Vanilla Blog

Financial and estate planning insights for advisors, planners, and attorneys

John Costello
Sep 26, 2023

Vanilla Unveils Vanilla Scenarios™ to Power Interactive Estate Planning and Modeling

Vanilla Scenarios provides advisors and estate strategists with powerful planning tools to identify planning gaps, visualize future projections, and optimize plans for maximum impact. Vanilla, a leading provider of innovative estate planning software, today announced the availability of Vanilla Scenarios™, a powerful new tool designed to optimize clients’ estate plans for the future. Vanilla Scenarios … Continued

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Simona Ondrejkova, CFP

Mar 28, 2024

Should you use a transfer on death account (TOD)?

When it comes to estate planning, each individual’s needs dictate the simplicity or complexity of the solution that will best fit their goals. For those who care about avoiding probate, ease of distribution to beneficiaries, and simplicity of set-up, a transfer on death (TOD) account could be a great option.  A TOD account provides a simple way to transfer assets to beneficiaries without the need for complex legal structures like trusts. Here, we’ll explain what a TOD account is, its main benefits and drawbacks, and how it can be used as part of an estate plan to transfer wealth quickly...

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Simona Ondrejkova, CFP

Mar 26, 2024

How AI Can Be Used in Your Law Firm

For busy attorneys, finding ways to boost efficiency can elevate client service and free up more hours in your day—and leaning on carefully chosen tools may help you achieve that. With the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its practical uses in improving efficiency across so many industries, you may be wondering how—if at all—you might use it in your law practice.  From removing tedious administrative tasks to speeding up case analysis and research, the latest AI technologies present many opportunities to help solo practitioners and large law firms maximize productivity while improving client outcomes. The use of AI in...

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Simona Ondrejkova, CFP

Mar 21, 2024

Popular Software for Law Firms in 2024

As a legal professional, incorporating specialized software for lawyers into your practice can help you save countless hours and improve productivity, all while providing better service to your clients. Finding the right legal industry software can free you from routine tasks so you can spend more time on the most essential work that only you can do. Plus, many software solutions can take some of the weight off the shoulders of your assistants and paralegals, improving efficiency and productivity in your firm. Software for law firms comes in many categories.  To help you gain a better idea of how legal...

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Rachel Pettis

Mar 19, 2024

Vanilla’s new features for March – Introducing Vanilla Scenarios & an upgraded Estate...

March feature madness is in full swing here at Vanilla with new releases and an exciting launch last week! Here's what we're most excited about this month: Introducing Vanilla Scenarios™ An upgraded client Estate Profile Model the future impact of planning with Vanilla Scenarios™ Currently in the Vanilla platform, advisors, planners, and attorneys can use our recently enhanced projections feature to visualize a client’s current estate at a future point in time, like the 2026 Sunset. With Vanilla Scenarios™, rolling out over the coming months, wealth advisors will be able to model the future impact of advanced planning on top...

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Madison Eubanks

Mar 19, 2024

Practical Advice for Navigating Probate

Probate—the legal process of administering a person’s estate after their death—can be a loaded topic. Depending on the size and complexity of the decedent’s (the deceased person’s) estate, how organized their affairs were at the time of their death, the state they lived in, and many other factors, the probate process may vary widely from person to person.  Of course, the best way to deal with probate is to avoid it. A thorough estate plan that includes a revocable trust dictating where assets go can allow an estate to bypass (or mostly bypass) the oft-tedious probate process. To learn more...

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Simona Ondrejkova, CFP

Mar 14, 2024

Dynasty Trusts: Everything You Need to Know

To achieve estate planning objectives, it helps to be familiar with various types of trusts. A dynasty trust can be a great tool for clients who want to preserve their wealth or family business for several generations while minimizing estate taxes. Here, we’ll help you understand what exactly a dynasty trust is, how it works, how it differs from other trusts, how to set one up, and when it might be a good idea to use one. We’ll also discuss the tax implications of using a dynasty trust and how it can minimize a certain type of tax that specifically...

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John Costello

Mar 12, 2024

Vanilla Unveils Vanilla Scenarios™ to Power Interactive Estate Planning and Modeling

Vanilla Scenarios provides advisors and estate strategists with powerful planning tools to identify planning gaps, visualize future projections, and optimize plans for maximum impact. Vanilla, a leading provider of innovative estate planning software, today announced the availability of Vanilla Scenarios™, a powerful new tool designed to optimize clients' estate plans for the future. Vanilla Scenarios modernizes estate planning by providing advisors, wealth planners, and estate lawyers with unparalleled capabilities to model multiple planning scenarios dynamically and in real-time.  Advisors can effortlessly layer multiple strategies onto existing plans and customize the details of each strategy, including changes to their client’s state...

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Simona Ondrejkova, CFP

Mar 01, 2024

25 Critical Discovery Questions for Financial Advisors

Whether you’re meeting with a new prospective client or doing a client review with a client you’ve had for decades, it’s important to know how to guide the conversation. Asking the right questions allows you to gain the insights you need to provide the best advice possible while fostering a deeper connection. Because when you take the time to listen to clients’ answers to these questions mindfully, It shows that you genuinely care about their goals, values, and needs. The questions you ask at the first discovery meeting with a new potential client are especially key in building a strong...

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Simona Ondrejkova, CFP

Feb 23, 2024

How Estate Administration Works & Ways to Simplify it for Your Beneficiaries

Whether you’re putting together your estate plan, assisting your clients in the process, or figuring out how to navigate the intricacies of distributing a loved one’s estate, it’s helpful to understand the estate planning and administration process. This can save you or your beneficiaries time by planning ahead so you can reduce unnecessary stress in transferring assets to heirs. When considering estate planning strategies to maximize your legacy and transfer your assets according to your wishes, it’s also helpful to consider how your estate planning & administration can be affected by probate. So today we explain the steps involved in...

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