Crisis Planning: Before It's Too Late

What happens when disaster strikes without warning? A vacation accident, a sudden health diagnosis, or an unexpected incapacitation can leave you and your loved ones vulnerable if you haven't prepared properly. 

Throughout this eye-opening conversation, we explore the critical importance of crisis planning and what options exist when emergencies occur. While we stress that pre-planning is always the best approach, we also walk through realistic scenarios and solutions for those caught unprepared. For those who remain competent during a crisis, emergency powers of attorney can be established for both financial and healthcare decisions. When capacity is lost, family members must navigate the more complex process of guardianship—a route that becomes necessary when no advance directives exist.

We share real-world experiences with clients who wisely planned before adventure travel, those racing against time after receiving difficult health news, and families forced to pursue emergency guardianships for vulnerable loved ones. The contrast between pre-planned and crisis-driven solutions reveals just how much additional stress, expense, and complication can be avoided with some advance preparation. Simple measures like establishing beneficiaries on accounts, creating powers of attorney, and developing basic estate plans provide crucial protection when you need it most.

Don't leave your legacy and your loved ones' peace of mind to chance. Contact us to learn how straightforward planning can provide the protection and certainty your family deserves, no matter what unexpected challenges life may bring. We're committed to helping you protect what matters most, with convenient consultations available in Shelby, Charlotte, and Hendersonville.

Episode Transcript

Haley Matson (00:09):
Good morning Jordan.

Jordan McIntyre (00:11):
Hey Haley, how are you doing?

Haley Matson (00:12):
I'm doing well.
How are you?

Jordan McIntyre (00:13):
I'm doing pretty well.

Haley Matson (00:16):
Today, I think we're going to talk a little bit
about why crisis planning isimportant and what we can do if
you're in a crisis and haven'tplanned.
So, to start off, I thinkthere's a lot of cases where
there could be potential criseshappening.
So say, you're on vacation andyou get in an accident or

(00:38):
something like that.
You have small kids at home,you don't have a plan for them,
or you end up in a really badposition and you don't have any
of your powers of attorney inplace either.
If that happens, like what arewe looking at here?
What do you?
What do you do?

Jordan McIntyre (01:02):
So we have plenty of options.
I just want to absolutelystress that first option is to
always pre-plan.
I've done estate planning forpeople going out of the country.
I did one estate plan forsomeone who was going to go do
rock climbing in Right and Ithink she told me she was gonna
skateboard, she was anadventurer, but she got her
wills and powers of attorneysdone prior to going because she
was concerned about you knowwhat if something happens on

(01:24):
this trip.
So I'll just tell you, yourfirst step is to always pre-plan
.
However, if there's a crisis andyou're still competent, or even
if you're not, there's stilloptions and I'll guide us
through those and then you cangive us your experience as well.
But right, if you're competentand you have some type of
medical emergency, we can doemergency powers of attorneys.

(01:46):
So if things get worse, right,you'll have that general,
durable power of attorney wheresomeone can help you pay bills,
and the healthcare power ofattorney where someone can
advocate for your healthcaredecisions.
If you lose capacity andcompetency Additionally worst
case scenario you're in sometype of coma, no longer have the
capacity to make powers ofattorneys we will pursue

(02:08):
guardianship and have a familymember appointed to assist you.
So if you want to give us someof your guidance and experience
Haley with those situationsemergency guardianships, powers
of attorneys we'd love to hearit.

Haley Matson (02:21):
Yeah, absolutely so.
I mean I've also had thosevacation clients before they
come in and they're going to gosomewhere and they want all
their stuff done, which I thinkis a great, great plan.
I've also had some clients whocome in and they are looking to
get their estate planning doneas quickly as possible because
they've just been diagnosed witha health condition and they had

(02:42):
never pre-planned for that andin certain situations maybe time
runs out before they evenfinish and that leaves their
whole estate plan open.
It leaves their family open toa lot of stress.
So in that case pre-planningbefore they got that diagnosis
would have been critical to themand their whole family.

(03:05):
I mean, we've also done a lot ofemergency guardianships too.
You know somebody's parent nolonger competent emergency
guardianship or maybe they're ina dangerous situation with a
family member who's takingadvantage of them and that
person's not competent anymore.
You know, the best we can do isfile that emergency
guardianship as soon as we can.

(03:26):
We can get that over them.
But again, most of these cases,like we were talking about
earlier, they could have beenmitigated with some pre-planning
.
It gets harder once you getinto a crisis, right, it gets
harder.

Jordan McIntyre (03:39):
And we can always assist you in those
crises.
But there are some simpletactics like having
beneficiaries on accounts, right, having those powers of
attorneys, doing somepre-planning to make sure you at
least save the home right.
Yeah, journeys, doing somepre-planning to make sure you at
least save the home, right.
Simple things to just you know.
Face that reality that we neverknow what's going to happen.

(03:59):
Everything's not certain.
But then if you have, you know,you meet with us, do a consult,
have these simple plans put inplace.
Then you can have that peace ofmind, knowing that even if there
is a crisis, I'm protected.
So I think that's what we dohere is give you that peace of
mind and protect your legacy.
So, heaven forbid, you don'tpass.

(04:20):
And then you know, maybe yourwife's not on any of your
accounts, or you know we haven'tprotected that home and you had
some debt.
Right, we've got plenty ofoptions to help you out.
You can meet with us at Shelby,charlotte or Hendersonville,
visit the website atwwwmcouterlawcom, where you can
find all types of articles andeducational materials on estate

(04:41):
planning, and then give us acall at 1-888-999-6600, and we'd
love to meet you.
All, right, thank you.

Haley Matson (04:50):
Thank you.