Elder Law Report
Elder Law Report
Beyond Bank Accounts: Why That Four-Foot Metal Chicken Matters More Than You Think
What makes an asset truly valuable? At McIntyre Elder Law, we've discovered that the answer isn't always about dollars and cents. Sometimes, a seemingly ordinary item – like a four-foot metal chicken sculpture that barely fit in an attorney's SUV – becomes the pivotal element in resolving an estate dispute. Why? Because it connected our client to precious memories of her father sitting beside it on the porch.
These unexpected treasures represent something beyond monetary worth. They embody our stories, our connections, and the unique legacy we hope to leave behind. While traditional assets like bank accounts, retirement funds, and real estate form the backbone of estate planning, we've learned that baseball gloves from high school, comic book collections, and even China sets can carry immeasurable personal significance.
Pets represent another frequently overlooked but emotionally critical asset. For many clients across Western Carolina, ensuring proper care for their beloved animals is a top priority. Through specialized pet trusts, we can designate caregivers and allocate funds specifically for their continued wellbeing. This approach honors the deep bonds that make pets genuine family members deserving protection through thoughtful estate planning.
What truly sets effective estate planning apart is customization. Each plan we create reflects the unique values, priorities, and circumstances of the individual it serves. Whether litigating to protect cherished possessions or planning ahead to safeguard what matters most, we focus on developing solutions that honor your specific wishes. After all, your estate plan isn't just about distributing assets – it's about preserving the culture, memories, and legacy that make your family unique.
Ready to protect what matters most to you? Call us at 1-888-999-6600 or visit mcelderlawcom/scheduling to arrange your free consultation with one of our experienced estate planning attorneys. Let us help you create a plan that truly reflects what's important to you.
Hi, I'm Greg McIntyre with McIntyre Elder Law, and this is the Elder Law Report. We're going to talk about assets and some quirky assets. What is an asset? What is important to you? Why should you do estate planning? We'll tell you some of the funny maybe things that we've seen happen in assets that you wouldn't think that really were the linchpin of a case and settling a case or that people think are important to them. So, jane, you know an asset can really be. I'm joined by my fellow attorney, Jane Dearwester, in our Hendersonville office. Jane's in our litigation department as a litigation attorney. And, Jane, you've had a case where, and we've had a case where, and we've had a case where you know the linchpin and the settlement in the end on that case was a four foot chicken, right, yes, metal chicken. Indeed, that is true, right, that was. That was what got it done.
Jane Dearwester:That is what got it done and it just barely fit in the back of my forerunner, but we got it done. We got it back for in the back of my forerunner, but we got it done. We got it back for our client and she was very happy, very pleased she was.
Greg McIntyre:I mean, I've seen people you know litigate over sets of China and you know just, it's unreal.
Jane Dearwester:Comic books.
Greg McIntyre:Baseball cards. Well, it's what people value and why. So. Things have sentimental value, absolutely Value, you know, inherent value because, or some kind of value because of what they mean to me. Yeah.
Jane Dearwester:Nostalgia I think a lot of it for this particular client with this chicken sculpture. It just she bought it for her dad and it really just made her think of her dad and he used to sit on the porch next to this, you know next to this sculpture, and so it it was kind of like a piece of the home for her and I think that's why it was adamant. We've seen other things.
Jane Dearwester:I think another thing we see often are how people care about their pets, how they're so focused and intent upon. Hey, if something happens to me, I want to make sure somebody's taking care of my dog or taking care of my cats. I don't just want them, you know, taken to the shelter and living with some stranger. So you know that's another thing. That's technically considered personal property and you know we can set up pet trusts and do that kind of planning. But we've got a lot of animal lovers here in Western Carolina. I know they're everywhere all over the state. But that's another thing that people really want to make very specific arrangements for their pets after their death.
Greg McIntyre:That is very true. A pet can become like a child.
Jane Dearwester:Oh yes.
Greg McIntyre:And be part of the family for many people and we want to respect that and make sure that pet's taken care of and that there's money set aside to buy food for, have care for that.
Greg McIntyre:You know, vet care for that pet, for that vet care for that pet.
Greg McIntyre:Assets are certainly your money, your accounts, bank accounts, your CDs, annuities, iras, 401ks. Those are assets, your house, any other real estate but they're also and I think this is overlooked there's also the baseball glove that I had since I was young and used it to play center field in high school, right, and that I fully intend to use it to play catch with maybe a grandchild one day, and I might want to make sure that that thing might not mean something to just me, but maybe one of my grandchildren, right, or children, and I want to make sure that that's passed along. We do have a mechanism to account for all those items, right, and make sure they're brought within the estate and that you're able to designate who gets what and why on the estate planning side, which is super important, and I mean that just matters. It's, it's your, it's your culture, it's your memories, it's your legacy that you pass down to your family. That makes your family and you different from someone else, someone else's family, I mean those stories, those stories are priceless really, right yeah?
Jane Dearwester:and I think we try to encourage that when our clients come in initially, and as they're working with our estate planning drafters through their documents and their process, with our estate planning drafters through their documents and their process, that we're trying to customize the process to them and ultimately, we want their estate plan to be a reflection of what they want to happen to their stuff, who they want to leave their assets, to how they want those assets to be distributed. It really is a custom deal. Every single time, every single estate plan is completely custom, which I think is the power of it. We're not just trying to rush people through, we're really trying to determine what's important to them and have their estate plan reflect that.
Greg McIntyre:Agreed. I would say, whether it's litigating over important assets stemming from an estate, from a trust will, things like that, or whether it's planning to protect and safely pass those assets, we can help. I would offer a free consult to meet with myself or one of our other experienced estate planning attorneys here at McIntyre Elder Law. You can take advantage of that free consultation by calling 1-888-999-6600 or by going online and scheduling right on our calendar at mcelderlawcom. That's mcelderlawcom slash scheduling's mcelderlawcom slash scheduling. If you want to go directly there, slash scheduling. So thank you, jane. I appreciate you joining me today. Okay, thank you, bye.