The Pathfinder Score is a 100-point diagnostic that evaluates an estate plan across seven weighted categories. Each item within a category carries a point value calibrated to its consequence — the higher the point value, the greater the exposure created by its absence.
The score does not measure the legal quality of draftsmanship. It measures planning completeness and verification status — whether the right structures exist, are current, and are properly coordinated. This is the advisor's domain, not the attorney's.
Six items are flagged as critical because their absence creates immediate legal exposure that overrides the quality of everything else in the plan. A client can score 70 overall and still have a plan that fails catastrophically at death if any of these are missing.
The six critical items are: trust execution, financial POA, successor trustee confirmation, primary residence titling, beneficiary designation review, and no outdated or deceased beneficiaries named.
Version 2 adds four items and one UI refinement based on a framework comparison with a parallel internal tool. New items: digital assets & online account access (funding section), state estate/inheritance tax exposure (tax section), estate liquidity analysis and long-term care plan (new Protection & Continuity section). A staleness flag now surfaces when foundational documents are confirmed but the periodic review item is not — prompting a currency check without penalizing the score.
Use this as a working reference during client discovery. Each section is expandable. Scores and the Action Plan tab update live as you check items.
The Pathfinder Score uses a nautical grade scale aligned with the Magellan Method.
| Score | Grade | What it means | Wealth Manager action |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90–100 | Open Water | Plan is structured, funded, current, and coordinated. | Annual review cadence. Confirm nothing has changed. |
| 75–89 | Fair Winds | Plan is mostly sound with minor gaps that pose limited but real risk. | Identify the 2–3 gaps and refer to attorney within 90 days. |
| 55–74 | Coastal Waters | Multiple meaningful gaps that compound each other. | Prioritize critical items immediately. Build a 30-day action list. |
| 35–54 | Rough Seas | Significant structural risks. Likely unfunded trust or missing documents. | Schedule estate attorney introduction immediately. |
| 0–34 | Uncharted | Plan is largely absent or severely incomplete. | Full estate planning engagement required. |
"Most wealth managers ask if you have a trust and move on. We actually score it. The Pathfinder Score looks at 36 specific elements across your estate plan — not just whether documents exist, but whether they're funded, current, and built to actually work when your family needs them."
"We've built a scoring framework that gives you a number — just like a credit score, but for your estate plan. An 87 means something specific. A 52 means something specific. It's not our opinion. It's a documented assessment."