0:22

Hello, and welcome to the Probate Podcast

0:22

my name is Sherri Lund and I'm your host.

0:26

I'm so excited that you're here because

0:26

today's guest Adam Hundley is going to

0:30

talk to you about what it's like to be

0:30

an executor from a personal experience,

0:34

but also because he works at a law office

0:34

and that's what they deal with every day.

0:39

So he knows what families are going

0:39

through when they come through

0:42

the door, and then he rises to

0:42

the occasion to take care of them.

0:47

I want to tell you about Adam in a little

0:47

bit, but I also want to make sure that you

0:50

grab your pen and paper because the things

0:50

that we talk about are going to be things

0:54

that you want to refer back to Adam.

0:56

I believe that my listeners have

0:56

a little notebook that they write

1:00

all their notes down into and then

1:00

they can go back and when they need

1:03

it, they might not need it today. But when they need it, they can go

1:05

back and take a look at their notebook.

1:08

They'll know where everything is. And so Adam and I are going to be

1:10

talking about some things that you're

1:13

wanting to remember to save you time and

1:13

money, but also heartache and headaches.

1:18

Boy, planning takes away so much

1:18

of the issues that could crop up.

1:22

We can't anticipate

1:22

everything, but we know a lot.

1:25

And so, so Adam and I are

1:25

here to help you through that.

1:28

And my goal also for this podcast

1:28

is not that you just listen to what

1:32

we have to say, but that you take

1:32

action and actually create a plan.

1:36

And so, Adam, I have a goal this year of

1:36

influencing 50 people to have a plan in

1:41

place, whether it's a trust or a will. And so if if that's one of them,

1:43

I want them to let me know because

1:46

you guys I have a list and it's

1:46

so fun to see the list growing.

1:49

So take action on that. Don't just listen.

1:52

Okay. So, Mr. Adam, Adam Hundley is the client services

1:54

director at Your Legacy Legal Care.

2:01

That law firm is under Kim Hegwood. You may know, have heard her name

2:03

before and they've recently rebranded

2:07

to be Your Legacy Legal Care.

2:10

That law firm provides estate

2:10

planning and probate legal services

2:14

in the greater Houston area. Adam is dedicated to enhancing

2:16

the client experience.

2:20

He's 1 of the 1st people that individuals

2:20

will meet when they go to the office.

2:25

He's genuinely committed to

2:25

understanding their unique needs and

2:29

he works closely with them throughout

2:29

the process to make sure that their

2:33

outcomes are what they expected. So it isn't just the attorney

2:35

that you're going to get at

2:38

your legal legacy care office.

2:40

It's also Adam. And I got to tell you from

2:41

personal experience, I love every

2:43

minute that I spend with Adam. He ensures seamless synergy.

2:48

I love that between client

2:48

needs and strategic planning.

2:51

Adam earned his paralegal studies

2:51

degree in 2020 and he's continuing

2:56

his education today at the University

2:56

of Houston Clear Lake campus.

3:00

He's a busy man. He's an active member of the

3:01

paralegal division of the State

3:05

Bar of Texas and the Houston

3:05

Metropolitan Paralegal Association.

3:09

That's a mouthful. He's president of the Community

3:10

Assistance Providers of Greater Pearland.

3:15

He's a certified dementia practitioner

3:15

and a certified Alzheimer's and

3:19

dementia disease care trainer.

3:21

He's a proud Houstonian, native

3:21

Houstonian, and he thrives on exploring

3:27

vibrant Houston scenes and restaurants.

3:30

He has two fur babies, Bentley

3:30

and Rusty, and he has a passion

3:34

for travel that knows no bounds. I love that.

3:37

Adam, welcome, welcome to the show. I'm so, so glad you're here.

3:40

Hi, Sherri, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

3:43

Okay, so we met for coffee..

3:46

You know, it was all about business then,

3:46

but tell us if I were to meet you for

3:50

coffee again, you know, who are you as a

3:50

person before we jump into legal stuff?

3:55

Tell me about Adam as a person. Well,

3:58

I consider myself to be very passionate

3:58

about anything and everything that I

4:03

throw myself into, whether that be work,

4:03

whether that be continuing education for

4:09

myself, but I'm very family oriented.

4:12

I love being around friends and family.

4:14

As you said, I am a native Houstonian.

4:17

So, and.. We know how big Houston is.

4:20

It can take an hour and a half to get

4:20

from one end of the city to the other.

4:23

So there's always those small family owned

4:23

restaurants or hidden gyms throughout

4:28

the city that I like to explore. I'm a big foodie.

4:32

So I love trying any and all new

4:32

restaurants or cuisines that may pop up.

4:38

But you can find me most of the time

4:38

just hanging out with those that

4:41

I love, that I love being around,

4:41

and especially my two, my two dogs,

4:46

my fur babies, my two dachshunds. They're, they're my children, so.

4:51

I used to grow. I grew up with dachshunds.

4:53

They are something they're, they're

4:53

really fun and they can be opinionated.

4:59

Absolutely 100 percent 1 of 1 of

4:59

them Bentley, he's my 12 year old.

5:04

So, he's a, he's a senior, he's

5:04

getting up there and he's very, he

5:08

gets very opinionated sometimes.

5:13

So when we did meet for coffee and it

5:13

was so fun because it was at a place that

5:16

neither one of us had been to before. Right.

5:19

And yeah, we had, we had a lot of fun in

5:19

that conversation and I knew right away

5:23

that I wanted to have you as a guest on

5:23

my show so would you tell us a little

5:27

bit before we get into more of our topic?

5:30

Tell us about how you got to the firm

5:30

because I think that's interesting.

5:34

Yeah. Well, I've been with Your Legacy Legal

5:34

Care formerly Hegwood law group, as

5:38

you mentioned we rebranded about a

5:38

year ago but I started with the firm

5:44

actually as an intern a probate and

5:44

guardianship, Intern because I needed

5:49

that internship to gain my credit that

5:49

I needed to graduate with my legal

5:54

studies degree and I've been here since.

5:57

So it's been, this is

5:57

going on 5 years now.

5:59

So I have been here full time.

6:02

I have excelled in my career. I continue to gain the experience

6:04

and knowledge because you may

6:08

think, you know, everything, but. It's something new every day.

6:11

And this is not, I will be honest.

6:14

This is not an area of law that

6:14

I was anticipating myself liking

6:19

or enjoying whenever, you know,

6:19

I was looking for an internship.

6:23

This just kind of, you know, Fell into

6:23

my lap when I was like, well, you know,

6:27

I need, I need the credit to graduate.

6:30

I can always go somewhere else after,

6:30

you know, this just sounds really boring

6:36

and not me, you know, I was really

6:36

looking into, you know, the criminal

6:41

side of the law or even personal injury.

6:44

But here I am almost five years

6:44

later and loving every second of it.

6:49

Yeah. We talked about how you wanted the drama

6:50

and you didn't think that there would

6:54

be enough drama in this field, I think.

6:57

And how much did you know about probate

6:57

and estate planning when you started?

7:02

I didn't know much, you know, I had taken

7:02

my wills and probates course, but, you

7:07

know, you learn more in these courses to

7:07

graduate about the transactional side.

7:15

You don't necessarily learn or

7:15

you're not necessarily taught much

7:19

on the emotional side or, you know,

7:19

the family issues or the drama

7:25

that can happen behind the scenes.

7:27

So I was very quick. I was very humbled, quickly.

7:32

I was humbled quickly on how wrong I was.

7:36

Yeah. Yeah. You don't know what you don't

7:37

know, but it was like, holy cow.

7:40

Can, can there be drama in probate

7:40

courses in estate planning?

7:44

Absolutely. Right. Yes.

7:46

It's that stuff that they

7:46

make movies out of, right?

7:49

Absolutely. Gosh. So tell us a little bit about

7:51

what the process is like

7:55

when people come to the firm. So, typically when someone, you know,

7:57

schedules an appointment with us, they

8:01

want a will, or they want to talk about

8:01

a trust, or powers of attorneys they get

8:06

scheduled with either myself or one of

8:06

my counterparts right now, that's Nikki,

8:11

she's our client services coordinator

8:11

so we're the first point of contact,

8:16

typically, for any potential client

8:16

that may come to our office Our job

8:20

is to just sit down with them, kind of

8:20

figure out what their goals are, kind

8:24

of figure out what they want, because

8:24

we one need to be sure that we're going

8:28

to be a right fit for them that way we

8:28

can know what steps need to be taken

8:33

to be sure that they're taken care of. It's not transactional by any means,

8:35

you know, everything in the estate

8:40

planning and probate realm is so

8:40

tailored to your individual needs.

8:46

So I pride ourselves in the fact that we

8:46

actually take that time to get to know

8:51

you and get to know your family and get

8:51

to know what it is that you truly want,

8:55

that way we can put something together,

8:55

even if it's just an outline of a plan.

9:00

That's going to work

9:00

the way you want it to.

9:03

Because it's not a cookie cutter process,

9:03

it's not a 1 and done type of thing.

9:08

And then after that, you know, after

9:08

you meet with with either myself or

9:12

Nikki, then we take those next steps.

9:15

And then you meet with 1 of our estate

9:15

planning attorneys to get down really

9:19

into the nitty gritty details of how

9:19

you want this, this trust or will or

9:23

estate plan to work when it needs to.

9:27

And then from there, we check, we have

9:27

check ins throughout the whole process

9:31

where you want to be sure that you're

9:31

taking care of every step of the way.

9:34

But even after everything is. Sign sealed and delivered.

9:39

We have review meetings every, every

9:39

couple of years, two to three years

9:43

at, at the very least, just to be sure

9:43

you're taking care of as your life may

9:47

change, you know, as the laws may change.

9:50

So, like I said earlier,

9:50

it's not a 1 and done thing.

9:54

It's an every evolving process. And we want to be sure that you're taken

9:56

care of if something does change that

10:01

may affect your, your pre planning. What are some emotions that are

10:03

going through the people that are

10:06

sitting across the table from you? A lot of the times they're scared,

10:08

they're anxious, they're nervous,

10:13

they're pulling back their

10:13

curtains to their personal life.

10:17

They're airing all of their laundry,

10:17

whether it be clean or dirty, because

10:21

estate planning is very tailored to you.

10:24

So I need to know almost

10:24

everything I can about you.

10:28

You know, so that I can make sure that

10:28

you're taken care of and your loved

10:32

ones are taken care of in the future. So a lot of people are very

10:34

hesitant to open those doors to

10:38

somebody that they've never met

10:38

before, completely understandable,

10:42

but I can relate personally on a

10:42

personal level because there were

10:48

loved ones of mine, grandparents in

10:48

particular, that did not do any of

10:53

this planning, that left a huge mess.

10:57

So, you know, whenever I'm meeting with

10:57

a potential client for the first time...

11:02

yes, it's a very important to just sit

11:02

and listen and learn and that's what

11:06

I tell everybody that I meet with. I am here to learn as much as I can

11:07

about you and I value transparency

11:13

and just honesty because without

11:13

those 2 things, I can't, we can't

11:18

help to the best of our ability. So it's very important to just take

11:21

into consideration yes, what they want.

11:26

But I think what really sets everybody

11:26

in our firm, everybody in our practice

11:30

apart from a lot of others is that

11:30

we all have that personal experience.

11:35

Working here, we've all been through

11:35

either probate or guardianship or helping

11:41

aging loved ones plan, you know, whether

11:41

it be for Medicaid or long term care.

11:46

So, all of us, and I can confidently say

11:46

100 percent of our staff, have been in

11:53

the shoes that our clients find themselves

11:53

in now, so we can relate on that personal

11:58

level and walk them through, you know,

11:58

of ways and strategies to avoid having

12:05

to go through what we went through. Our mortality is uncomfortable to

12:06

talk about, but they may, they may not

12:11

have the estate that they led on to

12:11

believe, they may be embarrassed that

12:15

their family find out, or they don't

12:15

really like this family member and

12:18

they don't want to leave their stuff... So like, there are lots of things.

12:21

And offices like yours. You can be transparent.

12:25

It's a confidential conversation. You can be transparent.

12:28

There's no, no judgment on your

12:28

part as to what people want to do.

12:33

Can you go a little deeper

12:33

into the executor's experience?

12:37

And what what that is

12:37

like, from a personal level

12:41

yeah, well, you know, the, the, whether

12:41

it be an executor or trustee or anybody

12:48

who is responsible for carrying out

12:48

somebody's wishes, you know, upon

12:53

their passing, it can be very daunting.

12:57

It can be very stressful. There's a lot of things that have to be

12:58

done and they're very meticulous things.

13:03

And by they are not by any means private,

13:03

you know, especially going through

13:10

probate, especially having to handle

13:10

all of the financial obligations..

13:15

handling the other loved ones,

13:15

you know, that are grieving.

13:19

It's not as easy as just flipping a

13:19

switch and, you know, okay, the, the

13:23

funeral or cremation was preplanned.

13:26

That's done. That's one part of your responsibility

13:27

as an executor or trustee.

13:33

Nobody knew in my family that the house

13:33

that my grandparents lived in for 50 plus

13:38

years didn't automatically transfer to my

13:38

grandmother upon my grandfather's passing.

13:44

So that was another thing, a light

13:44

bulb that went off, you know, in

13:49

my head and I'm like, wow, nobody

13:49

in my family knew about this.

13:52

How many other people don't know about it? Those kinds of realizations are shocking.

13:57

Like it's shock layered on top of grief

13:57

and, and then, you know, it's like,

14:03

yep, oh my gosh, what do I do now?

14:05

So then there's fear in there Yeah, it's a, there's a lot of

14:07

scenarios that run through your head,

14:11

you know, and now working in this

14:11

field, it's really opened my eyes

14:16

because had a lot of this stuff been

14:16

done already, even just a will helps

14:23

tremendously instead of having to face

14:23

the unknowns without a will like I did.

14:30

yeah, The teacher in me says,

14:30

let's get educated and that'll

14:33

save a little bit of heartache. Right?

14:35

And.. Absolutely. And that's why our firm is

14:36

big on providing education.

14:40

It doesn't matter if you think

14:40

you need a will or a trust, or,

14:44

you know, if you think you might

14:44

have to go through probate, or you

14:47

don't know if probates even needed. We're big on just providing

14:49

as much information as we can.

14:54

So that way, you and your loved

14:54

ones can make an informed decision.

14:58

Yeah, and this is not that this is

14:58

not a place where you want to be a

15:02

maverick and go out there and just

15:02

make your own way because there

15:06

can be some serious repercussions. What are some things that an executor

15:08

must do before they start selling

15:14

property or acting as an executor?

15:16

So, you know, if you have to go

15:16

through probate, whether you're

15:20

probating a will, or whether

15:20

you're probating without a will.

15:24

You can't do anything and everything you

15:24

may want, even if you are the executor,

15:30

you know, your job as an executor is to

15:30

follow the instructions of the person.

15:35

That created the will, and the will

15:35

should provide those instructions on

15:40

what to do, who the beneficiaries are,

15:40

how they receive it, when they receive

15:45

their inheritance or within my case

15:45

without the will, it's already laid

15:51

out for you according to the state law.

15:55

So, you know, I can't go against

15:55

what what the law has already stated.

15:59

Right. So my job is to go through

16:00

that court process.

16:04

And like you said, Sherri, every county

16:04

may have a different timeline, depending

16:09

on how backed up the court docket is.

16:12

But, you know, for example,

16:12

like, Harris County, they just

16:15

opened up a 5th probate court.

16:18

But typically what, you know, Kim tells

16:18

all of our clients is probate is probably

16:22

going to take about 6 to 12 months to go

16:22

through, you know, from start to finish.

16:28

But if there's anybody coming

16:28

forward to contest anything,

16:31

you're going to have to fight, or you're

16:31

going to have to work with the attorney

16:35

to get them the information that they

16:35

need to file the pleadings with the court.

16:40

It's a very public process because

16:40

nothing in probate is private.

16:46

If something gets filed in probate, it's

16:46

public record, which means the inventory

16:51

of your estate, which is something

16:51

that, you know, as an executor, you

16:54

have to provide information to your

16:54

attorney of what assets are in the

17:00

estate that are going through probate.

17:03

So, and that inventory is very detailed.

17:06

It's going to have your

17:06

bank account balances.

17:08

It's going to have the addresses of

17:08

the property you owned, you know,

17:12

so all of that is public record.

17:14

I could go online and tell you that,

17:14

you know, Sally Smith next door, whose

17:18

grandmother just passed is inheriting

17:18

her half a million dollar home.

17:22

That process itself, so that process

17:22

itself can be very stressful because

17:26

then you've got creditors or you've

17:26

got other people reaching out, you

17:30

know to you or to your attorney, trying

17:30

to get paid what debt may be owed.

17:36

But just think of having to go through

17:36

that for six to 12 months without really

17:42

anything you can do, because that's

17:42

just Honestly, how long it takes, you

17:47

know, and then once everything is done

17:47

and approved by the court, then as the

17:53

executor, your job is to distribute

17:53

these assets to the beneficiaries.

17:57

I mean, that's just a procedural,

17:57

you know, way of doing it.

18:01

You know, you've got, you have to

18:01

formally be appointed as the executor

18:07

or administrator of the estate., just

18:07

because I have a will that says, Sherri,

18:12

you may be my executor it doesn't mean

18:12

that you can automatically fill those

18:16

shoes, you know, upon my death, you

18:16

know, you're not my executor until

18:21

that will goes through probate court.

18:23

And that's just another thing that a lot

18:23

of people, you know, don't understand is

18:28

that you may have a will that provides

18:28

very clear cut instructions on what

18:33

you want, but that's not enforceable

18:33

until it goes through probate.

18:38

Right. It has to be a valid. I mean, there's so many.

18:40

There's so many things. Oh, my gosh.

18:44

What do you call the person who goes

18:44

through probate when there's not a will

18:50

and they're not officially an executor. What's the term in Texas for that

18:54

administrator. Okay. Yeah.

18:57

Okay. So it's the same, same

18:57

thing as the executor.

19:00

Pretty much. It's just, that's what

19:01

it's called here in Texas.

19:04

If you, you know, are applying

19:04

to be that person to spearhead

19:10

or manage the estate you would be

19:10

appointed as the administrator.

19:15

And do administrators always have

19:15

to pay bond and do they get the

19:18

option to be independent or dependent

19:21

that would depend really.

19:24

Okay. It's going to typical attorney.

19:26

Yeah. Typical typical legal answer.

19:29

Right? So, you know, we've seen with some of our

19:29

probate matters that we've represented

19:34

clients in, What Kim would say is that

19:34

it's going to depend on the judge.

19:38

It's going to depend on the county. It's going to depend on the person

19:39

who's applying to be the administrator,

19:44

you know, because there are, there are

19:44

requirements of who can serve or who can

19:48

be appointed right throughout this process

19:48

of trying to figure out, if probate is

19:54

needed, who the decedent is, and what

19:54

the relationship Is between the, the

19:59

potential administrator and the decedent.

20:02

That's our job as a law firm to do

20:02

some fact finding to determine what

20:08

the outcome may look like when this

20:08

person is appointed, if they have to

20:12

to pay a bond, if they have, if they

20:12

can serve independently, or if it's

20:16

going to have to be done dependently,

20:16

but it's all going to depend on.

20:22

The judge in the county. Okay. Yeah.

20:25

And every judge is different. So, Harris county has 5 judges that think

20:26

differently, so they know, yeah, they're

20:32

not all the same, but you can be an

20:32

administrator and be named independent.

20:37

You don't have to be a dependent

20:37

just because you're an administrator.

20:42

Right? Okay, that's good to know.

20:44

So, let's talk a little

20:44

bit about trustees.

20:48

Because administrators have

20:48

challenges that are unique to

20:51

their situation and executors..

20:53

Do trustees have similar challenges,

20:56

I'm not going to say they can't or they

20:56

don't because they could, but having a

21:02

trust and someone managing it as trustee,

21:02

it's a lot easier of a process than being

21:10

an executor or administrator of an estate.

21:12

Because a trust, if done, if planned

21:12

properly, if funded properly, if

21:17

set up correctly, avoids the whole

21:17

issue, potential issue of probate.

21:24

So the trustee can have access or, you

21:24

know, be able to handle or distribute

21:30

the assets in the trust almost

21:30

immediately upon someone's passing.

21:35

The only thing that they have

21:35

to do is become, again, formally

21:38

appointed as the trustee. Which is what our office does when

21:40

someone who established a trust passes.

21:45

We do what's called a new certification

21:45

of trust, which just formally

21:49

appoints the new successor trustee. And then from there, they immediately

21:51

start following the instructions

21:57

that's laid before them in this trust.

22:00

There is trust litigation out there. They can have some obstacles or, you

22:01

know, some, some kind of issues, but

22:06

it's not as common as they are when

22:06

we're dealing with wills or probate.

22:13

That's like, such an easier time that

22:13

there would be more space for grieving

22:18

and adapting to this new family

22:18

dynamic after the loss of someone.

22:24

It seems like such a nice, nice transition,

22:27

it can, it absolutely can be and

22:27

that's, you know, our offices is trust.

22:33

Friendly because it makes things

22:33

easier, not only on the person

22:39

who's in charge upon death, but

22:39

it makes it easier for everybody

22:43

knowing that everything is already

22:43

taken care of in this 1 estate plan.

22:48

I tell all of our clients when someone

22:48

passes away, there's really nothing we

22:53

can do until you have a death certificate.

22:55

So take that initial time to grieve,

22:55

you know, have the services, grieve

23:01

with the, with your other loved

23:01

ones, have that celebration of life.

23:05

But once you receive a death certificate,

23:05

Then we can start on the legality side.

23:11

I started Willowwood solutions

23:11

to help people navigate probate

23:16

issues, non legal issues, just the

23:16

logistics of it because I want to..

23:21

My background is in mental health

23:21

and supporting people holistically..

23:26

Adam, how do you see what I

23:26

do meshing with what y'all do?

23:30

What you do is very important from our

23:30

perspective because a lot of the times

23:37

you see the families or, our potential

23:37

clients before probate may be needed, you

23:43

also see it after the fact, if it's too

23:43

late for pre planning, where, you know,

23:49

these families don't know what to do. You provide the guidance, you

23:51

provide different options, just

23:56

like we do, of what they can do. Your services mesh so well with both

23:58

sides of our practice that no matter who

24:05

they end up with first, whether it be us

24:05

or you, we have that connection to serve

24:12

them in every capacity that they may need.

24:15

Yeah, and it's really fun to partner up

24:15

with people like y'all, because I feel

24:19

like we are creating this net like a safe.

24:23

I imagine like a trapeze artist or more

24:23

like a tight rope Walker where our client

24:28

is up there, you know, trying to do

24:28

something for the 1st time and try to

24:32

figure it out and how to stay balanced. We're creating this safety net.

24:36

So we're helping them. We're cheerleading for them.

24:39

Right and we're also saying,

24:39

have you thought about this?

24:42

And oh, by the way, you're grieving. Have you thought about a counselor?

24:45

You know, it's not just transactional it's

24:45

very much holistic from my point of view.

24:51

So, you've learned a lot about dementia

24:51

and you're a trainer and you do all kinds

24:55

of things to help the community with that.

24:58

Do you want to talk about what it's

24:58

like to work with, with someone

25:02

whose memory might be starting to

25:02

fade for whatever reason, and what

25:09

that means for an estate plan. Yeah, so it's very important to be

25:12

proactive when you have noticed either

25:19

yourself or a loved one, not remembering

25:19

things that they should or that they

25:25

would normally or if there is, early

25:25

diagnosis of some form of dementia,

25:31

because there's multiple forms out there. It's very important to be proactive and

25:34

make sure that you have the planning

25:39

in place that is going to be needed to

25:39

be sure, yes, that everything's taken

25:44

care of after you've passed, but also

25:44

upon your disability or incapacity.

25:49

Having those powers of attorneys in

25:49

place to help your agent, whether it be

25:54

medical or financial, be able to assist

25:54

you in making decisions on your behalf

25:59

if you're unable to do so yourself. A lot of the times we find clients

26:01

coming to us when it's too late.

26:05

When there, when there's a lack of

26:05

the cognitive ability to remember

26:10

or understand what legal documents

26:10

they need or should be signing.

26:16

Right? So that leads us to having to go

26:17

through guardianship, which can be

26:21

another very expensive, stressful,

26:21

time consuming court proceeding.

26:26

So I can't stress the importance of

26:26

making sure that you have proper legal

26:31

documents in place before it's too late.

26:35

Because as a certified dementia

26:35

practitioner, you know, my job is

26:41

to understand the different types of

26:41

dementias, is to understand how they may

26:47

affect somebody's cognitive ability to

26:47

not just on the legal side, understand

26:52

legal documents or the ability or

26:52

inability to sign legal documents, but

26:57

how their behaviors may change over time,

26:57

or when it may be time to transition

27:02

somebody with dementia, out of the

27:02

home or into a safer 24 7 facility if

27:09

they need that skilled level of care.

27:12

Not having the proper planning in

27:12

place when that time comes opens

27:18

the door for your loved ones to

27:18

have to go through guardianship.

27:21

And then again, after you pass,

27:21

have to go through probate.

27:26

So they're getting hit with a double

27:26

whammy when, when it comes to court,

27:30

you know, I didn't realize that. Yeah. Cause without proper powers of

27:32

attorney documents, financial,

27:37

medical, or even some of your medical

27:37

directives, your agent or the person

27:41

you may want to make decisions on

27:41

your behalf may not be able to.

27:46

And the only way that they would be able

27:46

to do that is to obtain guardianship.

27:51

So dependent on the circumstances, of

27:51

course, depending on what documents

27:58

you have, if any, you know, would allow

27:58

us to Avoid having to go through that

28:03

court process in addition to avoiding

28:03

probate in the future upon death.

28:09

So, just for clarification, Adam,

28:09

when you use the word agent.

28:14

Most of us that are not attorneys

28:14

would think about a real estate

28:18

agent or an invest, an insurance

28:18

agent, something like that.

28:22

What do you mean when

28:22

you use the word agent?

28:25

So, when you hear, you know, anybody in

28:25

the legal field using the word agent,

28:32

typically it refers to the person that

28:32

you have appointed to make medical or

28:39

financial decisions on your behalf. A lot of people just say, oh, my

28:41

daughter's my power of attorney.

28:46

The legal term is that, oh, my daughter

28:46

is my agent for power of attorney.

28:51

Okay. So the person named as on your

28:52

directive, a power of attorney for

28:57

whatever, whichever power of attorney

28:57

it is is considered the agent.

29:01

Got it. Correct. Yep. So it can be an attorney, but

29:03

it's most often a friend or a

29:06

family member considered an agent. Yeah, you can appoint you

29:09

can appoint anybody you want.

29:13

Hopefully it's somebody you trust to

29:13

be appointed as that person to make

29:19

medical or financial decisions yourself.

29:22

Most of the time it is a

29:22

family member or a friend.

29:25

We do have clients who we call solo

29:25

agers who may not have children or

29:30

spouses or other family that, you

29:30

know, either because they don't just

29:33

don't have any or because they may

29:33

have other family members, but they

29:39

live out of state or out of town. So they may opt in for someone to

29:41

serve as their agent for power of

29:47

attorney, whether it be medical or

29:47

financial in a professional capacity,

29:51

such as in a lot of those types of

29:51

people would be like a social worker.

29:55

Yeah, especially in dementia situation.

29:58

I mean, it's hard for the average,

29:58

but for someone knowing that they

30:01

have a dementia diagnosis, that's

30:01

going to be a real challenge.

30:05

it's difficult having that conversation

30:05

and coming to terms with what the

30:11

diagnosis that you've received is, just

30:11

very important to have that understanding

30:19

of the importance of having these legal

30:19

documents in place to be sure that

30:25

not not just your loved ones are taken

30:25

care of and this whole process is is

30:29

made easy for them, but also for the

30:29

person who's been diagnosed themselves,

30:34

making sure that they get the care

30:34

that they may need in the future.

30:39

And then also make it easy on them to

30:39

transition to allow someone else to

30:46

manage different aspects of their life.

30:48

When it may be when it may

30:48

be time for them to do.

30:50

So, right. Thank you for what you do.

30:53

That's just such a such a gift for the

30:53

people that you, I mean, you didn't have

30:58

to choose to become a practitioner of

30:58

dementia and to understand all of that.

31:03

But that training that you have prepares

31:03

you for those meetings that you step

31:07

into and so then you have a level of

31:07

guidance to offer that other people

31:12

don't have, and I know that that that

31:12

sets you apart in what you do, so

31:16

I appreciate that as a, as a human.

31:19

Yeah, it's very, it is very important.

31:22

And, you know, with the number of dementia

31:22

diagnoses, just increasing exponentially,

31:28

you know, it's something that even within

31:28

the last five years that I've been here

31:32

with the firm, the amount of people coming

31:32

to us because they have been diagnosed

31:36

with some form of dementia or, you know,

31:36

or their mom or dad or other loved one

31:41

may have, it's just become more common.

31:45

and we're expecting that

31:45

number of dementia diagnoses

31:49

to increase tenfold, by 2050.

31:53

So, you know, it's very important to

31:53

understand what signs and symptoms to

31:58

look out for and to understand that,

31:58

mom may have had dementia but it may

32:03

not have necessarily been accurately

32:03

diagnosed, you know, a lot of people

32:08

think, oh, mom just had old timers, you

32:08

know, another name for Alzheimer's, but,

32:14

you can't just go to your doctor and they

32:14

tell you that oh, you've got dementia.

32:19

What kind? That's going to really affect

32:20

your cognitive ability or

32:24

capacity to sign legal documents. That's going to determine what what

32:26

medication you may be prescribed.

32:32

You know, so it's very important

32:32

to get an accurate diagnosis to but

32:36

that's my job as a certified dementia

32:36

practitioner is to help navigate those

32:42

questions about a dementia diagnosis

32:42

for our clients and their loved ones.

32:46

And by the end of this year, 2024, our

32:46

goal is to have everybody on our staff

32:54

be a certified dementia practitioner. That way, we can offer that,

32:57

you know, guidance and that, you

33:01

know, service across the board,

33:01

no matter who that may speak with.

33:06

Right. Your language will be consistent

33:06

throughout the office.

33:10

Around that topic, that's really

33:10

neat because what happens if

33:13

someone, if you feel like. They're not all there cognitively and

33:16

they sign what does that mean to you?

33:22

One, it could be very unethical.

33:27

But two, you know, that just opens

33:27

the possibility of more issues

33:33

for the loved ones in the future. You know, if someone doesn't agree

33:35

with the validity of a document because

33:38

of a diagnosis, so, you know, on the

33:38

legal side, we've got to be very, very

33:42

cautious of when it may be too late.

33:46

But that's when we communicate with

33:46

medical professionals, we have them

33:52

examined by their doctor, by their

33:52

neurologist, by somebody who can give

33:57

that medical opinion on whether or

33:57

not this potential client has the

34:01

ability to sign legal documents. So at the end of the day, it's going

34:03

to determine, you know, if we have

34:08

a question about the legal ability

34:08

to sign legal documents, then we're

34:14

going to request the potential client

34:14

to be examined by their doctor.

34:20

Yeah, because you're like, yeah, you're

34:20

like, the 1st, like gatekeepers, right?

34:24

Like, you're, you're supposed to assess

34:24

and make sure that they're not minors.

34:29

They're not under the influence of

34:29

anything and that they're all there that

34:32

they have the capacity to agree to what

34:32

they're signing and, and if you see flags,

34:38

then let's get a doctor involved because

34:38

we need to make sure that we're all okay.

34:42

Maybe they need medication. Maybe it's not dementia.

34:45

Maybe it's something else. Yeah, yeah, and a lot of the time, you

34:48

know, if someone has, for example.

34:52

A UTI. Right. You know, something as as small

34:53

or curable, fixable as that..

35:00

Yeah. Yeah. ..Could hinder somebody's, you know, a

35:00

cognitive ability, even just temporarily.

35:06

So, you know, we've got to, we've got

35:06

to stay on our toes, you know, on our

35:09

tippy toes and, and just be careful.

35:12

But at the end of the day, that's

35:12

us doing our job to protect the

35:17

client, to protect mom, to protect

35:17

dad, to protect whatever loved one

35:22

is coming in, you know, our doors.

35:24

Because we want to be sure that they

35:24

receive the care that not only they

35:29

need, but at the end of the day deserve. Correct, and if someone is being malicious

35:31

and manipulative and, you know, coercive

35:37

in some way, then there's a reason that

35:37

they're doing that and beneficiaries

35:41

that might have access or, you know, be

35:41

in line for something that the senior

35:47

wants them to have, but feels like

35:47

they, you know, are being forced, you

35:51

know, y'all are watching out for the

35:51

beneficiaries that might be out there

35:54

to that rightly have a place in this.

35:57

Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, it's pretty cool.

36:00

So what do you enjoy about what you do? Adam? I love meeting with just all

36:03

the different kinds of people.

36:06

I love meeting with people. I love hearing their stories.

36:10

How they grew up, where they're from,

36:10

the stories of them raising their

36:14

kids, even those that do come in with

36:14

a more progressed form of dementia,

36:18

they, they love telling you about

36:18

their life, and Kim says this too,

36:22

but it's like, you know, meeting with

36:22

seniors is like meeting with your

36:26

grandparents, and it's absolutely true.

36:30

So getting to just spend the day with

36:30

other people's grandparents and hearing

36:36

their stories just reminds me of my own. So I, I just love the people aspect of

36:38

it, but also at the end of the day, being

36:44

able to help them to, you know, it's

36:44

a, it's a very, it's a very satisfying

36:48

to have that feeling that, okay, I did

36:48

something that made a difference today.

36:56

You know, or that will make a difference

36:56

eventually, you know, in the future.

37:00

So providing that peace of mind

37:00

to not only the client, but also

37:05

potentially their loved ones. That's, that's very, it's, it's very

37:07

just, I don't know the word other

37:13

than for lack of a better term,

37:13

just satisfying, you know, it, it

37:17

allows me to feel just, warmth.

37:20

Yes, I agree. And for me, I think it's, it's

37:22

what you were just saying to, it's

37:26

not just the person that you're

37:26

planning the senior, perhaps or

37:30

someone that needs guardianship,

37:30

they certainly deserve our care.

37:34

They're vulnerable and they need

37:34

someone to oversee them that has

37:37

knowledge expertise and integrity,

37:37

but also for the loved ones who

37:42

are trying to care for them. Cause that's such a tough

37:43

job to be so stretched.

37:46

And so that's one of the reasons I do

37:46

what I do is to make their job easier.

37:51

So logistic, obviously I

37:51

don't, I'm not an attorney.

37:53

I don't take your place, but but if I

37:53

can lighten the load and taking some

37:57

of the logistics off of their plate

37:57

they can breathe a little easier.

38:00

And that, that does feel really good. Yeah.

38:03

Gratifying, gratifying feeling.

38:06

Okay, well, my hope, like I said, is

38:06

that our audience will not just take what

38:10

we've talked about, but they and listen

38:10

to it, but they will take it to action.

38:15

Adam. How can people find you?

38:17

Where can they reach you? Yeah, the best way to reach

38:18

me personally is by email.

38:22

My email is Adam at

38:22

your legacy legal care.

38:29

Dot com, and then you can also

38:29

find us online on our website.

38:33

YourLegacyLegalCare.Com.

38:35

And then we're everywhere on social media. So connect with us on, you know,

38:37

Facebook on LinkedIn on YouTube, you

38:43

know, we have the life happens podcast

38:43

with, with our managing attorney,

38:48

Kim Hegwood Instagram, Twitter,

38:48

we're, we're anywhere and everywhere.

38:52

You can find us. So you can just search your legacy,

38:53

legal care and connect with us

38:56

wherever you, you know, wherever you.

38:59

I have platforms and then you

38:59

can always message us on those

39:03

different platforms as well. But.

39:05

Email is the best way to get a hold of me

39:05

in particular, or also calling the office.

39:10

Our phone number is 2,

39:10

8, 1, 2, 1, 8, 0, 880.

39:16

Great. Thank you for that. And for those that might be

39:17

driving around the trails, all that

39:21

information will also be in the show

39:21

notes that you can access later.

39:25

So, thank you so much for

39:25

joining the probate podcast.

39:28

Adam and I are are alike in this.

39:30

We want you to know that you

39:30

matter and that you're not alone

39:34

and that we are here to help. So if you have any questions, you can

39:35

reach out to either one of us and we'll

39:39

be glad to direct you in whatever way

39:39

that we feel like is your next best step.

39:43

So take good care until next time.

39:45

Know that you matter.