Buried in work’s origin
founded by an attorney, and Born Out of experience
Buried in Work was established to simplify estate planning and end-of-life tasks, inspired by a personal experience and driven by a mission to provide clarity and support during difficult times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Buried in Work was founded by Adam Zuckerman (JD/MBA) after his father’s prolonged battle with leukemia. The experience revealed just how challenging and overwhelming end-of-life planning can be. Here’s Adam’s personal perspective on how everything came to be:
y father and I were working on a project in the basement, and when he came up the stairs, he said he was tired. For most people, being tired isn’t cause for concern — you push through, take a nap, or grab a cup of coffee. My father? He made an appointment with his doctor, had some tests, checked in to John’s Hopkins Hospital, and died twelve days later.
While far too quick, it would be unfair to characterize his death as unanticipated. Six and a half years earlier, he had been diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia — a blood cancer. I was close with my father growing up, but this ordeal only brought us closer together in more ways than you might imagine. One of my parent’s friends told my mom that I was “the best mistake they ever made,” and considering I was conceived while my mom had an IUD, it tracks. Fate, luck, and biology gave me the honor of donating bone marrow to him and him the gift of years of extra time.
Naturally, this meant I got to tease him that he kept me around for “spare parts.” I was also able to ask questions such as “since I donated bone marrow to you, if you were to commit a crime, would my DNA be at the crime scene?”
While it was always a looming possibility that his cancer would return I don’t think anyone in the family expected that it would come back so quickly. Yet, we were fortunate. Unlike so many families who don’t get the opportunity when confronted with a sudden death, we were able to say goodbye. Zooms were set up so my dad could speak with people who weren’t able to visit him in the hospital, a CaringBridge account was reactivated to share updates, and family was able to fly in when it became evident that there wasn’t much more we could do other than wait and make him comfortable.
Throughout all of this, my father kept his sense of humor and did his best to stay positive. He was also organized to a fault. As a senior executive at the I.R.S., he was the type of guy who could tell you with total confidence that the file you were looking for was in the second filing cabinet, inside the manila folder, three tabs back. But what we quickly learned is that reassuring my mom with, “Adam will handle it — he knows where the files are,” isn’t the same thing as having a truly organized system.
After he passed, I put my JD/MBA to good use and found myself serving as the executor of his estate. I meticulously tracked every detail, every task, and when I met with my mom’s financial advisor to show her how I was handling things, she said it was the most comprehensive estate transition she’d ever seen. Sure, a little devil on my shoulder whispered that maybe she was just buttering me up — after all, I held financial power of attorney for my mom and could easily shift her money to another advisor. But the angel on my other shoulder agreed: what I had put together was organized.
I shared my approach with friends, and they unanimously encouraged me to type up my notes and share them with others. So, I did. I bought a domain, created the first Buried in Work website, and posted about it on NextDoor, Facebook, and LinkedIn. What happened next surprised me. Whereas I figured I’d write a few articles and move on, instead, my inbox overflowed and the website got over 10,000 visits in just a week. Clearly, I wasn’t the only one who needed a bit of help getting things together.
Today, Buried in Work has grown into one of the most comprehensive end-of-life resources available. We offer more than 2,000 articles, over 100 checklists and guides, card games, directories for service providers, a podcast, specialized products like the CLEAR Kit, and more.
Here’s the thing: Comprehensive estate planning is more than just having a will or a trust. It’s about getting all your ducks — and documents — in a row so that when life throws the unexpected at you, your family isn’t left scrambling through desk drawers and sticky notes. It includes advance directives, key contact lists, end-of-life wishes, your digital legacy, who gets the secret family recipe, and so much more.
Yes, our resources dive into serious topics like death, caregiving, and estate planning — but I promise it’ll be surprisingly useful and (weirdly) fun. After my dad died, my friend Brian Lieb told me, “It won’t get better, but it will get easier.”
Truer words have not been spoken.
My hope is that Buried in Work helps make things easier for you and your loved ones — and maybe even brings a few smiles along the way.
Adam Zuckerman
Founder, Buried in Work
Buried in Work offers the flexibility to tailor content for various organizations. For instance, retirement communities, financial planners, estate attorneys, and more can collaborate with us to provide co-branded materials, enhancing their customers’ overall experience. Complete the form on this page to explore partnership and custom content opportunities.
We’d love to hear from you. Please get in touch from our Contact page.
No, Buried in Work will not help draft a will or set up a trust. Given the intricacies of your specific situation, we want to help you gather all of the information needed to create these documents, and you can choose to do so on your own or with the help of a professional.
We believe that comprehensive estate planning is far more than creating a will or trust. Instead, it’s a wholistic process of organizing your affairs to simplify the work associated with when someone dies and the transition of an estate.
This includes organizing all of the information that someone may need to help you throughout the process, including end-of-life decisions, funeral planning, estate transition and more.
We operate out of Potomac, Maryland, but have contributors all over the country.
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Buried in Work is for anyone who wants to organize their affairs and make the process related to death and estate transition as easy as possible. We recommend that everyone over the age of 18 has an CLEAR Kit. That said, its importance increases as you age and have experience life changes (such as getting married or having a child).
Vision
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To be the premier authority in simplifying estate planning and transitions, creating a future where these processes are stress-free and accessible for all.
Mission
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To simplify the burden surrounding estate planning, when someone dies, estate transition, and probate.
Values
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Empowerment: To empower individuals and families with the knowledge, tools, and resources needed to take control of their estate planning and transition processes.
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Simplicity: To prioritize simplicity and user-friendliness in all aspects of our services, ensuring that estate planning and transitions are straightforward and understandable.
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Integrity: To uphold the highest standards of integrity and trustworthiness, ensuring that our solutions are reliable and that we act in the best interests of our clients and their legacies.
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10,000 older adults turn 65 every day in the US.
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The worldwide demographic landscape is undergoing a significant transformation, particularly in the age composition of the population. In 2017, there were 962 million individuals worldwide who were 60 years old or older. This figure is expected to increase dramatically, reaching approximately 2.1 billion by the year 2050, effectively doubling the older population.
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Similarly, in the United States, the population of older adults is anticipated to double by the year 2030.
Our resources are designed for individuals, families, friends, service providers, and businesses looking for effective estate planning and end-of-life management solutions.
We offer a range of products, including DIY tools, guided assistance resources, educational games, and comprehensive guides for estate planning and end-of-life preparations.
Simply visit our website, choose the category that best fits your needs (individual, family, friend, service provider, or business), and explore our available products and services.
Buried in Work combines comprehensive resources, user-friendly tools, and a supportive approach to simplify complex processes and provide insightful guidance.
Buried in Work provides comprehensive resources and tools for estate planning and end-of-life management to simplify these processes for individuals, families, and businesses.