Estates Made Simple

About Estates Made Simple

Welcome to the “Estates Made Simple” Podcast, hosted by Gordon VanderLeek, a licensed lawyer specializing in wills, estates and trusts, and Jenna Carvalho, an estate and trust consultant with over 10 years experience helping families secure their assets and plan for the future. We are a bi-weekly podcast that discusses the complicated and often confusing world of estate administration. Our goal is to provide you with the insight, knowledge and resources to help you navigate this complex process. Every episode we bring our unique perspective to provide listeners with unbiased information and practical tips to ensure success and mitigate risk. Even if you are not an executor, there will be topics of interest as you consider planning options for your own estate. Join us for helpful tips and important information on navigating estate administration so you can achieve peace of mind as an executor or administrator.

Publisher

Jenna Carvalho & Gordon VanderLeek

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

23 Feb 2023

Latest episode

26 Nov 2025

Latest episodes

74 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   26 Nov 2025

   Looking Back, Stepping Forward: Jenna’s Transition & What’s Next

   Episode Summary In this special episode of the Estates Made Simple podcast, Gordon VanderLeek is joined one last time by long-time co-host Jenna Carvalho of Guardian Estate Company. After two and a half years and more than 70 episodes together, Jenna is stepping away from the podcast to focus on big projects in her business and a growing family. Gordon and Jenna use this transition as a chance to look back on what they’ve learned, what’s changing in the estate world, and what executors and fa...

2. 

   12 Nov 2025

   The Great Stork Derby: Canada’s Most Bizarre Estate Case

   Episode Summary In this episode of Estates Made Simple, Gordon and Jenna take listeners back to one of Canada’s most famous, and frankly, most entertaining estate cases: the will of Charles Vance Miller. Known as a sharp lawyer and practical joker, Miller turned his own estate into a social experiment that sparked headlines, lawsuits, and even a movie. From gifting stock to people who opposed the companies to leaving a house jointly to enemies who had to live together, Miller’s will was full ...

3. 

   29 Oct 2025

   Gifting While Alive: Navigating Powers of Attorney and Estate Administration

   Episode Summary In this episode of Estates Made Simple, hosts Gordon VanderLeek and Jenna Carvalho deep dive into one of the more nuanced aspects of estate planning, gifting while someone is still alive under a power of attorney. When someone loses capacity and their power of attorney becomes active, what exactly can the appointed attorney do? Gordon and Jenna unpack the legal and ethical boundaries that govern financial and property decisions, exploring how these choices affect both the pres...

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 47 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

66

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

68

Contact Estates Made Simple

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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