Gen X adults have zero estate planning documents — a higher rate than Gen Z, Millennials, or Baby Boomers. The generation carrying the most financial complexity is the least protected, and almost nobody is saying it out loud. In this episode, Nathan Croxford and Taylor Stone break down the four pressures hitting Gen X at the same time: supporting aging parents and kids simultaneously, inheriting IRAs under a brutal new 10-year distribution rule, approaching the biggest business exit of their lives, and doing all of it with outdated or nonexistent plans. They make the case for why right now — at peak earning and peak complexity — is the moment to actually build one. Key Takeaways: The Sandwich Squeeze: Why nearly half of adults in their 40s and 50s are supporting an aging parent and a child at the same time — and what happens when neither generation has the right documents in place.The Inherited IRA Time Bomb: How the SECURE Act's 10-year rule replaced the old "stretch IRA," and why inheriting a retirement account during peak earning years can push every dollar into the highest tax bracket.The Business Exit Window: How a $2–10M business sale can trigger $400K–$2M+ in taxes without pre-exit planning — and why the strategy has to start years before the sale, not after.The Outdated Plan Problem: Why a trust from 2011 with beneficiaries from when the kids were toddlers can be just as dangerous as having no plan at all. Nathan Croxford and Taylor Stone are practicing attorneys at Voyant Legal in Utah. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Visit voyantlegal.com or call 801.951.0500.

The moment your child turns 18, you lose all legal access to their medical records, school records, and financial accounts — not some access, all of it. Most parents find this out in a hospital waiting room, when it's too late to fix. In this episode, Nathan Croxford and Brian Edwards break down exactly what changes the day a child becomes a legal adult, and the three documents that restore a parent's ability to help — before the first week of college, not after an emergency. Key Takeaways: The HIPAA Wall: How turning 18 cuts parents off from medical records entirely — even if they're paying the insurance premium — and the HIPAA waiver that fixes it.HIPAA vs. Healthcare Directive: Why "access to information" and "authority to make decisions" are two different documents, and why a hospitalized adult child's parents need both.The Financial Power of Attorney: How this document covers bank accounts, student loans, housing contracts, and fraud response — and why being a joint account holder only covers that one account.Springing vs. Immediate Authority: Why an immediate power of attorney can act in a real emergency without the delay of proving incapacity.Nathan Croxford and Brian Edwards are practicing attorneys at Voyant Legal in Utah. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Visit voyantlegal.com or call 801.951.0500.

Selling a highly appreciated business, property, or investment usually means writing a big check to the IRS — but the tax code offers legitimate ways to reduce or eliminate that bill. Most people either don't know these strategies exist, or assume they're only for the ultra-wealthy. In this episode, Michael Haslam and Nathan Croxford break down six legal levers for reducing your taxes — from structuring a sale so it's never a taxable event, to deferring gains for decades, to shifting income to family members in a lower bracket. They cover who each strategy actually helps (business owners selling to family, real estate investors, high income earners, anyone sitting on an appreciated asset), why a properly structured trust can turn a taxable sale into a non-event, and why any strategy — no matter how good it sounds — needs to be vetted by a real tax attorney before you use it. Key Takeaways: The Non-Taxable Sale: How selling a business to a properly structured trust for your kids — instead of directly to them — can eliminate the taxable event entirely.The 1031 Exchange: How real estate investors defer capital gains taxes indefinitely by swapping properties, and why holding until death can erase the deferred gain for good through stepped-up basis.Deductions vs. Credits: Why a tax credit saves you a dollar-for-dollar amount while a deduction only saves you your tax rate — and how a cost segregation study can turn a $1M building purchase into a $300,000 deduction.Changing Your Tax Category: Why capital gains rates beat ordinary income rates for high earners, and how an S Corp structure eliminates self-employment tax on profit distributions. Michael Haslam and Nathan Croxford are practicing attorneys at Voyant Legal in Utah. This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Visit voyantlegal.com or call 801.951.0500.

Most people assume asset protection is for the ultra-wealthy — offshore trusts, Cayman Islands, $50,000 to set up. It's not. And for Utah residents, there's a tool right at home that delivers the same core protection at a fraction of the cost. In this episode, Nathan Croxford and Brian Edwards break down the Utah Domestic Asset Protection Trust — what it is, how it works, and why fewer than half of U.S. states even offer it. They cover who it's actually built for (small business owners, landlords, professionals with liability exposure), how the distribution trustee structure is what makes creditor protection legally bulletproof, and why the window to set one up closes the moment a lawsuit begins. Key Takeaways: The Offshore Alternative: How a Utah DAPT delivers comparable protection to an offshore trust at a fraction of the setup cost — with no foreign trustee fees or IRS international filings.The Distribution Trustee: Why separating distribution authority from trust management is the legal mechanism that keeps creditors out — and what happens if you skip it.The Seasoning Period: Utah's two-year clock for existing creditors, how it can be shortened to 120 days, and why future creditors are protected from day one.What You Actually Keep: The investment control, veto powers, and flexibility that make an irrevocable trust far less restrictive than most people expect. Nathan Croxford and Brian Edwards are practicing attorneys at Voyant Legal in Utah. This episode is for educational purposes only. Visit voyantlegal.com or call 801.951.0500. 

A living trust that was never funded doesn't avoid probate — it just delays it. Most Utah families who go through probate anyway had a trust sitting in a filing cabinet the whole time. The document isn't the plan. The funding is. In this episode, Nathan Croxford and Taylor Stone walk through exactly why 7 out of 10 living trusts fail at the worst possible moment, and give you a step-by-step checklist to make sure yours actually works. Key Takeaways: The Attorney-Client Gap: Why most trusts go unfunded — and why both sides assume the other one handled it.Asset-by-Asset Funding: What proper funding looks like for real property, bank accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance, vehicles, and business interests under Utah law.The Retirement Account Exception: Why retitling your IRA into a trust triggers immediate income tax on the entire balance — and what to do instead.The Refinancing Trap: How a routine mortgage refinance silently removes your home from your trust — and how to make sure it gets put back.

Leaving everything to your spouse and "trusting them to do right by your kids" isn't a plan—it's a wish. In a blended family, a standard will is a ticking time bomb. Under Utah law, a surviving spouse who inherits outright has full legal ownership and can completely disinherit your biological children, intentionally or not. In this episode, Michael Haslam and Taylor Stone break down the exact tools needed to guarantee financial security for your spouse and protect your children's inheritance. Key Takeaways: The Remarriage Risk: How remarriage can automatically revoke your prior will under Utah Code § 75-2-301.The QTIP Trust: The single most important tool to provide lifetime income for a spouse while locking in the principal for your biological kids.Neutral Trustees: Why naming a spouse as sole trustee triggers family conflict.Three Real Scenarios: Walkthroughs of classic failures involving remarriage, stepchild friction, and special needs asset disqualification.

Roughly 1 in 4 Americans over 50 has no children. That translates to 22 million adults aged 60+ living alone without a traditional family support system—the highest rate in the world. Despite these numbers, the estate planning industry remains stuck in the past. Nearly every YouTube case study, law firm FAQ, and resource guide assumes you have children ready to step in. For Solo Agers—including never-married professionals, divorcees, widows, and those who simply chose not to have children—the standard playbook is broken. Redefining the Four Essential QuestionsWhen "my kids" isn't an option, the four pillars of an estate plan require entirely different strategies: Financial Management: Who oversees my assets if I cannot?Medical Advocacy: Who makes life-and-death healthcare decisions?Trustee Succession: Who ensures my final wishes are honored?Final Arrangements: Who manages my legacy and funeral?In this episode, we’re throwing out the generic templates and building a playbook from scratch specifically for Utah’s Solo Agers. Whether you are looking toward professional fiduciaries or trusted friends, it’s time to create a plan that reflects your actual life.

A family wakes up to smoke filling their home. They escape safely. The fire department saves part of the structure. They file an insurance claim expecting help rebuilding. Then the surprise: only their personal belongings are covered. The house itself is denied. Why? The home had been transferred into a trust, but the trust was never added to the insurance policy. The insurer argues the named individual no longer has an insurable interest in the structure, leaving the family caught in a technical gap with massive financial consequences. This happens more often than people think. After the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, more than 37,000 claims were filed, and trust and insurance mismatches became one of the most common dispute triggers. The trust was set up correctly. The deed was transferred. One simple step was missed: updating the insurance policy. In this episode, Nathan and Brian break down: • How this coverage gap happens • Why transferring your home to a trust can create unintended risk • What insurance companies look for when evaluating claims • The simple fix that can prevent a catastrophic denial • What to check today if your home is in a trust If your home is in a trust or you’re considering one, this is a must-watch.

In this episode, Michael Haslam and Brian Edwards discuss why your legacy deserves the same level of professional coordination as a successful business or a championship sports team. For too long, families have suffered from a "fragmented team" approach, where CPAs, attorneys, and financial advisors operate in silos, leading to missed opportunities and millions in overpaid taxes. Michael and Brian explain that the family office model is no longer only for the ultra-wealthy; by combining all of your tax and financial information under one roof, you ensure every professional is working from the same playbook. That’s why we introduced the Legacy Office—a strategy that has been very successful with our clients by providing the high-level synergy and CEO-style oversight needed to protect and grow a lasting legacy.