MOUNT JULIET, Tenn., Sept. 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Childfree Trust® has received a Notice of Award from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), for a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I grant of $434,385. The award will fund a one-year feasibility study of an AI-powered tool designed to help older adults without children plan for their estate, long-term care, and incapacity, and to identify who will act on their behalf. This marks the first federal R&D funding grant for the Company.
The project, “Autonomy-AI: An AI-Powered Decision Support Tool for Long-Term Care Planning and Learning in Childfree Adults,” runs through September 2027. Jay Zigmont, PhD, founder of Childfree Trust and creator of the Childfree financial planning category, is the principal investigator.
“When you don’t have children, the default next-of-kin assumption disappears, but most planning systems still assume it’s there,” said Zigmont. “Our research found the barrier isn’t the documents themselves, which you can download in an afternoon. Rather, it’s the actual decisions that still need to be made about who speaks for you when you are unable. This award lets us study whether AI can help someone unlock that decision paralysis instead of avoiding it for another year.”
Nearly one-quarter of U.S. adults are Childfree or permanently childless. Research published by Childfree Trust in its whitepaper The Childfree Care Crisis: Estate and Long-Term Care Readiness in the Childfree Population (Zigmont & Geber, 2025) found that 80 percent of Childfree adults have not completed a will, and nearly half — 47 percent — said they would be willing to pay a professional fiduciary to serve in these roles instead. Without an adult child as the assumed decision-maker, planning stalls on who to name rather than the paperwork itself.
“This void is very real for millions of Americans, and we are very excited to have support from NIH to research it,” said Zigmont. “During the next year, we will conduct the Phase 1 feasibility study where we will build it, test it with real people, measure what happens, and report what we find. Our thesis is that responsible AI design can work to solve complex real-world social, financial, and estate planning problems safely.”
Specifically, the project will develop a prototype and evaluate it with Childfree adults aged 50 and older, first through interviews and structured usability sessions, then through a single-arm feasibility study. The research will examine whether participants can complete a planning workflow, how usable they find the tool, and how an independent panel of legal, financial, and geriatric care experts assesses the resulting documents.
This is among the first federal research awards to fund technology built specifically for the long-term care and estate-planning needs of Childfree adults, a population whose aging policy has largely folded into general eldercare planning rather than treated as its own risk category. Winning a competitive NIH award on that basis is a signal that the gap Childfree Trust has spent years describing is now being taken seriously as a research-worthy problem, not dismissed as a niche concern.
Are you 50 or older and Childfree? Childfree Trust is recruiting Childfree adults to help build and test this tool — because designing it with and for the people it serves is the whole point of the study. Share your interest here.
The award is non-dilutive federal research and development funding, awarded competitively through the NIH SBIR program.
Research reported in this press release was supported by the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health under award number R43AG102133. A total of $434,385, or 100 percent, of the project is financed with federal funds. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
About Childfree Trust®
Childfree Trust® is the first nationwide fiduciary estate planning and next-of-kin solution designed specifically for Childfree and Permanently Childless adults. The platform combines comprehensive online legal document creation with 24/7 emergency response and access to a professional fiduciary partner, ensuring members’ wishes are protected in life and beyond. From naming medical and financial powers of attorney to creating detailed care and pet plans, the service provides peace of mind for those who value autonomy, security and continuity.
Childfree Trust is part of the Childfree Enterprises ecosystem, alongside Childfree Wealth®, a fiduciary-only financial planning firm, and under parent company Childfree Insights™, a research and education hub advancing understanding of the Childfree experience. Together, these brands define a new model of Life and Legacy Stewardship™, helping Childfree people live intentionally and plan confidently for the future. Learn more at www.childfreetrust.com.
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