Vantage West Credit Union

Vantage West is the largest credit union in Southern Arizona and the second- or third-largest in the state. With 19 branches and a contact center, Vantage West serves a membership base that skews older — a demographic reality that made estate planning not just a nice-to-have, but a strategic imperative.

By The Numbers

• 19 — Branches offering estate planning
• Monthly — Strategic reviews with Legal Karma
• Network — Champions across all branches

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The Opportunity — A Gap Members Felt Every Day

67% of Americans don't have a basic Will. For Vantage West, that gap was felt every day — members regularly walked into branches asking where they could create a Will, Trust, or Power of Attorney. Before Legal Karma, staff could only point them to law offices in town.

"I remember vividly working in branches and members would frequently stop by my office and ask where they could create a Will or a Trust or a Power of Attorney. We would say that we didn't offer that service, but there were law offices in town. And I felt bad knowing those law offices would charge thousands of dollars."
— Brad Rainey, Manager, Sales Enablement & Member Outreach

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Why Legal Karma

Vantage West evaluated multiple estate planning partners. Legal Karma stood apart in three areas: flexibility and control (Vantage West could set its own pricing and define the member experience), speed to market (competing providers quoted timelines several months longer), and ongoing partnership (Legal Karma continued to support marketing, training, and program evolution after launch).

"We chose them over other competitors in the space. A lot of it really just comes down to the flexibility and control that they offered compared to other partners."
— Brad Rainey, Manager, Sales Enablement & Member Outreach

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The Launch

Legal Karma's onboarding was collaborative and flexible — when Vantage West had an internal change in strategy mid-implementation, Legal Karma adjusted timelines without friction. Before launching to members, Vantage West had bankers and managers go through the estate planning process themselves, completing their own plans so they could speak from personal experience.

"It was really important to us to have some of our internal personnel go through the whole process with Legal Karma, get their own estate planning underway. That made it more comfortable for them to talk about with their members because they went through it themselves."
— Brad Rainey, Manager, Sales Enablement & Member Outreach

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The Results

The program embedded itself into how Vantage West serves its members across four key outcomes:

A champions network that drives adoption. At least one representative from each of the 19 branches meets monthly to share member success stories and sustain momentum.

Members return with gratitude. Members complete their estate plans through Legal Karma, return to their branch with finished documents, and thank the staff for pointing them in the right direction.

Estate planning is part of the relationship review. When bankers review a member's relationship and suggest protecting their assets, it fits naturally into the financial wellness conversation.

Monthly collaboration drives continuous improvement. Legal Karma shares best practices from other institutions, and Vantage West contributes its own learnings back to the network.

"It's another piece that shows we're really caring and looking out for 360 degrees of their financial wellness."
— Brad Rainey, Manager, Sales Enablement & Member Outreach

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What We Learned

1. Internal adoption drives external adoption. Staff who completed their own plans became authentic advocates — not reading a script, but sharing a personal experience.
2. Estate planning fits every life stage. It isn't just for members 55 and over. Graduating college, getting married, having kids, changing jobs — all are natural triggers.
3. The partnership matters as much as the product. Legal Karma's willingness to adjust timelines, share best practices, and treat the relationship as ongoing has been essential to sustained engagement.

"Looking back, it's honestly hard to imagine a time when we didn't offer estate planning services to our members."
— Brad Rainey, Manager, Sales Enablement & Member Outreach