Estate Planning Attorney, Inner Circle Legal Planning
A confused mind always defaults to "no."
Milford, Connecticut
In My Words
Southington, CT
I grew up in Southington, in a family where you never had to wonder whether people would show up for you. My parents, my brother and the people close to us were my inner circle. Growing up with that kind of backing felt like walking around inside an invisible force field. I assumed everything would turn out fine, because my family simply wouldn't let it go any other way.
The blueprint
Life has since taught me that not everything turns out perfectly. But the blueprint stuck: put family first, show up for them, and treat their well-being as your responsibility. Estate planning, done properly, is exactly that. It's showing up in advance, so the people you love aren't left to work it out later, in the worst week of their lives.
Put family first, show up for them, and treat their well-being as your responsibility.
UConn to Tulane Law
The other half of the story is football. I played it, coached it and have loved it for as long as I can remember. When it became obvious I was never going to make a living in a helmet and shoulder pads, I set my sights on becoming a sports agent. The idea was to represent NFL players and look after their whole lives, not just their contracts. That dream took me to UConn for a degree in finance, to an internship at a sports agency, and to Tulane Law.
Early in my career
Then, early in my legal career, I found estate planning, and it clicked. The model I'd pictured for athletes, one trusted advisor looking after the whole picture for the long haul, was exactly what families need. I read everything I could find, went to every seminar I could, and made it my mission to build a practice around it.
2016
My wife and I had twins in 2016, and I took the overnight shifts: the feedings, and whatever messy situation came up next. A lot of my drafting for clients got done in those hours, with the babies close by. One night I was partway through a client's trust when I stopped and looked over at them, and a wave of peace came over me. The work in front of me was helping other parents protect their children. I latched onto that feeling, and it's driven the way I practice ever since.
My work was helping other parents protect their children.
A Client I Still Think About
I once worked with a young mother who had lost her husband in a tragic way. She came to every meeting with an almost impossible amount of grace: grateful, curious, wanting to understand exactly how the trust would take care of her children, all while going through the hardest time I can imagine. She reminded me that behind the dollars and documents are real people in our community, and they deserve compassion as part of the process, not just good paperwork.
My goal is for you to leave with more than an A+ estate plan. I want you to feel proud of it and at peace with it, because you actually understand it. That's how you do right by your inner circle.
Bryan M. Etter
Founder, Inner Circle Legal Planning
Read more about the firm and the people behind it.
The Approach
People only act when they feel confident and comfortable. I learned that early in my career from a few good mentors, and it's why I explain everything in plain English, every time, until you actually follow it. Nobody feels confident about a plan they don't understand.
Honestly, teaching is the part of this job I'd keep if I had to give up everything else. I find it legitimately fun. There's a moment when someone's eyes light up as they see how their plan will take care of the people they love, and there's nothing better.
I also stay involved after signing. Funding the trust is where most plans quietly fail, so we do that part with you. Years later, when something changes or your family needs the plan put into action, you're not starting over with a stranger.
See the full range of estate planning work we handle.
Home
I grew up in Southington and went to UConn. Law school took me to New Orleans for a few years, but Connecticut has always been home. Today I live in Milford with my family and practice from our Milford office.
The families I sit with aren't abstractions to me. They're my neighbors, and the same kind of close, show-up-for-each-other families I grew up around in Southington.
Connecticut has its own probate courts, its own estate tax and its own rules about how property passes, and I've been planning around them here since 2014. When you plan for a family in this state, you're planning around the house that has been in the family for generations, the shoreline property, the business on the main road. I know what those look like because I grew up with them.
Learn more about Inner Circle Legal Planning and how we work.
Bryan M. Etter
4 min. read
Bryan M. Etter
6 min. read
Bryan M. Etter
6 min. read
