Elder Law Report
Elder Law Report
Beyond Wealth: Why Estate Planning is About People, Not Just Money
Forget everything you thought you knew about estate planning. That nagging belief that it's only for the wealthy with beach houses and trust funds? It's completely wrong. As attorneys Jordan McIntyre and Haley Matson explain, everyone has an estate worth protecting, whether you're retired on a fixed income or just starting your family journey.
What most people don't realize is that estate planning isn't primarily about protecting your stuff—it's about protecting your people. When you create an estate plan, you're ensuring your children have designated guardians, your assets go to the right beneficiaries, and your loved ones aren't forced to make impossible decisions about your care during emotionally difficult times. Without these protections, the state makes these critical decisions for you, following rigid laws that rarely align with personal wishes.
The consequences of not planning can be devastating. When someone dies without proper documents in place, everything goes through probate—a public, court-supervised process where creditors have 90 days to make claims against your estate. This is exactly how families lose homes and cherished property to medical debt and other creditors. And for seniors considering Medicaid for nursing home coverage, comprehensive planning becomes even more crucial to protect assets from reclamation after death. As our attorneys emphasize, planning doesn't mean you're expecting the worst; it simply means you're taking control before crisis hits.
Don't fall for the myth that you need to be wealthy or elderly to benefit from estate planning. In fact, creating these documents earlier is always easier and more effective. Life changes like marriage, divorce, births, or deaths often necessitate updates to existing plans, so establishing a foundation early makes future modifications simpler. Ready to protect what truly matters? Visit McIntyre Elder Law for a free consultation in Shelby, Charlotte, or Hendersonville, or call 1-888-999-6600 to start securing your family's future today.
Hey everyone, I'm attorney Jordan McIntyre with McIntyre Elder Law and I'm joined by the Haley Madsen, who's an attorney in our Charlotte office, and today we are going to talk about why estate planning isn't just for the wealthy Right and there's really this myth Right, and I want to get something straight. And I want to get something straight Estate planning is not just for millionaires with beach houses and trust funds. Whether you're retired on a fixed income or you're just starting your family out, you have an estate For a lot of people. That's your home. You're concerned about that home and the truth is, if you don't plan, the state's going to do that for you and that really reflects your wishes. So I think Haley's going to talk about what you're really protecting when you're doing estate planning.
Speaker 2:Sure, thanks, jordan. So what you're really protecting with your estate plan is your family. That's who you're really protecting here. Not only are you protecting your assets, but you're also protecting your kids by designating a guardian for them. You're protecting your family's legacy and assets by designating your bank accounts, and you're saving your family from a lot of difficult decisions by creating your powers of attorney, your living will and designating someone as an executor, your powers of attorney, your living will and designating someone as an executor Absolutely.
Speaker 1:And that brings in the question of what's going to happen if you don't do an estate plan right? If we want to protect our families, we want to protect our home and our legacy, then what's going to happen if we don't do it? It's going to go through probate, right? And that's the period where you know an executor has to run a 90-day notice to creditors and if you die with any medical debt or any type of debt, they're going to come in during this 90-day period and make that claim and you better believe anybody who wants that money is going to come in and take it.
Speaker 1:So that's how people get in situations where they die and then family loses the family farm or the family home. And we are very aware of this because we get people qualified for Medicaid, specifically the Medicaid programs that will cover assistance for nursing homes, right. So while we get people qualified for these benefits, we also want to ensure that we shield their assets, either using a lady birdie to protect the home or trust to get assets outside of probate. We want to qualify them for the benefit on the one hand, to make sure, if they pass, we didn't really screw them over by having the assets go through probate. So we want to do both of those right, yeah, and we just take care of that Right Planning doesn't mean you're expecting the worst. It just means you're taking control before any types of crisis hits. Right.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yes and Haley if you have any anything else to say or any more advice advice.
Speaker 2:I just know how important it is to do early. I mean, a lot of people really do believe the myth that either it's only for the wealthy or it's only for older folks who really need to get it done, but the truth is is that it's easier to do now than it is later, and it's more important now than it is later as well. You want to protect your assets, but you want to also protect your family as well. You want to protect yourself and your loved ones from Medicaid reclaiming your assets and you also want to save them from the process as well.
Speaker 1:Yes, and if you have already done estate planning, you know life changes. If it's outdated, come in and make new changes. I know attorney Madsen is recently married. There might be some estate planning changes with her documents, if she has them. I'm still single, so who knows? But assuming I do get married, I need to do some changes. So the point is don't wait, don't assume you don't have enough to plan. It's really about people. It's not about your money or assets, even though we want to try to protect that. We're really worried about people. That's what money is for is to help our families during our life to make sure we're taken care of. So if this resonates with you or someone you love, just visit our offices. We do offer free consults in Shelby, charlotte and Hendersonville. Visit the website at wwwmcelderlawcom. You can find all types of resources, articles, blogs, videos on estate planning and give us a call at 1-888-999-6600. We would love to talk with you. All right, thank you, guys.
Speaker 2:Thank you, all right, thank you guys, thank you.