There are conversations we postpone because they feel heavy.

Estate planning often lands in that pile. We tell ourselves we will “get around to it.” We assume it belongs to retirees, to the wealthy, to people with complicated assets.

And most planning, if it happens at all, focuses on death.

But here is what I see, over and over again in real life, not theory:

Very few plan for incapacity. Almost everyone believes they have more time than they do. And crisis exposes what preparation would have prevented.

As a notary, I sit at tables during some of the most important moments of people’s lives. I see families organized and calm because documents are in place. I also see families scrambling in hospital hallways, trying to solve in hours what should have been handled years earlier.

The hard truth is this: incapacity is more likely than death at any given moment. An accident. A stroke. A sudden diagnosis. A complication during surgery. One day you are managing your calendar and your b...