Author's Story — Garrett Monroe

I’m not a lawyer, and I’m not trying to sound like one. I’m just a dad with two kids who count on me, and a few years ago I had to watch my family go through something we never should have faced.

When my father passed, I honestly believed everything was taken care of. I was wrong. Parts of his estate got stuck in probate court, and it turned into delays, extra costs, and tension that made a hard time even harder. Some of the things he meant to leave us didn’t come the way he intended.

That experience pushed me to start digging. I wanted to understand how this happens to normal families, and why people with money seem to avoid the mess completely.

It turns out there’s no secret trick. It’s simply a Living Trust. And it’s nowhere near as complicated as the legal world makes it seem.

I spent months learning how it all works—reading, asking questions, and getting rid of the noise so I could understand what actually mattered. Eventually, I created one for my own family.

This guide is what I wish I had when I started. It’s written for people like me who don’t have thousands of dollars to throw at attorney fees, but still want to protect what they’ve built and make sure their kids never have to go through what I did.

You don’t have to be wealthy to take control of your future. You just need the right information and the willingness to act on it.