There’s an Instagram account I love called @touronsofnationalparks, which among many things, sometimes spotlights National Park Rangers sharing real questions they get from visitors.
And to be fair, the name alone already kind of tells you what we’re supposed to think.
Some of my favorites are:
“What elevation do deer become elk?”
“Where do you keep the animals at night?”
“What time do you turn the waterfalls on?”
“Do you light up the canyon at night?”
And yes, people also do objectively dumb things… like feeding grizzlies or trying to pet bison. So the account isn’t wrong.
But the questions themselves?
They’re not really about people being dumb.
They’re about people not knowing what they don’t know.
Every time I visit a National Park, I ask the rangers what the wildest question they’ve heard is.
A few weeks ago in Yellowstone, I asked a ranger just that.
He said, “It’s just because they’re uneducated.”
And that stuck with me.
Because I’ll be honest, my first instinct used to be to laugh at those questions. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized… it’s not that people are dumb.
They just haven’t been taught.
And the same thing shows up all the time in estate planning.
I hear questions like:
“I have a will, so my family won’t have to go through probate… right?”
“I’m my mom’s power of attorney. I’m still in charge after she dies, right?”
“Am I going to be personally responsible for my mom’s car loan?”
“Is the state going to take everything?”
“Shouldn’t I just add my son to the deed so it’s easier?”
“Can I just write my wishes down on a piece of paper and have it count?”
“My estate is simple, so I don’t need a will, right?”
These aren’t dumb questions.
They’re completely reasonable questions… if no one has ever explained how this actually works.
But here’s the problem.
When people don’t ask the question, or they assume they already know the answer, that’s when things go sideways.
I’ve seen families accidentally create tax issues because they “just added a name to the deed.”
I’ve seen people try to access accounts because they thought power of attorney still applied after death.
I’ve seen executors lose time, money, and sleep trying to untangle decisions that were made with the best intentions… but incomplete information.
Estate planning is one of those areas where a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous.
And a simple question can save months of headaches later.
So if you’ve ever thought, “This might be a dumb question…”
It’s not.
It’s probably the exact question you should be asking.
Because no one is born knowing how to navigate death, estates, probate, or any of the logistics that come with it.
We’re all just trying to figure it out as we go.
And in my world, the people who ask the questions early are the ones who make things exponentially easier for the people they love later.
So ask the question.
Even if it feels obvious.
Even if it feels uncomfortable.
Even if you’re pretty sure you “should” already know the answer.
Because trust me, I’ve heard it all.
And the only real mistake is not asking.
