What the New Food Pyramid Teaches About Estate Planning
What the New Food Pyramid Teaches Us About Estate Planning: A Practical, Balanced Guide to Protecting Your Legacy
The updated food pyramid is a helpful way to picture estate planning: sturdy foundations, important mid-level assets, and targeted protections at the top. Estate planning works the same way — it’s a deliberate, layered process that ensures your wishes are followed and your family is cared for. This guide walks through the must-have components of an estate plan, how to spot and organize key assets, and why regular upkeep matters. Too many families postpone planning and end up facing avoidable disputes or delays. Read on for a clear, practical roadmap to secure your family’s future.
What Are the Foundational Elements of Estate Planning Like Proteins, Dairy, Healthy Fats and Vegetables?
The foundations of a solid estate plan are like the largest part of the pyramid: everyday essentials that support everything above them. These include wills, trusts, and core legal documents that state your wishes and create a predictable path for your assets. When these pieces are done right, they protect your property and give your family clarity and peace of mind.
Why Are Wills and Trusts Essential for Your Estate Planning Foundation?
Wills and trusts form the backbone of most estate plans. A will directs how your estate is distributed after you die; a trust can manage assets during your life and avoid probate afterward. Trusts can also offer tax planning advantages and control over how and when beneficiaries receive assets. Knowing which tool fits your situation is a key step in building an effective plan.
How Do Basic Legal Documents Support Family Security and Asset Protection?
Core documents like powers of attorney and advance directives protect your family when you can’t make financial decisions for yourself. A financial power of attorney names someone to handle money and property; advance directives (or a health care directive) record your medical preferences and appoint a health care decision maker, for when you cannot make those decisions yourself. These simple steps make it easier for loved ones to act in line with your wishes and reduce stress during difficult moments. Both the food pyramid and a solid estate plan aim to support long-term well-being.
At Murphy and Berglund, PLLC, we emphasize these foundational documents in our estate planning work. We offer complimentary consultations to help families understand wills, trusts, and which documents they should prioritize based on their needs.
How Do Key Assets Represent the Proteins and Healthy Fats in Your Estate Plan?
Think of key assets as the proteins and healthy fats that keep the plan sustainable. Real estate, investment and retirement accounts, and digital property form the core of what you leave behind — and each type needs specific attention so it transfers smoothly and cost-effectively.
Why Should Digital Assets and Cryptocurrency Be Prioritized in Estate Planning?
Digital assets — online accounts, cryptocurrency, and digital intellectual property — are increasingly valuable and often overlooked. Including access instructions and ownership details in your plan prevents confusion and loss. Without clear direction, heirs can struggle to locate or access these assets, creating unnecessary delays and disputes.
What Role Do Real Estate and Financial Accounts Play in Legacy Planning?
Real estate and financial accounts commonly represent the largest share of a family’s estate. Proper titling, beneficiary designations, and coordination with trust documents help minimize taxes, avoid probate where appropriate, and ensure a smoother transfer to beneficiaries. An estate planning attorney can map these assets into a plan that matches your goals.
At Murphy and Berglund, PLLC, we assist clients in organizing and protecting these key assets so your financial legacy passes according to your intentions.
How Does Elder Law and Incapacity Planning, like Dairy, Build Strong Bones for Your Family’s Future?
Elder law and incapacity planning are the structural supports of a long-term plan — the “bones” that keep a family protected as circumstances change. These practice areas address long-term care, decision-making authority, and benefit eligibility for aging clients and their loved ones.
What Are Medicaid and VA Benefits and How Do They Protect Your Loved Ones?
Medicaid and VA benefits can help cover long-term care costs that might otherwise deplete a family’s savings. Knowing eligibility rules and planning ahead — through spending, trusts, or other legal tools — can preserve benefits while protecting assets. Early guidance is often the difference between preserving resources and paying out of pocket.
Why Is Guardianship Planning Crucial for Long-Term Family Care?
Guardianship planning ensures a trusted person can make personal and medical decisions for someone who is no longer able to act on their own. Proper planning can avoid a court-ordered guardianship and give families control over who cares for their loved one and how decisions are made.
Our attorneys at Murphy and Berglund, PLLC guide families through elder-law issues and incapacity planning so you can protect care options and financial security for the long term.
The Food Pyramid Guides Us to Avoid Highly-Processed Foods. How Can You Avoid Highly Processed Problems Like Probate and Taxes in Estate Planning?
Poorly constructed plans can lead to lengthy probate, unnecessary taxes, and family conflict — the “processed” problems of estate planning. With the right strategies, you can reduce those risks and preserve more for the people you intend to benefit. Probate can often costs thousands of dollars and can take a year or more to resolve. This is a process most clients want to avoid.
What Strategies Help Minimize Probate and Estate Taxes Effectively?
Common techniques to limit probate and taxes include establishing appropriate trusts, making lifetime gifts, and using tax-aware investment and ownership structures. Each approach has trade-offs; the right combination depends on your goals, asset mix, and family dynamics.
How Does Professional Estate Planning Reduce Legal Disputes and Costs?
Working with experienced estate planning counsel helps you document clear instructions, choose suitable fiduciaries, and use mechanisms that reduce ambiguity. A thoughtful plan lowers the chance of successor disputes and saves time and money during administration — and it preserves family relationships.
At Murphy and Berglund, PLLC, we offer tailored estate planning services designed to avoid common pitfalls and make asset transitions as straightforward as possible.
What Does Balanced Beneficiary Planning Mean for Distributing Your Wealth Wisely?
Balanced beneficiary planning means naming and structuring distributions so your assets reach the intended people in the manner you choose. It combines legal tools with careful communication to prevent surprises and unfair outcomes. Just like a balanced diet, dividing up your beneficiary designations can ensure your family as a whole, is looked after.
How Do You Address Complex Family Situations in Beneficiary Designations?
Blended families, estranged relatives, and changing relationships require deliberate beneficiary planning. Clear designations, contingent provisions, and trusts can reflect nuanced intentions and reduce the chance of costly disputes after you’re gone.
What Are Best Practices for Special Needs and Blended Family Planning?
For beneficiaries with special needs, special-needs trusts and coordinated public-benefit planning protect eligibility for government assistance while providing supplemental support. For blended families, trusts and tailored distributions can balance fairness and control. Thoughtful documentation and periodic review are essential.
At Murphy and Berglund, PLLC, we work with families to craft beneficiary plans that honor complex circumstances and protect everyone’s long-term interests.
Why Is Ongoing Maintenance the “Healthy Habit” for a Sustainable Estate Plan?
An estate plan is not a one-time task — like healthy habits, it requires regular attention. Life changes, tax rules shift, and relationships evolve; routine review keeps your plan aligned with your goals.
How Often Should You Review and Update Your Estate Plan?
We recommend reviewing your plan every three to five years and immediately after major life events — marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, death of a beneficiary, or significant changes in assets. Those moments often call for updates to documents, beneficiaries, or trust terms.
What Role Does Family Communication Play in Legacy Preservation?
Open conversations about your wishes reduce surprises and help heirs carry out your plan smoothly. Sharing the purpose behind decisions — and where key documents are located — preserves family harmony and reduces friction during administration.
In short, Murphy and Berglund, PLLC, emphasizes maintenance and clear communication as cornerstones of durable estate plans. Our team helps families create plans that are practical, up to date, and built to last.
These estate planning strategies work together to strengthen family security and protect your intentions.
- Comprehensive Coverage: Ensures every asset and decision-maker is accounted for.
- Conflict Prevention: Reduces the chance of disputes by documenting clear instructions.
- Financial Efficiency: Uses tools and timing to lower taxes and administration costs.
Together, these benefits illustrate why a well-structured estate plan provides both practical protection and peace of mind for your family.
Authored by Attorney Michelle A. Berglund-Harper, Esq. – Partner at Murphy & Berglund, PLLC.