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.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hey everyone, I'm attorney Jordan McIntyre with
McIntyre Elder Law and I'mjoined by the Haley Madsen,
who's an attorney in ourCharlotte office, and today we
are going to talk about whyestate planning isn't just for
the wealthy Right and there'sreally this myth Right, and I
want to get something straight.
And I want to get somethingstraight Estate planning is not

(00:39):
just for millionaires with beachhouses and trust funds.
Whether you're retired on afixed income or you're just
starting your family out, youhave an estate For a lot of
people.
That's your home.
You're concerned about thathome and the truth is, if you
don't plan, the state's going todo that for you and that really
reflects your wishes.
So I think Haley's going totalk about what you're really
protecting when you're doingestate planning.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Sure, thanks, jordan.
So what you're reallyprotecting with your estate plan
is your family.
That's who you're reallyprotecting here.
Not only are you protectingyour assets, but you're also
protecting your kids bydesignating a guardian for them.
You're protecting your family'slegacy and assets by
designating your bank accounts,and you're saving your family

(01:17):
from a lot of difficultdecisions by creating your
powers of attorney, your livingwill and designating someone as
an executor, your powers ofattorney, your living will and
designating someone as anexecutor Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
And that brings in the question of what's going to
happen if you don't do an estateplan right?
If we want to protect ourfamilies, we want to protect our
home and our legacy, thenwhat's going to happen if we
don't do it?
It's going to go throughprobate, right?
And that's the period where youknow an executor has to run a
90-day notice to creditors andif you die with any medical debt
or any type of debt, they'regoing to come in during this

(01:58):
90-day period and make thatclaim and you better believe
anybody who wants that money isgoing to come in and take it.
So that's how people get insituations where they die and
then family loses the familyfarm or the family home.
And we are very aware of thisbecause we get people qualified
for Medicaid, specifically theMedicaid programs that will

(02:19):
cover assistance for nursinghomes, right.
So while we get peoplequalified for these benefits, we
also want to ensure that weshield their assets, either
using a lady birdie to protectthe home or trust to get assets
outside of probate.
We want to qualify them for thebenefit on the one hand, to
make sure, if they pass, wedidn't really screw them over by
having the assets go throughprobate.

(02:40):
So we want to do both of thoseright, yeah, and we just take
care of that Right Planningdoesn't mean you're expecting
the worst.
It just means you're takingcontrol before any types of
crisis hits.
Right.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
Absolutely.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yes and Haley if you have any anything else to say or
any more advice advice.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
I just know how important it is to do early.
I mean, a lot of people reallydo believe the myth that either
it's only for the wealthy orit's only for older folks who
really need to get it done, butthe truth is is that it's easier
to do now than it is later, andit'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 yourselfand your loved ones from

(03:29):
Medicaid reclaiming your assetsand you also want to save them
from the process as well.

Speaker 1 (03:37):
Yes, and if you have already done estate planning,
you know life changes.
If it's outdated, come in andmake new changes.
I know attorney Madsen isrecently married.
There might be some estateplanning 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

(04:00):
enough to plan.
It's really about people.
It's not about your money orassets, even though we want to
try to protect that.
We're really worried aboutpeople.
That's what money is for is tohelp our families during our
life to make sure we're takencare of.
So if this resonates with youor someone you love, just visit
our offices.
We do offer free consults inShelby, charlotte and

(04:22):
Hendersonville.
Visit the website atwwwmcelderlawcom.
You can find all types ofresources, articles, blogs,
videos on estate planning andgive us a call at 1-888-999-6600
.
We would love to talk with you.
All right, thank you, guys.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Thank you, all right, thank you guys, thank you.