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Hey there, my name is Sherri Lund and

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I'm the founder of Willowood Solutions

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and the host of Probate Podcast. It's the beginning of a new year and I

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wanted to hop on and tell you a little

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bit about where I came from, why I'm

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here, how I help people with senior

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transitions and navigating probate.

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And what I'm aiming for

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in this year of 2024.

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ago, I met a young man. He invited me to his house

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to help him with foreclosure.

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And when I got there, let's call him Paul.

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When I got there, I realized that Paul had

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inherited this house from his parents who

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had passed away a couple of years before. And that Paul was on mental disability.

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let's think about the house to

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what can I do to help this man. We were able to help Paul, but then

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my experience with him, It was as

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if I opened up a door to a whole

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new scenario of things that people

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are going through that I had not

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previously known or experienced before.

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I've been through three probates with my

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family members, but nothing like this.

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My mission in life, is I love

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to meet people in the mess.

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I am not afraid of meeting

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people in hard times.

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My favorite thing is to help them

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come out of that go through that so

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that they're better on the other side. I don't want people to

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feel stuck or alone.

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I love to help people find light at

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the end of the tunnel and get hope.

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I want to be someone who brings

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hope when someone is hurting.

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And so when I met Paul I felt like

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I opened up this door to a room

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full of people who were confused

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and overwhelmed with probate.

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They don't know all of a sudden they're

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in this situation they didn't ask for.

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They're grieving. They're upset. They feel overwhelmed and underqualified.

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And I didn't know how to help Paul.

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I had a couple of numbers that I

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could call the next day, but I felt

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very I don't know what the word is. I felt very ill equipped to help

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Paul in this situation when I want

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to be someone to bring solutions. That experience, once we were able

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to help Paul, and he was in his

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new place, I just kept thinking

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about him and people like him.

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I've thought about a young widow,

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maybe she's 35 and has two - I know

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of one- and she qualified for the

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house that she and her daughters live

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in, but that was with two incomes.

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And so now, she's trying to grieve the

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loss of her spouse, try to figure out

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how to provide a safe place for her

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daughter so that they feel familiar

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and loved and safe and all of that

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and deal with all the legal logistics

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and taking his name off of accounts.

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It's a lot. And I think about the older person

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who passed away male or female,

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they've lost their companion. Maybe they're on medications and

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they're not all there themselves.

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Maybe they have some physical

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issues that are affecting them.

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Probate in and of itself is

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difficult for the healthiest of

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person in their prime of life. But when you add in a grief and the

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different situations that are facing

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an elderly person when they've lost

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their companion, again, it's just a lot.

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Some older women they don't know

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about their finances or what life

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insurance might be out there,

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anything about their accounts.

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And attorneys don't do that. And I started wondering who does that.

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I was investigating what's out there and

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what is what's involved in probate and who

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can help these vulnerable people that find

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themselves suddenly in this situation.

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I found out that there's not a lot of books. There's not a lot of people talking

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about this and so it's no wonder when

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someone is neck deep in probate, and

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all the drama that comes up in the

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why didn't somebody

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tell me where am I supposed to go?

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And let me tell you, social media

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is not the place you want to go.

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There's laws that change

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from state to state there.

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They're not constant. Anyway, within a state, Texas will

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change its ideas on things and certain

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phrases need to be included to make

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it all legal and nice and tidy.

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A lot of people don't have wills. And so it's very complicated.

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We have blended families,

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which makes things complicated.

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And then a lot of people

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have misconceptions.

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They think that they're paying an

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attorney and so the attorney is

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just going to do all this stuff. And that's just not true.

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And so what I found through my

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lack of knowledge is that there's

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just not a lot of knowledge and

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information out there for people.

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And so, so I started learning myself.

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I became certified as a probate expert.

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I went on and reactivated my real

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estate license, so that's 1 less

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conversation people have to tell their

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story to; they can just bring me in

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if they have something with their

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Property or their house that they

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have questions about or need to sell

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or buy another one somewhere else.

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I can help them with their real estate things. 1 less relationship to call.

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We don't have yellow pages anymore. How do you find somebody that you

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can trust to deal with these things

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when you just 1 more conversation?

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My decisions, my actions over the

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past 2 years have been with that

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person in mind, the young mom with the

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two kids or the older person that's

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trying to figure this stuff out. The mom who has kids in college, but

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she also has this, dad now who's lost

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his wife of 40 some odd years and how

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does she attend graduation ceremonies

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and deal with soccer practice and

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also make sure that dad is okay?

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It's a lot for that person to handle. And so those are the

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people that I get out for.

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And I think about what can I do to help them. In 2023.

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I started the probate podcast,

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and I have guests on every week.

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We come back and I bring somebody in

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that will answer a burning question

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that might be typed out at 2 in the

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morning when you can't figure out what

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you're supposed to do and you're on

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the Internet: how can I find care, or

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what is probate in Texas or whatever?

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Those are the kinds of questions

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and hard topics that we talk

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about, because other people aren't. So I want to have these conversations.

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I want to demystify this whole process.

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You know, you can make better

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decisions when you're not stressed out.

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I want to empower people to know, to

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feel confident when they're going through

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this, because there's a lot of fear in the

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unknown, so, then we take the fear away.

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And then boy, would I love it if

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we could get people to plan more;

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their estate plan, you know, what

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do we need to do about mom's care?

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Her memory is starting to slip. What can we do?

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What do you guys want to do? Starting conversations with families?

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I have grief counselors and people to help

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with grief because grief is a real thing.

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It's unpredictable and it

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comes up in the weirdest times.

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And to normalize these things that feel

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so out of sorts, and they're not on a

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regular timetable, it's not linear from A,

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B, C and D, they come up with the weirdest

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times and in the middle of all of that,

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you're still trying to have a family.

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You're still trying to have a marriage

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or you're still trying to get a divorce.

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Maybe you've got COVID, maybe you need

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that job promotion, or maybe you've

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lost your job and life goes on, even

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though probate is in the picture.

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It wasn't long before I found out I had

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people calling me asking: I don't need

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probate information, but I do you have

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anybody, do you know of anybody you

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can point me to because mom is getting

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out of rehab and I thought I could take

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care of her and I'm realizing I can't.

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I don't have what it takes. I don't have the time. I don't have the strength, whatever it is.

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And so I started helping people outside

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of probate with care, lining up care

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and taking eliminating some of that

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stress that they feel that anxiety

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that they feel about being unprepared.

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And I would get calls from sisters

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and daughters about: I know that

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I need to put my sister or my mom

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into an assisted living facility,

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assisted living community, memory

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care community, something like that.

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They don't know what

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to ask or where to go.

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And and so I saw the need to expand

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outside of just the probate realm and

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I became certified in the fall of 2023

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as a senior transition specialist.

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And what that means is I can help

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people when they're having those

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early conversations about, you

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know, I'm thinking we need it.

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This is the year for us to consider

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putting mom or dad in assisted care.

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I'm seeing that he's falling more

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or his house isn't safe or we're not

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close enough to keep an eye on him. Whatever the reasons are it's

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time to think about putting

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dad or mom in assisted living.

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Or maybe they have had the fall, or maybe

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they are getting out of rehab, and they

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don't have the time to think quickly. Maybe they need to act quickly.

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And so how do they fund the care?

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Because memory care assisted

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living isn't inexpensive, is it?

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And so a lot of times families need to

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unlock the equity in their homes in order

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to fund the care that mom and dad need.

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As a senior transition specialist, I

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can come in and help them with that.

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I can help them with the downsizing.

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So now I spend this whole end of

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life, senior transition that goes

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from considering what they need for

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care, downsizing, helping them get

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established in their new place, dealing

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with the property and all the contents.

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And then going into probate and

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beyond when that time comes.

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So with one relationship, like

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an umbrella, I certainly I

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don't do all this on my own. I have contacts that I've

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invested in and that I've vetted.

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I have conversations with. I recommend people that I know and trust.

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And so I can be a real resource, a

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place of safety for families that

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feel flustered and overwhelmed. I'm currently working with attorneys

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and families that are in that situation.

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Some live out of town, some live out

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of state, some are right here and they

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just, need some support and some help.

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And so I'm a resource for

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them on a regular basis.

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I'm looking forward. I'm super excited about

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what I did in 2023.

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The guests that I had on my podcast,

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the resources that I have on my

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website to help people in all sorts

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of situations, especially with

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grief and seniors and probate...

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there's just not a lot out there, so you

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want to find something that's current..

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In 2024. I will be helping more families with

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their seniors in that transition time,

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I will help them find more resources.

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I will help them get more funding by

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unlocking the equity in their home.

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I'm going to help more relatives,

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more sons and daughters and

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spouses, feel more confident.

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This is a vulnerable time for them. They don't make these decisions lightly.

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And so when they decide to put their loved

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1 into assisted care, I am there for them.

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And the people that I'm related to

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in my work, we are there for them.

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We create a type of safety net

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for them that they can feel

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carried through this process. And and I believe that they can come

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out stronger and better on the other

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side, and their loved one can too. It's amazing how they can come back

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and bounce, become some of them

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become more lively and fun again

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after they find an assisted care home

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that they can feel comfortable in. So we are here for you.

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I am here for you. And if you are going through a

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transition or you're anticipating

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going through one in the next year,

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please consider me and what I do, even

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if I'm not the person to help you. I'm connected now to a lot of people.

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I have lots- I've worked really hard

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to make relationships and to find

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resources in the greater Houston area.

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But even nationally, I'm a member

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of groups nationwide, so I can

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find resources, even if you're

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not in the Houston, Texas area.

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Reach out to me. You can find me on my website

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along with the resources that I

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mentioned WillowWoodSolutions.Com

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and there's a contact form.

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So if you'll send me an email

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through the contact form.

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Or you can call me (832) 640-2997.

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You can call or text me. That's my personal number,

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and I'm happy to help.

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I'm here to help. So again, I don't want you to feel alone.

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I don't want you to feel

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overwhelmed or underqualified.

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I'm here to help you with that. So take good care.