Estate Planning
Know what you own, how each asset is titled, and who is named on it, so your estate documents leave the legacy that you intended.
How We Manage Estate Plans
Most families create their estate documents and move on with life. Meanwhile change is constantly happening without anyone going back to review if the plan still works. By the time the estate plan fails, it's too late and your loved ones are left with the outcome.
At Gatewood, we create plans based on the documents you drafted with your attorney and keep them working as you intended. We organize what you own and how each asset is titled, optimize that structure against your estate, tax and legacy goals, and review it with you every year rather than every few years. This way you can maintain confidence that when you are gone, your plans carry on.
Watch our Chief Planning Officer, Christina Shockley, explain how it works.
What Our Service Includes
Estate Asset Ownership Review
Assets Outside Your Estate
Estate Exemption Analysis
Beneficiary Designation Review
Estate Document Review Schedule
Charitable Legacy Plan
Estate Planning Checklist
Most families assume the will decides who gets what, but it usually ranks fourth. Assets pass in this order:
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Beneficiary designation — retirement accounts, life insurance, and anything else with a name on the form
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How the asset is titled — joint ownership and transfer-on-death registrations
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A trust, where one holds the asset
- The will, which covers only what is left after the first three
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State law, which decides anything still uncovered
Beyond a Will is our estate planning workbook. It walks through that order, gives you one place to record what you own and how each asset would transfer today, and gathers the information an estate attorney will ask you for.
Download it, work through it, and bring it to your next meeting with us.
What Your Fee Covers
We charge one advisory fee for household wealth management, calculated on the assets under our management. The fee schedule works like tax brackets, so the blended fee percentage declines as the portfolio grows. Trading and rebalancing sit inside that fee rather than being charged separately.
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Personal Tax Preparation is billed as a separate engagement through Gatewood Tax and Accounting.
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Any insurance products sold are subject to commissions, per industry standards.
You can read more in-depth about what we charge, how you're billed, and what your fees might be at the link below.
An Integrated Family Plan
A truly comprehensive financial plan involves tax, investments, cash, insurance and your estate — which all require their own expertise.
Your Client Care Team reviews your documents, keeps your attorney informed, tells the investment team what the plan requires, and seeks advice from the tax team when a decision has tax consequences. Your plan gets advice guided by experience and all aspects of your plan fit together to support your goals.
That is what we call Firm-to-Family®, and it is how we create plans that endure for generations. Your advisor will one day retire, but your plan will outlast any one relationship.
Frequently Asked Questions
Estate planning is the work of deciding who inherits what you own, who makes decisions if you cannot, and making sure the accounts themselves are set up to achieve that goal.
There are two parts to a well-drafted estate plan: the legal documents — a will, a trust, powers of attorney, a healthcare directive — and how everything else in your plan is written — ownership of your assets, names on title, and beneficiary details. Both halves have to agree for the estate to function as planned.
No. We are not an estate law firm and we do not draft estate documents — your attorney does that.
We give you planning direction to keep your estate documents accurate and effective. We review the documents you have, keep a record of what you own and how it is titled, and check that beneficiary designations match what the documents say. We also have an attorney on our team we consult internally when a question needs a legal eye.
Funding is the work of making the assets match the documents. A trust that names no assets controls nothing. An account titled in one person's name does not pass through a joint arrangement. A retirement account goes to whoever is on the beneficiary form regardless of what a will says. Funding means each asset is owned, titled and designated so that it ends up where you intend for it to go, and it is where most estate plans fall apart.
You've already done half the work! Keep your relationship with your attorney.
We use the documents you created with your attorney and keep an open line of communication with them, so you are not asked to change counsel to work with us.
We aren't here to provide legal advice to our clients, but we do have an attorney on our team that your advisor can consult with as needed.
If you would like to see what that looks like against your own situation, send us your documents and a list of your accounts, and we will tell you what we see.
Yes, we are held to a fiduciary standard on all of our advisory accounts as well as by our teammate's designations such as CFP® and CFA®.
Gatewood is compensated by an advisory fee calculated as a percentage of the assets we manage and billed quarterly.
Hear What Our Clients Say
“My wife and I moved to St. Louis four years ago and became Gatewood clients in 2024, on a referral from our daughter-in-law. Her father was an established attorney who had said good things about the team, and that recommendation was passed down to us. That introduction set an expectation, and the people there have matched it. We've met a lot of the team by now, and the impression has been consistent with every one of them. Each person we're introduced to is professional, smart, and they work together well as a group — which says something about the people Gatewood hires…” Read more.
“A friend of a friend referred us to the team over 20 years ago, and we've been together ever since. My wife and I have changed jobs and time zones more than once, but they've been a constant through it all. Even when moving to different parts of the country, we always keep our ties to St. Louis wherever possible, and we appreciate the Midwestern values of Gatewood. The relationship we’ve developed over the years has built trust in the team that they are honest and always have our best interests in mind. They’ve helped us with everything from moving our 401(k)s to managing our investments day-to-day…” Read more.
“My husband and I began working with Brian in 2019 and have been very pleased with the level of service we’ve received ever since. Our client care team, Nina and Jake, have taken the time to truly listen to our goals and actively make adjustments to reflect our evolving needs over time. What I appreciate most is the combination of knowledgeable, focused guidance always delivered with genuine care and humility. We've been so impressed with their timeliness and attention that we've introduced them to our parents, siblings and adult children and now they are advising three generations of our family. Their support with tax planning, administrative tasks, and retirement income planning has become even more comprehensive over time, and I always feel that our questions are fully addressed promptly and thoughtfully…” Read more.
“As a client of Gatewood for over 10 years now, I am very pleased with the experience I’ve had with my team. Whenever I have questions or need advice, they are always available with professional and helpful guidance. They really get to know their customers so that they can provide personalized service and are very responsive when I contact them and they do a great job managing my portfolio. I had a turning point in my life, and they were very helpful in analyzing financial impacts and helping to manage through it. I highly recommend their services.” Read more.
“What has stood out most over our decade-long relationship with Gatewood is how genuinely they listen. Our advisor takes the time to understand our full financial picture and has made a point to build a relationship with my wife as well, so she feels comfortable working with the team whether I'm present or not. Having everything coordinated in one place, with great online tools at our disposal, has been invaluable. Our team is responsive whenever we have questions and has always followed through with care and professionalism. Beyond the planning itself, it's the personal relationships we've developed that make this partnership something we're truly grateful for.” Read more.
“Our relationship with Gatewood Wealth Solutions has evolved over the years right along with our family. From building and protecting our wealth to retirement and estate planning, Gatewood has guided us and enabled our objectives. It’s assuring to know skilled professionals we trust are working with us to optimize what we have worked for all our lives.” Read more.
Important Disclosure: The statements provided are testimonials by clients of the financial professional. The clients listed have not been paid or received any other compensation for making these statements. As a result, the client does not receive any material incentives or benefits for providing the testimonial. These views may not be representative of the views of other clients and are not indicative of future performance or success.
Let's Build Your Wealth With Purpose
With expertise and care, we're here to build a personalized plan for wealth that instills confidence for all of life’s key moments. Schedule a conversation with our team today.