Writing a will feels like the responsible thing to do. Check the box, lock it in the drawer, move on. But that sense of security might be the most expensive assumption your family ever makes.

In this episode, we dig into Chapter 5 of The Law of Aging by Andrey Milvidskiy, a New Jersey estate planning and elder law attorney, and what we find there dismantles nearly every assumption people make about how their money actually moves after they die.

We break down why the state's default inheritance algorithm is a relic of a 1950s nuclear family that no longer exists, how a simple reciprocal will quietly disinherits your children in a blended family, and why probate, the process your will triggers, can drain 4 to 7% of your estate while freezing your family out for over a year.

We also get into the hidden danger most people never see coming: the legal supremacy of a beneficiary designation form you filled out 20 years ago over a will you signed yesterday. If those two documents conflict, the old form wins. Every time.

The throughline of all of it: having documents is not the same as having a plan. A will only speaks after you die. It does nothing for the years of aging that come before.

Planning isn't about paperwork. It's about building a structure that actually holds.

Everything in this episode is drawn directly from Chapter 5 of The Law of Aging by Andrey Milvidskiy. Get the book at milvidlaw.com.