Published October 20, 2026 at 1:22 PM HST

If there's anything you don't want to put off until the last minute, it's planning for your estate.

Oct. 19 marked the start of National Estate Planning Awareness week, which is dedicated to helping people plan for the inevitable.

Maui resident Gabrial Rao is the founder of Estate Plan Now, a website that aggregates information on estate attorneys so clients can take the first step to getting their affairs in order.

HPR spoke with Rao to learn more about what inspired him to start the website.

"I'm no stranger to loss. That's really what got me connected to this space in the first place," he began.

Rao had his first encounter with grief when his brother Elijah was killed in Afghanistan in 2009. It was an experience that transformed him and connected him with people seeking to help those like him.

"I ended up working with a national nonprofit who supported families who lost loved ones in the military," he explained. "It was through that experience that I started to learn more about other aspects of the grief journey."

Rao developed an intimate understanding of the funeral industry and its blind spots — namely in estate planning, which is why he created his website to close the gap and help people prepare for what comes after.

"One of the things that I've found as I've now walked alongside thousands of individuals navigating grief … is that you often have the idea that it's going to be a really uncomfortable experience," Rao explained.

"But what you're going to find is it's another human being there with you … so I just want to offer a word of encouragement. Take that first step."

More information about Rao's website, Estate Plan Now, can be found here. 

This story aired on The Conversation on Oct. 20, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Jinwook Lee adapted this story for the web.