Green Estate Planning: A Fresh Approach for Colorado Families
Bobbie Mooney When most people hear the phrase estate planning, they think of paperwork, legal jargon, and maybe a dusty binder on a shelf. But estate planning can be something much more meaningful. When approached with intention, estate planning is a way to care for the people you love, express your values, and leave the world a little better than you found it.
At Small Planet Law, we call this Green Estate Planning. It’s a modern, values‑aligned approach that blends traditional estate planning with environmental stewardship, sustainability, and community care.
Whether you’re just starting to think about a will or you’ve been meaning to update your plan for years, this article will help you understand what Green Estate Planning is and why it matters.
What Is Green Estate Planning?
Green Estate Planning is estate planning that honors both your loved ones and the planet. It includes all the essential legal tools — wills, trusts, powers of attorney, guardianship nominations — but it also considers the environmental impact of your choices and the legacy you want to leave.
It’s built on three core ideas:
1. Clarity and Care for Your Family
A thoughtful estate plan gives your loved ones clear guidance during difficult moments. It reduces stress, prevents conflict, and ensures the people you trust are the ones making decisions on your behalf.
2. Alignment With Your Values
Your estate plan can reflect the principles that guide your life—care, integrity, generosity, responsibility, and the way you show up for the people and communities you love. It’s a way to carry those commitments forward and ensure they continue to shape the future.
3. Stewardship of the Planet
Through Green Estate Planning, you can make choices that reflect your care for the natural world. You can support conservation, reduce waste, choose sustainable memorial options, and ensure your decisions care for the earth alongside the people you love.
Why Traditional Estate Planning Isn’t Always “Green”
Most estate planning processes weren’t designed with sustainability in mind. They often involve:
- Excessive paper and printing
- Outdated or wasteful end‑of‑life assumptions
- Missed opportunities to support environmental causes
- A focus on documents rather than values
Green Estate Planning takes a different approach. It’s intentional, thoughtful, and grounded in the idea that planning for the future shouldn’t come at the planet’s expense.
What Green Estate Planning Can Include
Here are a few examples of how sustainability can show up in your plan:
Conservation Gifts and Environmental Bequests
You can support the land, water, and wildlife you love through charitable gifts of any size, donor‑advised funds, or conservation easements.
Green Burial and Natural Funeral Options
Colorado has become a leader in natural burial, body composting, and other low‑impact choices. Your estate plan can make your wishes clear so your family doesn’t have to guess.
Low‑Waste Planning Practices
At Small Planet Law, we use digital-first processes, minimal printing, and streamlined workflows to reduce waste and keep your plan simple and accessible. We vet our vendors, supplies, and partners for alignment with our commitment to sustainability. And for every estate plan we write, Small Planet Law makes a donation to one of our featured environmental nonprofits — chosen by you!
Passing On Your Values
Your legacy is so much more than financial assets — it includes the stories, principles, and experiences that shape your love for your community and the natural world. Through the Small Planet Law planning process, you can create a lasting record of the values and commitments that mean the most to you, offer guidance for future generations, and encourage your family to stay connected to the places and ecosystems you cherish.
Why Work With a Personal Family Lawyer®?
Small Planet Law is proud to be a member firm of the Personal Family Lawyer® network of over 700 estate planning lawyers nationwide that believe estate planning has transformational potential for individuals, families, and communities.
Most traditional estate planning focuses on one-off transactions and one-size-fits-all documents. But families deserve more than paperwork. You deserve a lawyer who takes the time to understand your goals, your relationships, and the principles that guide your life.
As a Personal Family Lawyer® trained and certified firm, Small Planet Law offers a relationship‑based approach designed to support you long‑term, not just at the moment your documents are signed. That means a warm, accessible process with clear flat fees up front so you always know what to expect, support with asset alignment so your plan actually works, and regular plan review and updates as your life and the law evolve.
Estate planning requires nuance. No matter what aspects of green planning resonate, you will benefit from working with someone who is rigorously trained and certified in estate planning and can help you navigate your choices with clarity and confidence.
When you work with a Personal Family Lawyer®, you’re not just completing a set of legal documents. You’re creating a clear and comprehensive plan rooted in your values, designed to protect your family when it matters most. At Small Planet Law, that approach extends to the broader legacy you want to leave and the future you’re helping to shape on our one precious planet.
Want to Go Deeper? Get the Free Green Estate Planning Guide
This post is just the beginning. Small Planet Law has created a free Green Estate Planning Guide that walks you through:
- The essential components of a good estate plan
- Ways to make your plan more sustainable
- Options for green burial and natural funerals
- What to expect when working with a Personal Family Lawyer®
- How to get started on your own Green Estate Plan
You can get your copy here — I’ll send it right to your inbox.
Let’s Get Connected!
- Ready to explore starting your own green estate plan? Book a call here!
- Stay in the know: Sign up for the Small Planet Law newsletter for estate planning tips, environmental insights, monthly offers, and day-in-the-life updates from Small Planet Law’s founding attorney Bobbie Mooney.
This article is a service of Small Planet Law, a Personal Family Lawyer Firm. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Life & Legacy Planning Session, during which you will get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by contacting our office today to schedule a Life & Legacy Planning Session.
This material was created for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as ERISA, tax, legal, or investment advice. If you are seeking legal advice specific to your needs, such advice services must be obtained on your own, separate from this educational material.
