A couple in North Boulder sits down to 'finally do the estate plan.' One works at a tech company with RSUs vesting every quarter; the other holds options in a startup that just raised a round. Add a house near Chautauqua that tripled in value, two kids — and the old will suddenly looks like a document for someone else's life.
Equity compensation changes estate planning in ways generic templates miss. Unvested RSUs and options often can't simply be left to heirs — plan documents control what survives a death and what lapses.
Whiteford's Colorado team works with Boulder families at exactly this intersection — technology wealth, real estate that outgrew expectations, and the philanthropic instincts this community is known for. Backed by a Chambers-ranked national trusts and estates platform, we build plans that fit how Boulder wealth actually works.
Planning around equity compensation
The first task with equity comp is simply mapping it: which grants are vested, which continue or accelerate at death, and which evaporate. Those answers live in plan documents, not in guesses. From there, beneficiary elections, account titling, and the will or trust can be aligned with reality.
Startup equity adds its own layer: transfer restrictions, rights of first refusal, illiquidity. For families whose stake could become genuinely valuable, planning early — while the paper value is modest — creates opportunities to move future growth to children or trusts efficiently. The attorney will tailor those concepts to your cap table and risk tolerance.
- Inventorying RSUs, ISOs, NSOs, and ESPP holdings and what each does at death
- Coordinating beneficiary designations and trusts with employer plan documents
- Planning for concentrated stock positions and post-IPO windfalls
- Trust structures that can hold private company shares within transfer restrictions
The house, the causes, and the kids
Boulder real estate is its own planning event. Homes bought decades ago now hold enormous embedded gains, and how a house passes — outright, in trust, or by beneficiary deed — affects taxes and probate alike. A second mountain place usually tips the scales toward a trust-based plan.
Philanthropy runs deep here. Bequests, donor-advised funds, and charitable remainder trusts fit different situations — the last can convert appreciated stock into lifetime income with a gift to your causes at the end. The attorney will match the vehicle to your assets and intentions.
A process built for busy, thoughtful people
Boulder clients tend to arrive well-read and wanting a counterpart, not a lecture. Our process respects that: a free Legacy Game Plan Session to understand your situation, recommendations with reasoning shown, flat-fee proposals up front, and drafts in plain English. The free Colorado Estate Snapshot at /estate-snapshot is a fast way to organize the moving pieces before we talk.
Because equity and careers move quickly here, we build plans for change: reviews timed to liquidity events, and documents flexible enough that an IPO is an update, not a rebuild.
