Vanilla Blog

Vanilla

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Nov 11, 2025

Choosing the wrong power of attorney (POA) can leave families scrambling during a crisis. Each state has its own rules governing these documents, and understanding which POA is suitable for a situation matters more than most people realize. In this guide, we break down the six main types of POAs for individuals, families, caregivers, financial advisors, and estate planners who need clarity on this essential part of estate planning. 1. General power of attorney A general power of attorney is a legal document that gives one person (called the agent or attorney-in-fact) broad authority over another person’s (called the principal)...

Jennifer Raess JD, CFP®, CLU®

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Nov 05, 2025

The IRS has released its inflation-adjusted numbers for 2026, confirming key updates for estate, gift, and income tax planning. These changes, combined with provisions from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), will reshape how advisors approach gifting, deductions, and trust taxation. Now is the time for advisors to revisit clients’ estate strategies to prepare for 2026. Here's a snapshot of the key changes advisors need to know: 2026 Changes at a Glance Category 2025 2026 Lifetime estate & gift exemption $13.99M/person $27.98M/married couple $15M/person $30M/married couple Annual gift exclusion $19,000/ $38,000 if gift splitting $19,000/ $38,000 if gift splitting...

Jessica Lantz

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Oct 29, 2025

October brings meaningful enhancements to Vanilla—from enhanced AI estate summary capabilities to more intuitive waterfall modeling. Each improvement is designed to help you work faster and deliver deeper insights to your clients. Here's what's coming soon. V/AI Estate Summary page improvements: More control, better readability, clearer insights The challenge: Advisors need AI-generated summaries that are easy to scan, read, and present to clients without extensive reformatting. The solution: Enhanced typography and spacing create a more visually appealing, scannable layout that makes key information immediately more readable V/AI will clearly show which documents were used to generate the summary, building your...

Jennifer Raess JD, CFP®, CLU®

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Oct 28, 2025

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law in July 2025, introduces some significant charitable giving changes starting in 2026. It expands opportunities for everyday donors while tightening limits for high-income taxpayers. With year-end approaching, advisors should review these shifts now to help clients maximize charitable impact and tax benefits before the new rules take effect in 2026. The impact of these changes will vary depending on whether clients itemize their deductions, making it important to tailor charitable strategies accordingly. New rule for non-itemizing individuals Starting in 2026, taxpayers who take the standard deduction can claim an "above-the-line"...

Vanilla

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Oct 08, 2025

By nature, the practice of estate planning has a level of seriousness and substantiality that few other advisor-client conversations will ever reach. When you bring technology into that process, you want to make sure it reflects the importance of the topic at hand.  Choosing an estate planning software that brings the appropriate credibility and accuracy is no small task, and it’s easy to get lost in the details when comparing solutions.  To help cut through the noise, we built the Buyer’s Guide to Estate Planning Platforms for Advisory Firms, which walks through the criteria to consider when choosing a solution...

Vanilla

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Oct 07, 2025

The partnership empowers Osaic's advisor network with cutting-edge estate planning technology to enhance client relationships and drive holistic wealth management BELLEVUE, Wash.--Vanilla, the most trusted modern estate planning platform for financial advisors, today announced a strategic partnership with Osaic, Inc. (Osaic), one of the nation's largest providers of wealth management solutions. Through this partnership, Osaic's national network of more than 11,000 financial advisors can now access Vanilla's comprehensive estate planning platform to streamline complex processes, create compelling planning scenarios, and deliver more meaningful, results-focused client experiences. "Estate planning has become essential to comprehensive wealth management, especially as our clients navigate...

Vanilla

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Oct 03, 2025

We’re excited to announce that Larry Steinberg has joined Vanilla as our new Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Larry brings decades of technology and business leadership experience, from founding and scaling startups to guiding global tech organizations through major transformation. His career reflects a consistent track record of building high-performing teams, modernizing technology platforms, and driving innovation to accelerate business growth. A proven technology leader Most recently, Larry served as CTO at Spring Health, where he led the company’s technology strategy and operations. Before that, he was CTO at Rent the Runway, playing a pivotal role in preparing the company for...

Sarah D. McDaniel, CFA

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Oct 01, 2025

The Federal Reserve's September 2025 rate cut may create planning opportunities The Federal Reserve's recent quarter-point reduction to 4.00%-4.25% represents the first rate cut of 2025 with Fed projections indicating additional cuts may follow later this year. While these monetary policy shifts primarily target economic conditions, they create significant ripple effects throughout the estate planning landscape that may warrant immediate attention. Why interest rates drive estate planning effectiveness Estate planning isn't a "set it and forget it" process. The effectiveness of wealth transfer strategies fluctuates dramatically based on prevailing interest rate environments, making periodic reviews essential—particularly during periods of monetary...

Vanilla

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Sep 30, 2025

New offering brings institutional-grade estate planning capabilities to boutique advisory firms at accessible pricing BELLEVUE, Wash.--Vanilla, the leading estate planning technology platform trusted by several of the country’s largest wealth management firms, today announced the opening of the waitlist for Vanilla Starter, a groundbreaking solution designed to make professional estate planning services accessible for boutique RIA firms. Built on the same proven, institutional-grade technology that serves ultra-high-net-worth clients, Vanilla Starter will launch with pricing starting at $99 per month. Solo practices and small RIA firms have long faced a critical challenge: wanting to offer estate planning services in-house but lacking...

Vanilla

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Sep 29, 2025

Many families worry about what will happen to wealth after it passes to the next generation. There may be concerns about poor financial decision-making, personal debts, unstable relationships, or even exposure to lawsuits.  In some cases, some traditional estate planning strategies may not offer enough protection if beneficiaries are financially vulnerable. In these situations, there are additional legal structures that can be used to help protect wealth from being misused, mismanaged, or lost to credits when it passes to future generations.  This article will offer a detailed overview of one of the most effective tools for balancing long-term support with...

Vanilla

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Sep 25, 2025

Estate planning is one of the most impactful ways advisors can help clients protect their families, preserve wealth, and ensure their intentions are honored. Yet, despite its importance, we’ve seen time and again that estate plans—even carefully drafted ones—often contain blind spots. At Vanilla, we’ve abstracted over 45,000 estate planning documents. This vantage point provides a unique window into the recurring mistakes and oversights that surface in client plans. For advisors, understanding these pitfalls is critical not just for catching errors, but also for building trust and proactively guiding clients through difficult conversations. Below are the most common mistakes we...

Jessica Lantz

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Sep 23, 2025

This month's release tackles the friction points you've told us about—from inconsistent AI results across your team to managing multi-state inheritance tax requirements. Each enhancement works seamlessly with your existing processes while expanding what's possible. Here’s what came out in September, along with some features that are coming soon. Nationwide inheritance tax: Never miss inheritance tax implications again The challenge: Advisors with multi-state clients manually track varying inheritance tax rules across jurisdictions, risking costly oversights and planning errors. The solution: Vanilla is introducing inheritance tax calculation support for Maryland, Nebraska, and New Jersey—completing our nationwide coverage Automated, state-specific calculations integrate...