Kierman Law PLC

Kierman Law PLC Life Planning Made Easier. Kierman Law focuses on estate planning, probate litigation, asset protection, and charitable giving.

Protect your family and financial assets for the future, whether you have a high net worth or just want to ensure proper guardianship. Update or reimagine life plans in the event of the birth of a child, divorce, remarriage, adoption, or other life or financial changes. Provide for your elderly or special needs family members.

I've been nominated again for Jewish News Readers' Choice!I'm so honored to be nominated once more in this year's Jewish...
08/27/2026

I've been nominated again for Jewish News Readers' Choice!

I'm so honored to be nominated once more in this year's Jewish News Readers' Choice Contest. This recognition means the world to me, especially knowing it comes from the community I've had the privilege of serving over the years.

Voting is officially open, and I'd love your support!

Vote here: https://readerschoice.phoenixcjp.org

Thank you for being part of this journey with me!

08/26/2026

Here's something I see more often than people expect: a family member finds out what their inheritance is actually going to be, and it changes everything.

I met with a client recently who is in a strong financial position. He found out what his family was planning to do with his future inheritance, and it upset him enough that he is now changing his own plans.

It is a reminder that assumptions about inheritance, on either side, can cause real friction if they are never actually discussed.

If you are spending, or planning around, an inheritance in advance, you might want to have that conversation before you build plans around it.

If you live in Arizona, call (480) 719-7333 today. Let's talk about your family's expectations and make sure your plan reflects reality, not assumptions.

Clear conversations now prevent hard feelings later.

Life does not always give notice. A medical emergency, a sudden hospitalization, a deployment, or an unexpected trip tha...
08/25/2026

Life does not always give notice. A medical emergency, a sudden hospitalization, a deployment, or an unexpected trip that turns into an extended absence can all leave a parent needing someone else to legally care for their children on short notice. This is exactly what a temporary guardianship document is built for, and it is one of the most overlooked pieces of a family's planning.

A temporary guardianship allows you to name someone, in advance, who can step in and make decisions for your children if you are unable to for a defined period. Without one, a trusted grandparent, aunt, or family friend caring for your kids during an emergency may not be able to enroll them in school, authorize medical treatment, or make basic decisions on their behalf, even with your full blessing, because they have no legal authority to do so.

I hear from parents fairly often who assume that leaving a note or a verbal understanding with a family member is enough. It is not. Schools, doctors, and other institutions need to see an actual legal document before they can act on someone else's authority over your child. A temporary guardianship document gives the person you trust the legal standing to act immediately, without a court hearing, for the period of time you specify.

This is different from naming a long-term guardian in your will, which addresses what happens if something happens to you permanently. Temporary guardianship covers the in-between moments, the emergencies, the deployments, the medical situations, where you are still very much your child's parent but temporarily unable to act on their behalf.

If you have children and no temporary guardianship documents in place, this is one of the simplest and most protective steps you can take for your family.

If you live in Arizona, call (480) 719-7333 to put a temporary guardianship plan in place for your children.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

Most business owners have a will. Far fewer have a real plan for what happens to the business itself if they die or beco...
08/20/2026

Most business owners have a will. Far fewer have a real plan for what happens to the business itself if they die or become incapacitated tomorrow. A will tells the world who inherits your shares. It does not tell your team who signs the payroll, who has authority over the business bank accounts, or who steps in to keep client relationships intact while the family is grieving.

I work with a lot of family business owners here in Scottsdale, and the gap I see most often is not a lack of caring about the business. It is a lack of translating that care into documents that actually work the moment they are needed. A buy-sell agreement determines what happens to your ownership interest, whether a surviving spouse ends up as an unwilling business partner with your co-owners, and how that ownership gets valued and paid out. A succession plan names who actually runs day to day operations, which is a completely different question from who inherits the value of the company.

Without both pieces in place, families often face a business that stalls out exactly when it can least afford to. Employees do not know who to answer to. Vendors and clients get nervous. Co-owners can end up in a dispute with a grieving spouse who never wanted to be part of the business in the first place, and who may not have the knowledge or interest to run it.

The good news is that this is entirely preventable with planning done while everyone is healthy and the business is running smoothly. A buy-sell agreement funded properly, often with life insurance, gives your co-owners and your family a clear, pre-negotiated path instead of a negotiation happening for the first time during a crisis. A succession plan identifies your successor, documents the authority they need, and gives your team clarity from day one.

If you built something worth protecting, it deserves a plan built specifically around it, not a generic will that never anticipated what your business actually needs to keep running.

If you are in Arizona, call us at 480-719-7333 to talk through what a succession plan should look like for your business.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

08/19/2026

An estate plan does not have to sound like everyone else's.

I have clients who built a long list of friends, family, and charities into their plan, right down to a specific bequest for a friend to finally move an electric box that has been in an annoying spot in the neighborhood for years. It is small, it is personal, and it is exactly the kind of detail a good plan can hold space for.

Your plan can reflect the actual people in your life and the specific things you care about, not just a generic list of beneficiaries.

If you live in Arizona, call (480) 719-7333 today.

Let's talk about your friends, your family, and the details that make your plan yours. Your legacy does not have to be generic.

It can sound just like you.

Blended families have more moving parts than most estate plans are designed to handle.When you marry someone with childr...
08/18/2026

Blended families have more moving parts than most estate plans are designed to handle.

When you marry someone with children from a prior relationship, the standard estate plan — everything to the spouse, then equally to the kids — often does not reflect what you actually want. Your spouse may outlive you by decades. During that time, your assets may be spent, given to others, or ultimately inherited by people who were never part of your plan.

A well-structured estate plan for a blended family typically uses a combination of trusts to balance providing for your spouse during their lifetime while ensuring your own children ultimately receive what you intend for them.

It also needs to address beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance, which pass outside of your will entirely and can easily undermine even a carefully drafted estate plan if not coordinated.

Blended family estate planning is not complicated to execute when done correctly. It does require intentional planning rather than default documents.

If you are in Arizona, call us at 480-719-7333 or visit kiermanlaw.com.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

Most people think estate planning is about what happens after they die. But some of the most important documents in your...
08/13/2026

Most people think estate planning is about what happens after they die. But some of the most important documents in your plan are designed to protect you while you are still alive.

A durable power of attorney gives someone you trust the legal authority to manage your finances if you become unable to do so yourself. Without one, your family may need to go to court to get that authority. In Arizona that process is called a conservatorship, and it takes time and money at exactly the moment when quick action matters most.

A healthcare power of attorney gives someone the authority to make medical decisions on your behalf if you cannot communicate your wishes. Without one, medical providers may default to next-of-kin rules that do not reflect who you actually trust or what you actually want.

These documents are straightforward to create and powerful to have in place. Most people who do not have them simply have not made the time.

If you are in Arizona, call us at 480-719-7333 or visit kiermanlaw.com to get both documents in place.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

If you have young children, estate planning is not about what happens to your money. It is about what happens to them.Wh...
08/11/2026

If you have young children, estate planning is not about what happens to your money. It is about what happens to them.

Who would raise your children if something happened to you and your spouse? If you do not have a will that names a guardian, an Arizona court will make that decision. The court tries to act in the best interests of the children, but the person appointed may not be who you would have chosen.

Beyond guardianship, there is also the question of money. Minor children cannot inherit significant assets directly under Arizona law. Without a trust or other planning, assets left to a minor child may be held and managed by a court-appointed conservator until the child turns 18, at which point they receive everything outright regardless of their maturity.

Most parents find that is not the outcome they want. A simple trust can hold assets for your children's benefit, provide for their care and education, and distribute to them at an age you choose.

Estate planning for young families does not have to be complicated. It just has to happen.

If you are in Arizona, call us at 480-719-7333 or visit kiermanlaw.com.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

Here is something most people do not think about: if you pass away without a will in Arizona, the state has one ready fo...
08/06/2026

Here is something most people do not think about: if you pass away without a will in Arizona, the state has one ready for you.

Arizona's intestate succession laws determine exactly who gets your assets when you have no estate plan in place. The formula is based on family relationships, not on what you would have wanted. Your spouse, children, parents, and siblings all have a defined order of inheritance under Arizona law.

For some families, the result is close to what they would have chosen. For others, it is not. A blended family might find that stepchildren receive nothing. A domestic partner who was never legally married might receive nothing at all. A family member you would have excluded entirely might inherit alongside the people you love.

The only way to make sure your assets go where you intend is to say so in writing while you still can.

Kierman Law makes the estate planning process simple and straightforward. You do not have to have everything figured out before you call.

If you are in Arizona, call us at 480-719-7333 or visit kiermanlaw.com to get started.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult an attorney for guidance specific to your situation.

08/05/2026

Every week, someone sits down in my office and says: I bet you have never heard anything as crazy as this. Every week, they are wrong.

The truth is, estate planning situations are rarely simple. Difficult family members, complicated relationships, unusual assets, unique circumstances. I have heard it all. And I genuinely love it. Every story reminds me why this work matters.

If you have been putting off estate planning because your situation feels too complicated or too unusual, that is exactly the reason to call.

I would love to hear your story. If you're in Arizona, call Kierman Law at 480-719-7333.

Address

14362 N Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard, Suite 1000
Scottsdale, AZ
85260

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Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

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