Decoding Elder Law and Estate Planning: Myths, Taxes, and Protecting Your Assets

What if we told you there's a vast and misunderstood aspect of estate planning that often leads to the loss of assets due to high long-term care costs? And that, contrary to popular notions, you might not necessarily have to pay hefty taxes upon death? In our warm and enlightening chat with Greg McIntyre and Attorney Britton Begley, we unmask the myths and complexities of elder law and estate planning.

From the moment you set foot in McIntyre Elder Law office, you're made to feel right at home - greeted with homemade cookies and a friendly smile. Greg places immense importance on creating a comfortable environment for his clients before diving into the intricacies of their legal issues. We delve deep into the scary scenario of long-term care costs siphoning off an individual's assets, and Greg provides valuable insight on how to evade and manage such situations. Switching gears to taxes, Britton simplifies the often convoluted topic of estate tax, assuring most listeners that it won't be a factor for them, and divulges the secret weapon trusts can be to avoid federal estate tax. The episode rounds off with a touching concern for maintaining control and independence of elders, while also having a secure plan for future protection. So, tune in for an episode teeming with indispensable advice to help you negotiate the winding roads of elder law and estate planning.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:12

We're uptown at 112 South, try-in at McIntyre Elder Law and we're going to talk to Greg McIntyre and take a look at his office. So, greg, how you doing, brother? Good to see you, man. Greg, look, the office is absolutely beautiful. But when someone comes down here, how are they greeted? I mean, this is a beautiful place, so what happens when someone comes here and says, hey, I need McIntyre Elder Law?

Speaker 2: 0:36

You know what we're going to ask why, what's going on? We want to hear you and understand what your issues are so that we can help. But first, when you come in, we want it to be like coming home. We're going to offer you homemade cookies, coffee right, we do. We want you to have a seat. Ms Vachay is going to meet and greet you right and make you feel right at home.

Speaker 1: 0:59

So, before we get to the planning of the future, I mean you really want to make the guests feel comfortable.

Speaker 2: 1:04

That's the most important part. Maya Angelou once said that you remember how you feel about something, not what they said those things, but really how you feel, and I want them to come away with a really good feeling from our office. And that's from the people here, from a smile, from our interactions, from the caring, from the chocolate chip cookies. I'm telling you that's a big deal.

Speaker 1: 1:31

Why does someone need an older law attorney?

Speaker 2: 1:35

Because it's a subset of estate planning where we're really looking at the dangers of spending down or losing all your assets because of the high cost of long-term care. I just had a client the other day paying over $17,000 a month for long-term care. That's over $204,000 a year. I want to help people prevent from getting in those situations and also, if you get in that situation, to help them get out of it.

Speaker 1: 2:03

Okay, I'm here with Attorney Britton, begley and Britton, let's talk about this. I've always heard that you're going to have to pay taxes when you die. Is there a way to go ahead and transfer some of that wealth so that you're not taking a big hit as an independent?

Speaker 3: 2:19

Wow, big question right out of the gate. That is a very complicated question, but I can tell you there's a pretty straightforward answer. For most people, estate tax is not going to be a factor. There's no state level estate tax in North Carolina. Thankfully, there is a federal estate tax, but currently for a single individual it doesn't apply unless you're giving over $12 million. One of the things that we try to do for our clients that may be subject to the federal estate tax is to set up, maybe a trust to help avoid that. Trusts are really good tools to do that sort of thing, probably the best tool out there.

Speaker 1: 2:52

Britton. There's so many things you have to worry about as you get older. As an older law attorney. How do you deal with really those things that can really eat into your assets? From where those taxes, all that stuff and also long-term care?

Speaker 3: 3:05

That's right. So the first thing is knowing what the risks actually are. So first things first. Any one of us have a 70% chance of needing long-term care. It can be very expensive hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. What we want to do is we want to make sure people are in control as well. So we don't want to take people's independence away. We don't want to take their control over their assets away, but we want to also make sure they have a comprehensive plan in place to protect if they are one of the 70% of people who need long-term care in the future.

Speaker 1: 3:35

The lives of communication that you guys foster and keep open. That's one of the staples that you do.

Speaker 2: 3:40

I agree. Not only during the case or the plan and while we're working together do we want to communicate, but also afterwards. We offer a free annual review so the client can stay in touch with us and take advantage of that. If they have an issue in their life, they might want to come in and sit down and talk about a change in an estate plan. Give us a call.

Speaker 3: 4:08

It's 1-888-999-6600 or they can schedule online at mclderallcom.