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.

Episode Transcript

Greg McIntyre (00:00):
Hi, I'm Greg McIntyre with McIntyre Elder Law
, and this is the Elder LawReport.
We're going to talk aboutassets and some quirky assets.
What is an asset?
What is important to you?
Why should you do estateplanning?
We'll tell you some of thefunny maybe things that we've

(00:20):
seen happen in assets that youwouldn't think that really were
the linchpin of a case andsettling a case or that people
think are important to them.
So, jane, you know an asset canreally be.
I'm joined by my fellowattorney, Jane Dearwester, in
our Hendersonville office.
Jane's in our litigationdepartment as a litigation

(00:41):
attorney.
And, Jane, you've had a casewhere, and we've had a case
where, and we've had a casewhere you know the linchpin and
the settlement in the end onthat case was a four foot
chicken, right, yes, metalchicken.
Indeed, that is true, right,that was.
That was what got it done.

Jane Dearwester (01:00):
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 backof my forerunner, but we got it
done.
We got it back for our clientand she was very happy, very
pleased she was.

Greg McIntyre (01:10):
I mean, I've seen people you know litigate over
sets of China and you know just,it's unreal.

Jane Dearwester (01:22):
Comic books.

Greg McIntyre (01:24):
Baseball cards.
Well, it's what people valueand why.
So.
Things have sentimental value,absolutely Value, you know,
inherent value because, or somekind of value because of what
they mean to me.
Yeah.

Jane Dearwester (01:41):
Nostalgia I think a lot of it for this
particular client with thischicken sculpture.
It just she bought it for herdad and it really just made her
think of her dad and he used tosit 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 Ithink that's why it was adamant

(02:03):
.
We've seen other things.
I think another thing we seeoften are how people care about
their pets, how they're sofocused and intent upon.
Hey, if something happens to me, I want to make sure somebody's
taking care of my dog or takingcare of my cats.
I don't just want them, youknow, taken to the shelter and
living with some stranger.
So you know that's anotherthing.

(02:24):
That's technically consideredpersonal property and you know
we can set up pet trusts and dothat kind of planning.
But we've got a lot of animallovers here in Western Carolina.
I know they're everywhere allover the state.
But that's another thing thatpeople really want to make very
specific arrangements for theirpets after their death.

Greg McIntyre (02:43):
That is very true .
A pet can become like a child.

Jane Dearwester (02:46):
Oh yes.

Greg McIntyre (02:47):
And be part of the family for many people and
we want to respect that and makesure that pet's taken care of
and that there's money set asideto buy food for, have care for
that.
You know, vet care for that pet,for that vet care for that pet.
Assets are certainly your money,your accounts, bank accounts,

(03:10):
your CDs, annuities, iras, 401ks.
Those are assets, your house,any other real estate but
they're also and I think this isoverlooked there's also the

(03:31):
baseball glove that I had sinceI was young and used it to play
center field in high school,right, and that I fully intend
to use it to play catch withmaybe a grandchild one day, and
I might want to make sure thatthat thing might not mean

(03:54):
something to just me, but maybeone of my grandchildren, right,
or children, and I want to makesure that that's passed along.
We do have a mechanism toaccount for all those items,
right, and make sure they'rebrought within the estate and
that you're able to designatewho gets what and why on the

(04:16):
estate planning side, which issuper important, and I mean that
just matters.
It's, it's your, it's yourculture, it's your memories,
it's your legacy that you passdown to your family.
That makes your family and youdifferent from someone else,
someone else's family, I meanthose stories, those stories are

(04:37):
priceless really, right yeah?

Jane Dearwester (04:41):
and I think we try to encourage that when our
clients come in initially, andas they're working with our
estate planning drafters throughtheir documents and their
process, with our estateplanning drafters through their
documents and their process,that we're trying to customize
the process to them andultimately, we want their estate
plan to be a reflection of whatthey want to happen to their
stuff, who they want to leavetheir assets, to how they want

(05:05):
those assets to be distributed.
It really is a custom deal.
Every single time, every singleestate plan is completely
custom, which I think is thepower of it.
We're not just trying to rushpeople through, we're really
trying to determine what'simportant to them and have their
estate plan reflect that.

Greg McIntyre (05:24):
Agreed.
I would say, whether it'slitigating over important assets
stemming from an estate, from atrust will, things like that,
or whether it's planning toprotect and safely pass those
assets, we can help.

(05:46):
I would offer a free consult tomeet with myself or one of our
other experienced estateplanning attorneys here at
McIntyre Elder Law.
You can take advantage of thatfree consultation by calling
1-888-999-6600 or by goingonline and scheduling right on
our calendar at mcelderlawcom.

(06:09):
That's mcelderlawcom slashscheduling's mcelderlawcom slash
scheduling.
If you want to go directlythere, slash scheduling.
So thank you, jane.
I appreciate you joining metoday.
Okay, thank you, bye.