Ten slots. Ten movies. One shelf. In this special episode of 82 Toothpicks, Ethan and Amber introduce a brand new movie rating system and reveal which of the 70+ films they've analyzed so far make their permanent, top-ten "shelf."

Join our estate planning experts as they go head-to-head, unveiling their personal "best of" lists and debating each film's quality versus its estate planning content. Discover how they rate cinematic masterpieces and personal favorites using the new "toothpick" scale, covering themes of legacy, succession, guardianship, and disability planning. From animated classics to Oscar-winning dramas, this episode is a fun-filled retrospective that re-examines beloved films through the unique lens of elder law and legacy.

Here are a few of the films that made the cut:
🍿 The Shawshank Redemption: A deep dive into a scene with surprisingly explicit estate planning and tax conversations.
🦁 The Lion King: is this animated classic is more than just a retelling of Hamlet?
✨ CODA: Exploring the beautiful storytelling around disability, capacity, and family business succession.

Ever wonder what your favorite movie says about estate planning? Subscribe to 82 Toothpicks, follow the hosts, and download a copy of Ethan's books to find out how your favorite films stack up!

Could a World War II super soldier teach us anything about estate planning? In Captain America: The First Avenger, Steve Rogers goes from a scrawny kid nobody will enlist to the man an entire country is built around. The decisions that get him there are the same ones families make when they name somebody to act for them. The Army didn't pick Steve because he was the strongest man in camp. They picked him because of what he did with a flagpole.

We don't just break down the core legal lessons hidden in this Marvel blockbuster, we explore whether Steve Rogers himself becomes the legacy, the one who carries the values of the past onto the Avengers team. Listen in and discover how Steve Rogers's story connects to modern-day family dynamics and planning. Whether you're a Marvel fan or just curious, you'll see how estate planning concepts are truly universal. Plus we'll talk about:

🧊 The crash into the ice and what happens to a person's rights when everyone assumes he's dead.

🧪 The lost super soldier serum formula as a cautionary tale for protecting your life's work.

🤝 The careful selection of Steve Rogers and why it's a perfect parallel for choosing a trustee or fiduciary.

Strength was never the hard part of this story. Choosing who to trust with it was.

Subscribe to 82 Toothpicks, share this one with a Marvel fan, and download Ethan's It's Not Too Late book series for practical steps to protect your family and legacy.

What happens when a man with a fear of commitment falls for a woman who just might be a serial killer? In this episode, we're sharpening our legal analysis on the 1993 Mike Myers cult classic, So I Married an Axe Murderer, and uncovering the surprisingly morbid estate planning lessons hiding in this goofy rom-com.

Beneath the slapstick humor and quotable one-liners, we explore the serious financial and legal loose ends left behind when someone dies unexpectedly. We discuss the importance of having your affairs in order, especially when your new spouse has a string of mysteriously deceased ex-husbands. Join us as we dissect how inheritance, probate, and even the role of an obituary writer play into the film's chaotic plot, proving that even the most unserious movies have serious legacy lessons.

Here are a few moments we cover:

🕵️‍♂️ Charlie's cop friend Tony trying to solve the case of the "Mrs. X" murders.

📜 The hilarious and insightful scene with the obituary writer at the newspaper office.

💍 Harriet's collection of items from her past husbands—and the inheritance she doesn't even know she's entitled to.

Ever wondered if your favorite comedy has a dark side? Come see So I Married an Axe Murderer in a whole new light. Subscribe, share, or follow 82 Toothpicks wherever you get your podcasts so you never miss an episode!

A man alone on Mars sits down in his rover and writes his will on a piece of paper, leaving what he has to whoever comes along next. In this episode of 82 Toothpicks, we break down the surprising estate planning and legacy lessons hiding in the 2015 sci-fi blockbuster, The Martian. While Mark Watney fights for survival millions of miles from home, his story provides a powerful metaphor for creating a flexible estate plan that can adapt to life's unexpected crises.

Join Ethan and Amber as they explore how the film's themes of problem-solving and resilience mirror the journey of estate administration. We'll discuss the importance of having a plan that allows for adjustments, the power of focusing on the ultimate outcome rather than getting bogged down in technical details, and how tools like an irrevocable trust can actually provide more flexibility. A few highlights include:

🚀 Discovering that Mark Watney is alive after 54 days which creates a situation similar to the Castaway episode where someone is declared dead but isn't.

📝 Estate planning on screen as Watney writes his last wishes by hand in the rover, leaving his gear to whoever comes next.

🥔 The potato farm saga, which illustrates a brilliant success followed by a devastating setback, highlighting the need for backup plans.

None of Watney's plans worked the way he drew them up. He got home anyway. That's the whole idea.

Ready to see how surviving on Mars can teach you about securing your legacy? Listen now and remember to subscribe, share, and follow the hosts for more movie-inspired estate planning insights. You can also download a copy of Ethan's books at huizengalaw.com.

Ever wondered what would happen if someone actually stole the Declaration of Independence? In this episode, we're treasure hunting through the 2004 classic, National Treasure, and uncovering a vault of hidden estate planning lessons you might have missed. More than just a heist film, this movie is a multigenerational story about protecting a family legacy, solving historical puzzles, and what happens when you finally find the treasure.

We explore how the film's core concepts of protection and preservation mirror the goals of a well-crafted estate plan. We discuss key legal ideas like trusts, duress, and responsible inheritance management. Join us as we examine how even a massive treasure can vanish in an instant without a proper plan, a concept we call "lottery winner syndrome." We also dig into the film's deeper themes of legacy, how secrets are passed down "in trust" through generations, and the importance of being intentional with what you leave behind.

You'll discover surprising insights like:

📜 The moment when Ben's grandfather entrusts him with the family secret, kicking off a multigenerational legacy journey

💰 How Ben and Riley's spending habits after finding the treasure are a perfect example of what NOT to do with an inheritance.

👨‍👦 The evolving relationship between Ben and his father, Patrick, and what it teaches us about family legacy and ownership.

Ready to see National Treasure in a whole new light? Tune in for a fun, adventurous look at estate planning! Be sure to subscribe, share, and follow us for more movie breakdowns. For more practical resources, check out Ethan's "It's Not Too Late" book series at huizengalaw.com.

Line up every Spider-Man in the multiverse and the same thing is standing next to each one: somebody who died.

For this episode of 82 Toothpicks, the hosts watched Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, and when the film reveals its infinite row of Spider-People with their losses beside them, Ethan says it out loud on mic: "Look! It's an estate planning movie."

The movie calls those deaths canon events, the thing that has to happen to make a Spider-Man. Take the mask off and it's the plainest question in estate planning: someone dies, and everybody left behind has to live inside what that death did to them.

The conversation covers who holds decision-making power when you can't hold it yourself, healthcare choices and the family member who ends up making them, fiduciary duty and what happens when someone steps into a role that was never theirs, and the parent-child relationships running underneath all of it. Miguel O'Hara took the place of another universe's Miguel and destroyed that world doing it. Three moments from the discussion show where estate planning enters the picture:

🕸️ Ethan points to the line of Spider-People, each one standing beside the person they lost. Amber names them: dead uncle, dead chief, dead friend.

🩺 Amber connects the film's parent-child tension to what the firm sees in its own office. Which kid do I take to the doctor? Which kid answers my health questions?

👮 The group tracks Gwen's father through the museum fight, watching him choose between the badge and being her dad, and the lying the two of them have been doing to each other.

Amber turns the whole episode into one question: when you die, do you change your loved one's life for the positive or the negative?

Subscribe to 82 Toothpicks, share this episode with a fellow Spider-Verse fan, and download Ethan's It's Not Too Late book series for practical steps to protect your family and legacy.

Tags: 82 Toothpicks, estate planning podcast, Huizenga Law Firm, Across the Spider-Verse, Across the Spider-Verse estate planning, Spider-Man, healthcare power of attorney, medical decision making, fiduciary duty, trusts, legacy planning, inheritance, estate planning, wills and trusts, what happens when you die, estate planning explained, how to protect your family, legal lessons from movies, estate planning in pop culture, parent child relationships

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What if the Spider-Man mask is a trust, and every person who puts it on is the trustee?

That question takes over this episode of 82 Toothpicks, as the roundtable watches Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and finds an estate plan running underneath a superhero movie. Ethan and Amber are joined by their oldest son Jason, the show's sound editor, stepping in front of the microphone for the first time, and by Alyssa.

The movie's whole premise is that anyone can wear the mask. That turns out to be a legal idea as much as a comic book one. Something valuable moves from one holder to the next, and each holder is bound by what the last one promised.

The conversation covers trusts and what a trustee actually signs up for, fiduciary duty when nobody trained you for the job, legacy passing through a family, and the harder question of who holds decision-making power between parents and their grown kids. Three moments from the discussion show where estate planning enters the picture:

🎭 Ethan reframes the mask as a trust and Myles as the trustee, with the role moving between characters through the whole film.

🏠 Amber and Ethan turn to people who refuse to make their own decisions and leave those choices to their children, including parents who will not downsize.

🕸️ Jacen explains the promise Peter pulls out of Myles, and what being ready means when the person who was supposed to teach you is gone.

Two deaths drive this story, and both of them change what somebody else has to carry. That is the part estate planning is really about.

Subscribe to 82 Toothpicks, share this episode with a fellow Spider-Man fan, and download Ethan's It's Not Too Late book series for practical steps to protect your family and legacy.

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