Trusted Advisors
in Estate Planning
Helping families across the United States
Helping protect those you love
Estate planning isn’t just about documents. It’s about making life easier for the people you care about most.
finding the right professionals
If you don’t already have an attorney, we’re happy to introduce you to professionals we trust.
implementing your plan
Once documents are completed, we help update beneficiary designations, retitle accounts, and coordinate trust funding when appropriate.
You don’t have to plan for the future alone.
O’Keefe Stevens is here to help families with Estate Planning across the United States.
Making Sure Your Wishes Become Reality
Estate planning isn’t just about documents. It’s about making life easier for the people you care about and ensuring your wishes are carried out when the time comes.
Whether you’re creating your first estate plan, updating old documents, or helping settle a loved one’s estate, our team is here to help guide the process.
While we don’t draft legal documents ourselves, we work closely with estate planning attorneys and help clients navigate everything that comes after the documents are signed.
Connecting You with the Right Professionals
If you don’t already have an attorney, we can introduce you to experienced estate planning professionals who can help create or update your plan.
Helping Put Your Plan Into Action
One of the biggest misconceptions about estate planning is that signing documents means you’re finished. In reality, important steps often remain afterward.
We help clients review account registrations, beneficiary designations, and trust funding requirements to help ensure their estate plan actually works the way it was intended.
Coordinating with Attorneys
We frequently work directly with attorneys to provide account information, ownership details, beneficiary information, and other financial data needed during the planning process.
Assisting with Trust Funding
If your attorney recommends a trust, we’ll help coordinate the transfer and retitling of investment accounts when appropriate.
Supporting Families During Estate Settlement
Losing a loved one is never easy. We help surviving family members navigate the financial side of the process, including account transfers, beneficiary distributions, required paperwork, and coordination with attorneys and accountants.
Reviewing Your Plan Over Time
Life changes—and your estate plan should keep up. Marriage, retirement, new grandchildren, business sales, inheritances, and changes in tax laws can all impact your planning needs.
We help clients periodically review their plans to determine whether updates may be appropriate.
Estate Planning Is a Team Effort
Estate planning touches many areas of your financial life. That’s why we work closely with attorneys, accountants, trustees, and family members when appropriate.
Our goal is simple: help make sure your estate plan reflects your wishes and is properly implemented.
Let’s Start the Conversation
Whether you’re just getting started or want a second set of eyes on your existing plan, we’d be happy to help.
Estate Planning is a Team Effort
We regularly coordinate with attorneys, accountants, and family members to ensure nothing gets overlooked.
Estate Planning Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Estate planning is about more than distributing wealth. It helps ensure your wishes are carried out, identifies who will make decisions on your behalf if you’re unable to do so, and can help simplify the process for your loved ones.
No. We do not provide legal services or draft estate planning documents. We can help identify estate planning needs, coordinate with qualified estate planning attorneys, and assist with implementing the strategies recommended by your legal team.
We generally recommend reviewing your estate plan every few years and after major life events such as marriage, divorce, the birth of a child, the death of a family member, retirement, or significant changes in your financial situation.
In many cases, beneficiary designations take precedence over instructions in a will. That’s why it’s important to regularly review retirement accounts, investment accounts, life insurance policies, and other assets to ensure they align with your estate planning goals.
Trust funding is the process of transferring assets into a trust. Simply creating a trust may not be enough—assets often need to be properly retitled to ensure the trust functions as intended. We help clients coordinate this process for investment accounts and other financial assets.
Yes. We maintain relationships with experienced estate planning attorneys and can provide introductions when appropriate. Clients are always free to choose any attorney they prefer.
We help surviving spouses, trustees, and executors navigate the financial aspects of estate settlement. This may include transferring accounts, gathering account information, coordinating with attorneys and accountants, and helping beneficiaries understand their options.
Often, yes. Retirement can significantly change your financial picture and estate planning objectives. Reviewing your estate plan during retirement can help ensure it still reflects your wishes and current circumstances.
Estate planning is an important component of a comprehensive financial plan. We work to ensure your estate documents, beneficiary designations, investment accounts, and long-term financial goals remain coordinated and aligned.
The first step is usually evaluating your current estate planning documents, beneficiary designations, and financial situation. From there, we can help identify potential gaps and coordinate with the appropriate professionals to address them.
