Vanilla Blog

Vanilla

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Mar 04, 2025

Tax planning for clients with taxable estates has always been complex. We’ve learned the best way to explain estate planning strategies is with diagrams, not documents. That’s why we’ve put together this deck of 10 diagrams to explain some of the advanced strategies and why household with $10M in assets should care about estate tax. Why $10M in household assets? In 2026 the Estate Tax exemption drops down to just about $10M (or higher based on inflation). The 10 diagrams explain both why you need advanced strategies and how 8 different strategies work. We’ve explained them all below but if...

Jessica Lantz

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Feb 28, 2025

February brings exciting enhancements to the Vanilla platform, with new features designed to support advanced planning techniques and make document creation easier than ever. Here's what you can expect: Make starting the estate conversation easier than ever  The latest evolution of Estate Health Check arrives with an improved advisor landing page to help enable clients and prospects access Estate Health Check more easily. This comprehensive update revolutionizes how advisors engage with prospects and clients and identify planning opportunities, featuring: Facilitate conversations with personalized discussion topics based on client inputs Branded public links for seamless prospect and client outreach An enhanced...

Vanilla

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Feb 26, 2025

Joe Abbott joins as Chief Marketing Officer and Hanna Grokenberger Byers named Chief of Staff and VP of Operations as the Vanilla platform surpasses 15,000 client estates Vanilla, the leading platform in modern estate planning, today announced the appointment of Joe Abbott as Chief Marketing Officer and Hanna Grokenberger Byers as Chief of Staff and Vice President of Operations. This comes just weeks after the company ended its fiscal year with 293% year-over-year platform growth and the release of V/AI Copilot, the first AI agent for estate advisory. In the last year, Vanilla has cemented its position as category leader...

Jessica Lantz

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Feb 24, 2025

As we gear up for our first product release in the new fiscal year, we’re reflecting on 2024 and the remarkable achievements and transformative features that have shaped estate planning for advisors and their clients.  Here are some high points: Platform adoption skyrocketed 300% 16,000+ estates and $250B in assets were modeled with Vanilla 80+ new features were shipped to make estate planning easier than ever Let’s dive into our top product releases of 2024. Accelerate onboarding and planning with the power of AI Delivering time savings and facilitating client  conversations with AI was a big focus in 2024. We...

Madison Eubanks

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Feb 21, 2025

Going to the dentist, getting an oil change, getting a flu shot, cleaning out the gutters, taking your pet to its annual vet appointment—these aren’t things that most people look forward to doing, but they’re all regular maintenance tasks that we do throughout the year.  And while no one wants to add yet another item to life’s list of chores, estate planning updates deserve a place on the docket. This doesn’t need to be done every year, but ongoing maintenance is crucial for an optimized plan.  In this article, we’ll discuss why updating an estate plan is important, how often...

Madison Eubanks

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Feb 21, 2025

Intestacy, or dying intestate, is legalese for when a person passes away without a will. When a person dies “intestate,” their estate is subject to the intestacy laws of the state they lived in. This means that who inherits the estate is left up to the government as defined by the state’s intestacy laws, rather than by the deceased person’s choice. This can give rise to any number of issues and can create headaches for the intestate person’s family and loved ones. The purposes of wills and trusts are, of course, to communicate one’s wishes for what should happen to...

Madison Eubanks

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Feb 16, 2025

Where you live (and where you own property) can have a major impact on your estate planning. Taxes, probate, documents, and other estate planning processes vary from one state to another, and a quality plan takes these factors into account to ensure a person’s family isn’t left high and dry when they pass.  The best course of action is to hire a professional planner or attorney who’s experienced with the laws in your state, but familiarizing yourself with the basics is a good place to start. Here are some of the most notable state-specific estate laws to know.  States with...

Vanilla

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Feb 04, 2025

According to a 2024 survey from Caring.com, 40% of Americans don’t think they have enough assets to create a will. This reveals a general lack of understanding around the purpose of a will, which does more than handle financial assets. There’s an enormous opportunity for advisors to help educate clients about the goals of estate planning and core estate documents.  If you have a handle on the core estate documents and how they benefit your clients’ finances in the long term, you’ll be more likely to provide advice and guidance that will strengthen ongoing relationships with clients and their families....

Jessica Lantz

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Jan 29, 2025

At Vanilla, we're starting 2025 with powerful new features designed to streamline estate planning workflows and provide deeper insights for advisors and their clients. Here's what's new this month: Now Available: Attorney Network: Seamless Legal Support Our new Attorney Network provides direct access to qualified estate planning attorneys through the Vanilla platform. Key benefits include: Flexible engagement options from quick consultations to full service support Transparent pricing and clear service options Coverage across all 50 states Expert support for trust funding and estate administration Estate Health Check: Simplified Client Engagement We're excited to introduce our enhanced Estate Health Check feature,...

Sarah D. McDaniel, CFA

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Jan 28, 2025

Trust, tax, and estate planning can be intimidating to behold. Not only is there a sea of new terminology, acronyms, and legalese to decipher, there’s also an enormous gravity to the decisions being made and how they’ll affect the financial wellbeing of a client’s loved ones.  There are three sequential components underpinning trust, tax and estate planning: wealth stages, objectives, timing & deployment. Creating an optimized plan requires understanding the interdependence of each of these building blocks and how they relate to a client's estate. In this article, we’ll walk through how these three elements add up to effective trust,...

Vanilla

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Jan 23, 2025

By Lisa A. Cohen, CEO of Visible National Trust Special needs trusts are the cornerstone of disability estate planning, and disability affects many more people and families than we might expect. Incorporating special needs trusts into estate planning brings certainty that families’ wishes will be implemented for their loved ones.  Visible National Trust serves families and individuals across the country with complete turnkey special needs trust solutions that meet families’ high service standards and evolving needs.  Seventy (70) million Americans live with a disability, according to the CDC. Twenty-three (23) million people with disabilities require lifetime support, affecting seventeen percent...

Vanilla

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Jan 22, 2025

Vanilla is thrilled to unveil V/AI Copilot, the industry’s first AI-driven estate planning assistant. Designed to simplify complex tasks and empower financial advisors, V/AI Copilot is an advisor’s partner for assisting clients with estate planning with speed and confidence. Why advisors need V/AI Copilot Estate planning is no small task. Advisors have to read and understand lengthy legal documents, navigate family dynamics, and stay on top of tax strategies. V/AI Copilot is more than a feature—it’s your partner in delivering efficient, accurate, and insightful services to your clients. V/AI Copilot helps advisors: Simplify document analysis: Whether you’re reviewing a trust...