Goldenwest Credit Union

The Opportunity

The Missing Piece

Golden West's strategy is built on a simple premise: members don't experience their finances in silos. They experience them as interconnected parts of a whole life. Estate planning was the missing piece.

Members trusted Golden West with their savings, their mortgages, their insurance, and their retirement. But when it came to protecting everything they'd built? That conversation was happening somewhere else.

"One of the things we're really trying to accomplish here at Golden West is to provide a holistic financial wellbeing for our members. Estate planning with Legal Karma was a really great fit to add into our product suite — to just be able to serve our members better."
— Sean Holiday, Product Development Manager, Golden West CU

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Why Legal Karma

The People, the Partnership, the Product

Sean evaluated Legal Karma early and brought the idea to Golden West's executive team. The decision came down to three things: the people, the partnership model, and the product. But what truly differentiates Legal Karma, in Sean's view, isn't the technology — it's how the team operates.

"I really liked the people, really liked the partnership, liked the approach. Legal Karma just seemed like they'd be a perfect partner. And so far they have proven that to be true."
— Sean Holiday, Product Development Manager, Golden West CU

"The thing that really differentiates Legal Karma is the team and the partnership. Everybody we've worked with — from the sales process to the implementation process to our client success manager and the marketing folks — has been absolutely fantastic."
‍— Sean Holiday, Product Development Manager, Golden West CU

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The Launch

The Best Implementation in 6+ Years of Software

Sean has spent over six years in software — and previously wrote the implementation playbook at a former company. He knows what good implementations look like, and what bad ones cost. His assessment of Legal Karma's onboarding was unequivocal.

"Legal Karma is maybe the best implementation I've been through from a customer or client perspective. Extremely well organized, extremely straightforward, very helpful staff."
— Sean Holiday, Product Development Manager, Golden West CU

Legal Karma didn't just configure the platform — they provided materials to help Golden West train staff, communicate to the board, and market to members. The implementation went beyond technical setup into true launch readiness.

"They provided all kinds of additional value and help for us to market to our members as well as train our staff and communicate to our board — exactly what we're doing, how it works, and why it's going to be successful."
— Sean Holiday, Product Development Manager, Golden West CU

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The Results

Education Is the Conversion Engine

Golden West ran an estate planning education seminar and hit full capacity with minimal promotional effort — a signal of overwhelming member demand.

Golden West discovered something powerful: members want estate planning, but they want to understand it first. The most effective channel isn't digital marketing alone — it's live education.

"When we offer live seminars to talk about estate planning and do educational services — we get really, really great response."
— Sean Holiday, Product Development Manager, Golden West CU

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By The Numbers

125 seminar seats — Filled in approximately 5 hours, with minimal promotional effort, signaling strong latent demand from members for accessible estate planning guidance.

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Member Impact

Deepening the Trusted Relationship

Adding estate planning to the product mix isn't just a line item — it's a signal to members that Golden West is invested in their entire financial life. Members recognize and appreciate the deeper care.

"I think members really appreciate the ability to get their estate planning from their credit union. They have a trusted relationship with us. Adding estate planning to the product mix is just another way to deepen that relationship and show that level of care."
— Sean Holiday, Product Development Manager, Golden West CU

There is a big need for estate planning in the community. Many people know it's something they need to do, but aren't sure what it is or how to get started. When a trusted credit union partner can bring that service to them and coach them through it, engagement follows naturally.

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Lessons Learned

1. Education drives conversion more than digital marketing alone. Members know they need estate planning — they don't know how to start. Live seminars and educational sessions break through the inertia in ways that banner ads and email campaigns can't.
2. The best implementations feel like a partnership, not a project. Sean — who literally wrote the book on software implementations — called Legal Karma's process the best he's experienced. That's not about checklists; it's about the people and the collaborative approach.
3. Estate planning completes the holistic financial picture. For credit unions already offering insurance, retirement planning, and investment services, estate planning is the natural next step — the product that connects every other financial relationship a member has with the institution.

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