I Lived Through the Struggle of Estate Settlement—Here’s How It Inspired Me to Build a Better Way.

I remember exactly where I was when my father-in-law, Ken, passed away unexpectedly. My wife got the call from her mom, fell to her knees in our kitchen, crying. As I watched her break down, struggling to explain the news to our kids, the reality of it hit me. Ken was gone.

In that moment, I knew I wanted to help. I wanted my wife, her brother, and the rest of the family to have space to grieve—without the crushing burden of figuring out his estate. Someone had to take on the responsibility, and I stepped forward. But as soon as I did, it became immediately clear that there is no roadmap.

Did he have a will? Who needed to be notified? Where were his financial records? What were the first steps? Are we going to sell his house? The logistical weight of settling his affairs sank in immediately—and I had no idea where to begin. 

The Overwhelming Search for Answers

In my confusion, I did what most people do: I turned to Google.

"What to do when someone dies."

The top result was an AARP checklist—listing what felt like a high level series of tasks. Notify social security. Locate financial accounts. Transfer assets. Close subscriptions. Plan his funeral.

The deeper I went, the more I realized how little I knew. 

There was no clear process, no centralized tool, no guidance—just scattered articles and fragmented advice.

I felt completely alone.

A Lucky Break and a Harsh Reality

We got lucky. Ken had written down many of his financial accounts, passwords, and notes on business cards that were sitting on his desk. His laptop wasn’t password-protected, which gave us access to his emails. We found his phone and tablet passcodes so we could access his saved photos and memories. It was a small relief, but it didn’t solve the bigger issue.

Even with all this information in hand, the process was still a nightmare. 

I gathered Ken’s personal accounts, belongings, and financial records, trying to make sense of what needed to be done. Each decision—what to close, what to transfer, what to keep—felt daunting. 

Every financial institution had a different process, each with its own requirements and endless paperwork. 

The legal side was confusing, filled with unfamiliar terms and frustrating delays. And on top of it all, the emotional weight of his passing made even the simplest tasks feel overwhelming. 

Having to call or write to every institution, repeatedly informing them of his passing, made the reality of his absence sink in even deeper. Each conversation was a painful reminder that he was gone.

I started asking friends and colleagues if they had been through something similar. Some had—and every single one of them described the same overwhelming experience. The stress. The countless hours. The uncertainty. The sense that they were making it up as they went along.

Others also had never even thought about it. Like most people, they assumed estate settlement was something that just "gets handled"—until they found themselves in the executor’s seat, suddenly responsible for closing their loved one’s estate with no roadmap. That’s when it became real.

And then I discovered the statistics:

• $36 trillion will be transferred to families, friends, and nonprofits over the next 30 years

• 68% of Americans don’t have a will

• More than half of executors aren’t even aware a will exists

• Settling an estate takes an average of 570 hours—nearly four months of full-time work

That’s when it hit me - this wasn’t just my struggle; this was a universal problem. 

I Knew There Had to Be a Better Way

I took everything I learned—the stress, the inefficiencies, the lack of support—and combined it with my experience in customer experience, SaaS implementation, and workflow automation to start designing a better solution.

As VP of Customer Experience at Fluxx, I spent years helping organizations optimize grant management, workflow automation, and compliance tracking. I knew how to build structured processes that remove human bottlenecks, provide real-time guidance, and automate tedious administrative tasks.

I realized estate settlement needed the same approach, but it became clear that estate planning was just as critical.

Why We Decided to Include Estate Planning

As we mapped out the process for estate settlement, we realized something executors experience firsthand—handling a loved one’s estate makes you think about your own.

Most people haven’t thought about estate settlement or planning until someone close to them dies. It’s an uncomfortable topic, and planning for your own death is something many put off. But when you’re the one left to close an estate, the reality sets in: this process is overwhelming, time-consuming, and emotionally exhausting.

If this process was overwhelming for me, how could I make it easier for my wife and two sons one day? What if everything they needed was already documented and accessible?

But there wasn’t a single solution that unified both estate planning and settlement. Every existing tool focused on one or the other—usually in disparate systems that don’t talk to each other. In many cases, there wasn’t a system with structured guidance to help executors or planners from start to finish. I want to change that!

I want to shift the narrative—to treat estate succession as one end-to-end journey, seamlessly connecting what happens after someone passes with the steps to prepare ahead of time.

The Solution: End of an Era

I partnered with my co-founder, AJ Resnick, and together we are in the process of building End of an Era. We have designed, wireframed, and built a prototype of the platform, but we are actively searching for a CTO and a developer to bring it to life. Our vision is to create an estate succession platform that simplifies and unifies both proactive estate planning and reactive estate settlement through:

• Real-Time Guidance: Step-by-step instructions for estate settlement—no more guesswork.

• AI-Driven Automation: Detects missing steps, ensures compliance, and streamlines tasks.

• Key Integrations: Connects directly with banks, insurance, real estate, and government agencies.

• Legacy Creation: Because estate planning isn’t just about assets—it’s about preserving memories and passing on wisdom.

For planners: Our platform helps families document their wishes, organize essential information, and ensure everything is in place for the future.

For executors: Our platform provides clear, structured guidance for estate settlement, ensuring that all personal, financial, and legal tasks are managed efficiently and accurately.

We aren’t here to replace attorneys, advisors, or estate planners. Instead, our platform serves as a strategic tool to help families, professionals, and executors navigate estate succession efficiently while keeping the human element at the center.

This is Personal

I’m not building this because estate planning and settlement sounded interesting—I’m building it because I am living through the struggle (and still going through it!) and saw firsthand how broken the process is. No one should have to figure it out alone.

We’ve designed and prototyped End of an Era, but we’re still in the process of bringing it to life. 

If you want updates on our progress and to be the first to know when we’re ready to launch, sign up here.