Unfortunately I don't have figures on this inheritance and it was only described as "a lot, a lot, a lot" by another respectable member of the family which can be interpreted in many ways. Mom is a realtor and income fluctuates largely year to year. As far as social security, I assume that is paid by self employed individuals? Basically we're talking about someone who doesn't have much of a nest egg here...she has been a realtor for about 20 years and I would imagine an average of 50k annual income earned over 20 years. Lets just assume the real estate market doesn't gyrate too much over the next decade and annual income is 50k. Lets also assume we're talking about an inheritance of 50k--100k just for practical purposes (I imagine it could be more). There is a living trust she will get a share of and I'm not sure of the legal process on how she would, or if she even has a right--to get those funds transferred into a vanguard account. Does she need her own attorney? I would like for her just to be prepared for this meeting coming up and have very little knowledge on estate planning.