What You Need to Know About Estate Planning: A Q&A with Kjersti Stroup
At Bear Mountain Capital, we take pride in working closely with a network of trusted professional partners who help our clients navigate important life decisions with confidence and clarity. One of those invaluable partners is Kjersti Stroup, a thoughtful and highly experienced estate planning attorney based in Seattle.
Kjersti is the founder of Stroup Legal, where she focuses on helping individuals and families prepare for the unexpected through personalized, practical estate planning. With a background in both legal services and public policy, and a genuine talent for making complex topics accessible, Kjersti brings empathy, precision, and insight to every client conversation. Her approach aligns closely with our own values at Bear Mountain Capital—especially our commitment to guiding clients through wealth management and life planning with care.
In this Q&A, Kjersti answers some of the most common (and often misunderstood) questions about estate planning. From when to create a will to whether you really need a trust, her insights are both timely and relevant—particularly for the families, professionals, and individuals we serve.
We’re excited to share her expertise and hope this conversation provides valuable context as you think about your own estate planning goals.
1. What do you find is driving clients to hire an estate planning attorney for the first time?
Two things. The first is children. Clients want to put wills in place to name a guardian for their children and ensure that they are protected if the clients pass away. The second is death. After someone experiences a family member or friend getting sick or passing away, they often realize they need to get their documents in order—sometimes because they’ve seen how badly things can go without a plan.
2. When is the best time to engage a new attorney or revisit your estate plan with your existing attorney?
For individuals and couples without estate planning documents—meaning wills, powers of attorney, advance directives, and more—there isn’t an “ideal” time to engage an attorney. People should do it as soon as they are able. You never know when you’re going to get sick or pass away unexpectedly.
For clients who already have an estate plan in place, it’s important to check in with their estate planning attorney anytime there’s a major life change. This could be a financial change, such as receiving an inheritance, purchasing a cabin, or filing for bankruptcy. It could also include relationship changes, such as a falling out with a named guardian or the death of a backup personal representative.
Many estate planning attorneys will also check in with their former clients every few years to see if any updates are needed.
3. What do you see are the most common mistakes clients make when thinking about estate planning?
The first mistake involves probate. Clients often think that they should avoid probate at all costs. This is usually based on what they hear from friends or national pundits. In Washington, probate isn’t fun, but the means to avoid it usually aren’t worth it. One way to avoid probate is to set up a living trust, but the time and money it takes to create and maintain a living trust often don’t outweigh the benefit of avoiding probate. Another method to avoid probate is to set up payable-on-death, transfer-on-death, and similar designations for every account and asset. While this can work, it may lead to disputes among beneficiaries, especially when some of those assets need to be clawed back to pay for the expenses and taxes of the decedent.
Another common mistake I see clients make is naming someone—such as their oldest child—as the personal representative in their wills because they don’t want to hurt their feelings, rather than choosing someone who has the skills to best fulfill that responsibility.
The final mistake I’ll mention is delaying estate planning because clients feel they don’t have “enough assets” to justify it.
4. What is the low-hanging fruit in estate planning that you often advise clients to ensure they do?
Clients should update the beneficiary designations listed on their retirement accounts and life insurance! Beneficiary designations override a will and, if they aren’t updated, even an ex-spouse may inherit. It usually takes five minutes or less to log into an account and change a beneficiary, and most attorneys are happy to assist clients to ensure it’s done correctly.
5. What are the overlooked benefits of working with an estate planning attorney? What do clients NOT think about, when it comes to the value you deliver?
An estate planning attorney can identify issues and address areas of concern better than the current online tools because we get to know our clients. An attorney also focuses on the client through the lens of the state where the client lives, instead of online tools that try to do that but tend to give a one-size-fits-all package.
Clients often compare the cost of working with an estate planning attorney to the price of an online will or trust. However, they often don’t realize what’s at stake. An attorney ensures that documents are tailored to their clients and are properly executed. I’ve seen many online wills that weren’t witnessed, or had beneficiaries witness, and this can render the wills invalid.
6. Are there any legislative changes you are watching that impact how you are advising clients with regard to their estate planning, currently?
Yes. On July 1, the Washington State estate tax exemption is increasing. This is the amount that an individual can have in assets at death without owing an estate tax. This is big news, as the exemption hasn’t changed since 2018. It’s rising from an exemption of $2.193 million to $3 million per individual. The other good news on this front is that the exemption is set to adjust annually based on the Consumer Price Index for Seattle.
As a result, I’m advising more clients to put simple, more standard plans in place without complex tax strategies. This typically results in clients having greater access to assets and reduced legal fees.
7. When does a client need a revocable living trust?
The most common reasons a client may need a revocable living trust are if the client (1) wants privacy, (2) owns real property in more than one state, or (3) owns property in a state with a bad probate system.
Privacy. Unlike a will, a living trust does not become public record after death (unless there’s a legal dispute). Public figures or clients concerned about privacy may prefer a living trust.
Real property in multiple states. For a client with a house, condo, or land in more than one state, a living trust will allow that client to avoid probate in the client’s home state and can eliminate the need for an ancillary probate in the second state. The benefit of avoiding multiple probates starts to make the time and expense of creating a living trust worth it.
Bad probate systems. Lastly, if a client is domiciled in a state like California, where the probate system is notoriously bad, that client should probably get a living trust to avoid probate.
8. What misconceptions do clients have about trusts?
Many clients have the misconception that trusts avoid taxes. While certain types of trusts avoid taxes, that’s not true of all trusts. Trusts can serve a multitude of purposes, one of which can be to avoid tax.
Clients also tend to believe that trusts are only for the wealthy. Trusts cost money to maintain, so it’s true that we’re not going to put one in place to hold small sums of money. However, trusts are a useful tool for families—especially for parents with minor children. Trusts allow minors to get access to funds for health care, education, and living expenses while protecting the assets from creditors and helping ensure responsible management.
9. What types of clients do you feel like you and your firm serve best?
We best serve clients who are looking for help educating them on the options in estate planning, setting themselves and their families up with a plan for sickness and death, and assisting their families after death occurs.
Our typical clients include families with young children, young professionals, couples wanting to update their wills, elderly individuals redoing their wills after a spouse’s death, and people needing help with the probate process after a death.