About us | 49th Estate Planning

Estate Planning That Actually Works for Your Family

At our firm, we take a different approach to estate planning. Unlike the traditional experience that leaves you with a confusing set of documents, we focus on providing peace of mind by creating a plan tailored to your family’s needs. We know life is busy, so we offer have a team in place that walks you through every step of the process. Whether preparing for the future or protecting your family’s wealth—financial and intangible—we’re here to ensure your wishes are honored and your loved ones are cared for.

Why We’re Different

Most people think estate planning is just about signing documents, putting them in a binder, and checking it off their to-do list. But traditional estate planning often leaves families unprepared and stuck in a mess when they need help the most.
Have you ever:

- Left a lawyer’s office feeling overwhelmed and unsure about what you just signed?
- Meant to transfer assets into your trust but never got around to it?
- Avoided calling your lawyer because you knew you’d get a bill for every minute?
- Wondered if your plan still works as your family and the law change?

This is the experience most people have—until they realize too late that their estate plan isn’t actually protecting their loved ones.

We Do Things Differently

We designed our firm to serve growing families who want more than just documents—they want a real plan that works.

- Flat fees, no surprises – You’ll always know the cost upfront. No hourly billing, no unexpected charges.
- Ongoing guidance – Life changes, and so should your plan. We check in with you regularly to make sure everything stays up to date.
- Easy communication – Have a quick question? Call us. No waiting days for a response or getting billed for every minute.
- A plan that actually works – We make sure your assets are properly titled and your loved ones know exactly what to do when the time comes.

More Than Money

Your wealth isn’t just about money. It’s also about your values, stories, and experiences—the things your family will cherish most. That’s why every estate plan we create includes a process to help you pass down your wisdom,

Let’s Make Sure Your Family Is Protected Planning ahead is one of the greatest gifts you can give your loved ones. If you want an estate plan that truly works, let’s start the conversation.

Meet the Team

Liz Smith - CEO and Founding Attorney

Liz Smith is the CEO and Founding attorney of 49th Estate Planning. She loves meeting people and helping them learn about the process their assets must go through upon death, and then to create a plan with you if you want to do something different than what happens without any planning.

Meet the Team

Liz Smith - CEO and Founding Attorney

Gloria Jones– Attorney

Gloria is an attorney at 49th Estate Planning, based in Glennallen, AK, where she has spent most of her life. Her firsthand experience living in a rural area fuels her passion for improving legal access in underserved communities.

Alexandria Weddell – Intake & Outreach Director

As the Intake & Outreach Director, Alex is often the first point of contact for clients starting their estate planning journey. If you book an appointment, she’ll follow up to guide you through the process and ensure you have everything you need.

Rebecca Garcia (Becky) – Client Services Director

Becky is our Client Services Director and the friendly voice on the other end of the phone or email. With nearly a decade of legal experience ranging from Legal Assistant to Paralegal.

Jennifer Oetting – Director of Operations

Jennifer brings a wealth of experience in finance, healthcare accounting, and program management to her role as Funding Coordinator and Estate Administration Specialist.

Isabel Lee – Paralegal

Isabel is a highly experienced paralegal providing exceptional support to our estate planning and administration clients. With decades of experience in family law, she brings valuable expertise and attention to detail to our team.

Amanda – Legal Assistant

Amanda supports the estate planning process from start to finish. She prepares pre-meeting packets, Overviews of Decisions, PFL letters, Kids Protection Plans, and Funding Toolkits.

Pualei Galletes – Drafting Specialist

Pualei (pronounced “pu-a-lei”) heads up our drafting team. Prior to serving in this role, Pualei served as the Client Services Director, so she knows how we operate! Pualei also loves to spend time with family and will frequently be found watching her children at their sporting events.

Sierra Newby-Smith– Drafting Assistant

Sierra is our Drafting Assistant, bringing a strong background in writing and education to her role. Before joining the legal field, she worked in museum programming, ESL curriculum development, and university disability services.

Stephanie Estabillo – Marketing & Administrative Assistant

Stephanie is our behind-the-scenes creative powerhouse, working remotely from the Philippines. She brings years of experience to our team, turning marketing ideas into engaging visuals and organizing workflows.

Who You Are: Estate Planning for Every Family Dynamic

We are all unique. Your childhood experiences were different than your best friend, your job duties are different, your family situations are different, and so on. It turns out we aren’t all the same, that’s why estate planning is an individualized process and can’t be accomplished with the standardized DIY tools found on the internet.

You may be single, married, have children or not. The one common denominator is that you truly and deeply care about the people in your life and you want to make things as easy as possible for them, if and when something happens to you.

Your wealth isn’t measured just by the dollars in the bank, but by the well-being of the people you love.

Family People

Your wealth isn’t measured just by the dollars in the bank, but by the well-being of the people you love.

To read up on the specifics of estate planning based on your situation, check out our detailed service listings here.

Single Parents

You have the primary responsibility for ensuring the well-being and care of your children. If something happens to you while they are minors, you want to ensure you’ve made the decision about who cares for them, and how. In the most ideal scenario, your child’s other parent would be suitable to take custody of your child, if you cannot
be there. But in many cases, that’s not possible, or desired.
And, even if it is, you may want the financial resources you are leaving behind cared for by someone other than
your former spouse or partner.
No matter what the scenario, as a single parent (whether your child’s other parent is in the picture or not), you need to take the steps necessary to legally document who you would want raising your child, and how you would want your child raised, and how you want your assets handled for your child, in case anything happens to you. We know you are busy and promise to make the process as simple and easy for you as possible.

To get started right away, click here to schedule an appointment online. You may also call our office at 907-
312-5436 to schedule an appointment.

Married with children

When you are married with children, estate planning is usually pretty straightforward. You want your spouse making decisions for you if you are incapacitated, and you want to make sure your assets go to your spouse when you die, and then to your children after your spouse is gone.
Seems simple, right? Except that the court process when someone dies (called probate) takes a LONG time and can be stressful for families at a time when they are mourning. It is also expensive, and can leave your family open to fighting about all sorts of things. Plus, does your family even know where all your assets are? There are billions of dollars in states’
departments of unclaimed property because often times families do not know where to look. There are a myriad of questions that need to be answered to ensure your family stays out of court, and out of conflict, in the event of your incapacity or death. And, some tactical specifics that need to happen to ensure your assets don’t end up lost to the State Department of Unclaimed Property because your family overlooks something when you can’t be there to guide them. And, if you are in a second (or third or more) marriage situation with children from a prior marriage (we call this a “blended family”), well it’s an almost guarantee the people you love will end up in conflict, if you don’t plan ahead.

Most of all, your wealth isn’t measured just by the dollars in your bank account, but by the well-being of the people you love. You care enough to get your estate planning handled so your family will stay out of court and out of conflict, no matter what. We know you are busy and promise to make the process as simple and easy for you as possible.

To get started right away, click here to schedule an appointment online. You may also call our office at 907-312-5436 to schedule an appointment.

Blended Families

If you are in a second (or third or more) marriage, and you have children from a prior marriage, you must engage in estate planning that will keep the people you love out of conflict.

No matter how close or friendly you think your new spouse and your children are, there is simply an unavoidable, inherent conflict between them upon your death.

Having said that, this conflict can be mitigated and you can ensure that the people you love most — your new spouse and your children — will each be well-taken care of with the most ease possible.

You can even take actions to support their being on the same team with each other in a time of grief.

It does take planning though, and we are well-trained and highly skilled in planning for the needs of “blended families”, which is the term of art in the legal profession for people who are in second (or third or more) marriages with children from a prior marriage.

So, if you are in a second (or third or more) marriage, contact us for a Life & Legacy Planning Session so we can look together at everything you own, and everyone you love, and what would happen to all of it, when something happens to you. Then, you can get informed, educated and empowered to make the right planning decisions for the people you love.

To get started right away, click here to schedule an appointment online. You may also call our office at 907-312-5436 to schedule an appointment.

Life partners with or without children

In so many ways, estate planning is the very most important for you when you are not married, but have a life partner. And, if you have children together, well it’s exponentially more important for you to get your estate planning handled right.

The law does not protect your love if you are not married, period.

You have to take action yourself to ensure you will have access to your loved one’s hospital bedside, and that your unmarried loved one will have access to you, if you are hospitalized.

If you do not take action, it’s very likely that the person you love most in the world could be blocked from being with you in an accident, or making health care decisions for you, or deciding what you are nourished with, or who gets to see you.

And, that’s just your healthcare. Without the protection of estate planning, the person you love most in the world could be thrown out of your house, ejected from your business, or locked out of your finances.

If you have children together, they could even be taken out of your partners care.

Estate planning when you are unmarried isn’t optional. It’s truly a matter of life and death for the people you love most.

We know you are busy and promise to make the process as simple and easy for you as possible.

To get started right away, click here to schedule an appointment online. You may also call our office at 907-312-5436 to schedule an appointment.

Adults without children

You don’t have children, but you do have a spouse, partner, or other loved ones, and you want to ensure things are as easy for them as possible if and when something happens to you.

You want to pass on what you have worked so hard for your entire life, and do it in a way that helps your loved ones know and feel your love just when they’ll need to most.

On top of that, and maybe even more importantly, you want to choose who will receive what you’ve worked so hard to create, and also ensure that your “chosen family” will be able to care for and love you, in the event you are incapacitated and cannot make healthcare decisions for yourself.

Your wealth isn’t measured just by the dollars in your bank account, but by the well-being of the people you love. You care enough to get your estate planning handled so your loved ones will not get stuck in court or conflict, when you become incapacitated or die.

We know you are busy and promise to make the process as simple and easy for you as possible.

To get started right away, click here to schedule an appointment online. You may also call our office at 907-312-5436 to schedule an appointment.

How it works

1. Initial Call and Planning Session

Many clients first connect with us by scheduling a quick 15-minute call with our intake coordinator. It’s a chance to share some basic information and get a feel for how we work. From there, we’ll help you book a 2-hour Planning Session with one of our attorneys—typically scheduled about three weeks out.

2. Personalized Plan Design

During your Planning Session, we’ll walk through a detailed inventory of your family, assets, and what matters most to you. Together with your attorney, you’ll design a personalized estate plan that fits your life and goals. Within a week, you’ll receive a clear overview of the design, and about five weeks later, you’ll finalize everything by signing your completed plan.

3. Create Your Plan

During your meeting with the attorney, you’ll explore options for your estate plan. Together, you’ll design a customized strategy that works for you and your loved ones.

4. Review Your Plan

One week after your meeting, you’ll receive an overview of the designed plan. Take your time to review it thoroughly and make any adjustments you feel are necessary.

5. Follow Up - The Necessary Ingredient to Keep Your Plan up to Date

After your legal plan is in place, you likely need to make changes to ownership and/or beneficiaries on accounts. We have a process to follow up with you and aim to make sure the follow-through gets done. After that, we have processes in place to ensure that our team is here to work with you for your lifetime to ensure your plan stays up to date.

6. Completion & Client Care Program

Once your assets are fully transferred and your plan is in place, we’ll meet for a binder delivery meeting, celebrating this milestone. You’ll also have the option to sign up for our Client Care Program, ensuring your plan stays up to date as life changes.

Get in Touch

We’re here to help you create a plan that brings peace of mind and protects your loved ones. Whether you’re just starting your estate planning journey or need help refining an existing plan, we’re ready to assist.

If you would like to schedule a call at a time that works for you, click the button below or fill out the form. We’ll get back to you shortly.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (907) 312-5436

Address: Jordan Creek Center
8800 Glacier Hwy, Suite 222
Juneau, AK 99801.

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Disclaimer: The information you obtain at this website is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for advice regarding your own individual situation. No attorney-client relationship is intended or formed by viewing this website, downloading and using the contents, forms, tips or information found on this website. We invite you to contact us and welcome your calls, letters, and email. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship. Client testimonials or endorsements do not constitute a guarantee, warranty, or prediction regarding the outcome of your legal matter.