“The biggest gift you can give to the people you love is to create an estate plan.” The Wall Street Journal released an article December 2, 2025 about the surge in business for trust and estate plans. This year, trusts and estates have generated $290 billion in income for their beneficiaries. Through 2048, $100 trillion will be passed down to beneficiaries. Demand for trust and estate planning is growing, and it is becoming more imminently vital to be prepared for these inheritances.
Without planning in advance, discussions of inheritance can get heated and messy. Worse, an unplanned inheritance can be ruinous for the supposed beneficiary. Warren Buffet once wrote that hugely wealthy parents should “leave their children enough so they can do anything but not enough so they can do nothing.” At Adams Law, this is the wealth intelligence we channel in our work on trusts and estates. It is uncommon for Adams Law Clients to be leaving their children with a $100 million trust fund. However, plenty of our Clients do have children who wouldn’t know what to do with half a million dollars falling into their lap, and don’t want these young-adult children to think they’re “rich” enough to go out and buy a Ferrari! We work to ensure that any trust left behind by our Clients works to truly benefit the beneficiary, rather than simply saddling them with exorbitant amounts of money akin to a lottery winner.
Trusts often must be planned in order to be used productively, often accompanied with a “letter of wishes” directing how it is to be used. Adams Law is prepared to facilitate this process. For example, trusts can be designed to only disperse funds upon completion of sobriety tests, maintaining employment, completion of academic degrees, or other parameters to help the beneficiary. Distributions may also be tied to particular expenses, rather than being dispersed as a blank check. For example, some Clients wish to ensure these funds are put towards education and medical expenses. Adams Law will assist clients personally when these conversations need to happen. For many clients, Roger Adams will direct heirs in wills to work on their parents’ estates with Roger personally so that they can work to understand how trusts work and can become trustees of the trusts that Adams Law will- or have established for their benefit.
Although the wishes of Adams Law Clients are always well-meaning and typically straightforward, Colorado Trust law is a unique legal practice area involving choices of law for wealthy individuals so that clients can take advantage of certain advantages that Delaware and other states’ trusts can give to people with an ability to select certain state laws for their heirs benefit. Our job at Adams Law is to see your wishes for the trust executed properly, and efficiently.
It’s always paramount, according to Roger Adams, for Adams Law Clients to think through an estate plan so that the heirs know what they will inherit, or if they would inherit anything at all. This requires planning and discussion with a trustworthy and seasoned Colorado estate planning attorney ahead of time. Heirs need to know how they will react in any of the realistic scenarios, and ensuring fair and equal shares of an estate will usually not be straightforward. Reveals of trusts can be overwhelming for all parties involved, especially without a professional to guide the process.
For those in Colorado who would like to pass on wealth to their descendants and ensure they do so productively, consider talking to a trustworthy and seasoned Colorado estate planning attorney. For more information contact Adams Law for a consultation. – Roger Adams