Sign Alabama Banking Living Will Later

Industry sign banking alabama living will later

car crashes defective products dangerous drugs injuries and abuse across the state of alabama the attorneys proudly sponsored by the law firm of hollis wright are here to serve you your top legal questions answered by our experts with host david lamb and the attorneys of hollis wright good evening and welcome in to the attorneys thank you so much for joining us tonight got a really interesting show a topic of conversation that we are convinced will matter and be important to a number of you if not all of you uh so looking forward to that conversation got a great panel of experts here uh to deal with that before we get started a couple of ground rules just in case this is your first time with us you'll see at the bottom of the screen ways you can join our conversation call text email whatever you're comfortable with uh 844 law talk is the number you need to know for all your needs at any time during the show or otherwise also hollis wright makes available attorneys who are standing by right now to speak with you you can call text to get in touch with them if you have a legal question an opportunity to get some great free legal advice leading our conversation tonight he's the managing partner of hollis right josh wright good to see you sir good to see you too how are you doing doing very well how are you well i'm i'm great and you know dave we we've done a series of social distance shows during the covet period we finally decided it was time to change things and try and get ourselves a little bit back more to normal and to the center where uh i felt like we were before coveted and we're bringing our first guest on today for the very first time maureen evans is with us to talk a little bit about probate law and first of all welcome so glad to have you thank you uh i told you before we started that you were the first guest back so um uh i don't know if that's good or bad but we're super excited to have you here well thank you so much i know this is just such an interesting time and you know we were talking before we even started how the legal world has changed so drastically during covid and your practice i know has changed drastically during that time and probably starting to get a little bit back more to normal but maybe not you tell us yeah you know it it has been a very very strange year i think for everybody across the board the courts have had sort sort of different types of orders put in place freezing jury trials and things like that i feel like things are starting to pick up a little bit and i i certainly am excited to see some of these things move forward for both of you what has chan what has have you maybe kind of been forced to do because both of you run law firms that are small businesses um what have you been forced to do due to the coronavirus that you think that's kind of been a positive and an opportunity that you all will continue to do once you know all the restrictions are listed well i'll go first and then let maureen talk but um you know one of the things that i've been able to do is to catch up on a lot of the things that um were important in the litigation uh world that i had to gloss over more uh to to keep my practice um i i kind of look at it as spinning plates sometimes yeah and you you see the person spinning a plate then you got to give attention over here and then attention over here and that's litigation those are different cases and you have to give attention to those cases if you want them uh to be successful and you want to represent a client in a positive way and so along the way uh little things like um sitting down spending more time talking with the client about the specifics of the case and um answering what we call discovery uh and and going through documents that are produced where i used to have a paralegal maybe do that now i'm doing it personally so those are some things that have allowed me to recognize getting my sleeves rolled up inside my case i was allowed to do that during covet and i'm going to continue that moving forward so that's one of the things that i've seen that i think will help me represent my clients in a better way how about you you know it's interesting you say that because i feel the same way i've started these different types of documents in a lot of my cases especially back in when everything shut down big time back in the spring i had an opportunity to sit at home and just dig deep into piles of medical records or whatever type of records i needed to go through for these cases and do sort of in-depth reviews and outlines and things and that's a practice i i look forward to continuing because it's really it's eye-opening i'd done it before but it was on a different level because the time was available yeah i've always said too that you know he who knows the facts or she who knows the facts of their case knows the case the best and knows how to properly litigate and successfully litigate that case for the benefit of the client um and so that has been eye-opening that i needed to roll my sleeves up a little more than probably i used to do it earlier in my practice but then i used paralegals along the way and the paralegals played an important role still but it allows me to roll my sleeves up a little bit more to learn a little bit more of the case that helps all right we're talking about probate laws let's move on to probate law first how did you get in this area because this is a probably the most requested topic we have is it really is because it impacts so many different people if we're talking about wills or powers of attorney uh whether the wills or living wills or post-death wills guardianships those are just questions i get all the time and our firm gets all the time how did you get in this area of the law you know um i i work at a litigation firm so i'm a litigator but i just like probate and i slowly started to just attend cles and pick up various probate projects that we had at the firm and um i just really started to dig in and i really enjoy it and i continue to do litigation and i do probate litigation but um as far as just the facts of wills and being able to help people i think that giving i say this a lot doing a will is a wonderful gift for your family and i know that that sounds funny because nobody wants to talk about passing away or thinking about dying but having these documents in place is really a gift for your family if they're done properly because it allows your wishes to be expressed and they're done in a way so that they're legally binding they could be upheld in a court of law how do you explain to people when people say hey what is this topic probate law how do you explain that i mean what how would you explain it when someone asks you what that really is you know that's an interesting question i when i think of probate i think of wills and estates and of course guardianship and conservatorship there's adoption that's handled in probate the probate court handles a lot of different matters but generally when i get that question it is about wills because that is something that everybody at some point could could need everyone is going to pass away and so that is a document that all of us should have talk a little bit about i know we have this concept that has become very popular over the last decade of living wills versus you know wills at the time of death how do those things can you talk a little bit about those yeah living wills are wills that again a gift to your family it basically tells your family what it's a medical directive it tells your family what i want if i become incapacitated i am not coming back you can say you can make it as specific as you want there's a form that the state of alabama recognizes it can come down to food water what you want what you don't want my preference is to keep it simple and to say hey if two doctors have decided that i am not coming back and one of whom is my normal attending physician then these are my wishes these are my wishes here and i want to be made comfortable and that document tells your family back when this person was healthy or maybe not but these are their wishes when they were clear thinking this is what they wanted and so i don't have to make that decision and i in in those really tough times when family members are struggling i think that that's a very important thing do you sit down a lot of times are you are you required to sit down with a family to try and figure out from a living will perspective or a medical directive what they need is that the easiest way to do it i generally start the conversation just asking what they want and we kind of it goes from there it's organic it's not because it's a difficult thing to talk about yeah so i know we're getting ready to go to break when we come back though i want to talk about actual wills that we all talk about in in layman terms when we use the the term will i want maureen to talk a little bit about that process how you set it up how to make sure that it's it's going to be legally binding down the road those are all good topics for us that sounds good we're going to step aside right here as we do so reminder we'd love to have you join the conversation that info at the bottom of your screen stay with us we are coming right back i'm josh wright with the law firm apollos wright a personal injury law firm and thank you for watching the attorneys we hope you a friend or loved one never needs legal counsel for a case but if you do the goal of the show is simple to provide answers and legal counsel when you need it the most your call to the show is free and all fair so if you have questions specific to the show or related to other accent or injury topics call email or text us you can also follow us on facebook twitter instagram and youtube or go to hollis dashright.com and click on the contact us button we know your time is valuable so thank you for spending with us and watching the attorneys [Music] i started practicing law more than 20 years ago with a mission advocate for personal injury victims in their darkest days recognizing that there were others who stood with me in that purpose we built the hollis right team from the ground up now with 25 employees here to help personal injury victims when they need it the most our team is here for you if you've been injured in an accident always make hollis write the first law firm you call it at hollis wright results matter welcome back in to the attorneys before we get back to our conversation on probate wheels trust all that sort of thing just a reminder attorneys from hollis right they're standing by right now even as we speak the opportunity for you to get some free legal advice it's confidential it's off the air the number you see right there on your screen 844 law talk is how you get in touch with them uh but again a neat thing that hollis wright makes available during the show tonight so if a question pops to mind and you would rather uh get in touch with someone about that the opportunity to speak with an actual attorney from hollis wright is yours for the taking josh so when we went to break one of the things i want to talk about was this concept of just in general term um how do you set up a will how do you make that will binding um to make sure that you're protecting your resources assets and your family moving forward so let's kind of dig into that a little bit what's the starting place with the will i mean where do you generally start with a family okay so if i have someone come into the office generally they know what they want in the sense that they know where they want their belongings their assets their finances to go and we start there so if we're dealing with a husband and wife or a spouse and spouse then they come in and they generally want what's called a reciprocal will meaning that their assets their wills will mirror each other oftentimes people think that they can have the same will if they're married that is not true we need to have separate wills but we start by asking what they would like if they've got minor children then that's a separate consideration we've got to make sure that the child there's a testamentary trust tucked into the will to protect the children to make sure that we've got a guardian lined up to take care of the children a trustee if not the same person as the guardian who will manage the finances because you don't want your 15 year old inheriting all of your assets or all of your money at that age at least i don't want my 15 year old inheriting that and so you want to protect the child and protect the assets for their benefit and so there's all kinds of different considerations and so it's really a conversation that i have with the individuals about what they are hoping to achieve and what we can do for them to help them achieve that sometimes they may have ideas that they want to put specific well i want have specific wishes that go in the will they can put those in there that doesn't necessarily mean that some of them are going to be legally binding but we can at least express what their desire is on that point does that make sense yeah for sure and you don't know you need a will until you need a will you know what i'm saying so you got to get this thing done now got to get it done a question we've got here can i change my will after it's signed absolutely and you know i've got a funny story about that my husband and i we were boarding a plane a few years ago and it dawned on me the night before it was just an adult trip with my adult family members and all the kids were going to stay home if that plane went down then it wiped out everybody who was going to take care of my children and so the night before this trip i'm at the office having my husband we're redoing our wheels because i'm trying to make sure my kids are protected if this plane goes down of course it didn't everybody's fine but i say that because you can easily redo your will you can execute a new will that revokes the prior will i often like to have the individual bring their old will in and once we have the new one executed they tear it up some of these old-fashioned things just write void on the will all of these things that indicate that you as the person who executed this old will no longer want this one to be the one that's binding so you can destroy it all kinds of things what are some of the things that are required to make sure that it is binding down the road okay so a couple of things and it is specific you the age to execute a will is 18 which is different than the age of majority in the state of alabama age of majority is 19. so all you have to be is 18 years old you have to be of sound mind the document has to be in writing and so you need to say i s john smith of saint i am a sound mind and wish as follows and then you list down the beneficiaries and who you want to give the your items to who you can name an executor but as far as the actual requirements you got to be 18. of sound mind must be in writing we've got to have two witnesses who witness you sign the document or have someone sign on your behalf and the person executing the will the testator has to sign as well okay so all of those need to be part of the document and you can have a very short will i recommend getting an attorney because there are a lot of other things than just saying i want to give you know jane doe x y and z you can that is a will if it's executed properly but you need to make sure you want to have an attorney because they can make sure that an inventory is not necessary a bond isn't necessary that the person who is in charge of your estate can sell the property without petitioning the court there are a lot of different things that an attorney can tuck into the will to make sure it's as easy as possible i'm assuming you unwind bad wills all the time you know it's not so much unwinding i'm dealing with one right now that was handwritten and i had it's a lot more work for um the family is what it boils down to and it's a lot more emotional too because then you've got people who are thinking that they can challenge the will um and you know they're just a lot of different things another another reason why having a lawyer involved in the early you know stages can really help yeah you know something i kind of hear so e folks saying you know i'm not a kennedy i'm not a trump right i don't have you know a super complicated you know fortune to figure out you know maybe just a house and and some other things even for folks who do not consider themselves you know wealthy and have a whole lot to pass on do you still advise them to get a will absolutely and i'll give you another just real life example here i have a friend who say i had the exact same conversation with he leads a very adventurous lifestyle does some high risk um has high risk hobbies right and so i was talking to him and you know just out of concern saying this is something that you know you should think about and he said well i don't have anything i just have a house and i have you know my bank accounts and he's he's got personal assets but he's like it's just me i'm not married i don't have kids but he does not like his sister okay and his parents have passed away so if you do not have a will then the alabama law dictates the distribution of your assets if you have not put it into a valid will then alabama law steps in and says okay well then your assets will go to so and so in his circumstance with no parents no spouse no children his assets would go to the sister he did not like and that was motivating to him you know so the will gives you control you may not have a lot but you probably do care about where that goes yeah and that's what that's interesting real world example so devil not too deep but a little bit further the legislature in their wisdom has created a series of rules that folks that don't have a will follow after their passing it's called intestate succession correct so the legislature has created some rules that do protect people that don't have wills but they lose all authority you know the family really loses all authority on how to divide things up because it's going to be divided based on the the statute is that fair that is fair okay that's correct and a lot of people think well i'm married i they assume that just because you're married and you have kids your wife or husband or your spouse they're going to get everything and that's not necessarily so so a will really does protect your family and it just streams streamlines everything and it's definitely not true if you have step children and real children too and that the intestate succession impacts all those things so getting a will is really important when we come back we're going to talk about some of the other probate related topics like guardianships and some of the other things and i think that'll be good for the viewing audience all right we're stepping aside our final break of the evening as we do so reminder hollis wright does an incredible job on social media instagram facebook twitter uh just search homeless right and you'll find them there a great educational informational resource and you know we're always giving stuff away too so just for following hollis wright can be a financially beneficial to you so check them out right there all over social media call us right stay tuned we are coming right back [Music] i'm josh wright with the law firm apollos wright as with any industry it's important in the legal world to hire an attorney that is knowledgeable and has a track record of success but with so many attorneys out there and so many different types of cases how does someone decide the right lawyer to hire in this week's legal foreign one we're answering the question what should i consider in hiring an attorney in-state versus out-of-state big firm or little firm recommendations from friends or family the internet the phone book or tv with so many choices and so much information it can be an overwhelming task trying to make the right decision to complicate things choosing a lawyer is an important and sometimes life affecting decision and should not be taken lightly so how do you select an attorney first do your research look the firm up on the internet learn about the cases they handle and the results they get second find out what clients are saying about the firms many websites provide client testimonials or have a star ranking system use those to your advantage and finally talk with a lawyer from their office and ask them questions questions about the volume of cases they handle do they return phone calls are you just a number or a client that gets the attention you deserve please remember your call email or text to the attorneys is free all of us at hollis wright want to help answer your questions on real issues you face remember a competent lawyer will respond to every question you send in that's our pledge and promise to you thanks for watching the attorneys right here on wvtm [Music] welcome back in to the attorneys under six minutes remaining in the show so if you want to take advantage of that opportunity to speak with some of the attorneys from hollis right who are standing by live take advantage of that opportunities about six minutes remaining for you to do so josh all right uh so let's talk just a minute about uh powers of attorney we get a lot of questions during probate shows about getting a power of attorney and what impact it can have just kind of unwrap that topic a little bit if you can yeah powers of attorney that's a very powerful document and what it is is basically if you choose to execute a power of attorney in favor of an individual you are essentially saying that individual can step into your shoes and be you they can handle your finances depending on the scope of the power of attorney but if you are giving a full power of attorney to a person they can be you they can step into your finances they can go through your bank account they can manage your bills they can in some instances if there's a health care proxy designation then they can make health care decisions for you so that's a very very powerful document however it's a very useful document in certain circumstances if you've got an individual that you know that he or she is facing a terminal illness or some sort of medical condition that is going to hinder their ability to make meaningful decisions then they may want to go ahead and execute this document while they are still in the right frame of mind to allow individuals to make those decisions later on when they are no longer healthy and able to handle those decisions you can limit your power of attorney too can't you like for example we we have in circumstances where we resolve cases we have a limited power of attorney to endorse a check for a client because it's going to trust and then it will be allocated to the client little things like that so there are ways that you can limit those things too are there absolutely in the context of estates and probate often we don't see these limited powers of attorney we're talking about an individual giving another person full authority to act on their behalf because they're trying to prepare for these circumstances that may happen later in life either way though it there's got to be an individual that you absolutely trust if you are signing them up to be your agent under a power of attorney yeah very important stuff help us understand some of the terminology you all um kind of toss out there one phrase you all have been using quite a bit help me understand what is a guardianship yeah okay guardianship is um so say we don't have a power of attorney or we don't have some sort of um health care proxy a person nominated to make health care decisions on your behalf um in that circumstance if the individual becomes sick later on and is no longer to care for him or herself then you would need to petition the court to have a guardian appointed to t for their well health and well-being this guardianship also applies for minor children so children who are under the legal age of 19 okay if in that circumstance you if their parents pass away or um you know there are a lot of different varieties and a lot of different circumstances under which a guardian may be needed but you can petition the court to have a guardian appointed to care for the child if they're under the age of 19. so that's what that means it's it's a legal process and in terms of the power of attorney and dealing with an adult who's incapacitated the power of attorney sort of short-circuits that so you don't have to go to the court to ask for a guardian or conservator depending on what the power of attorney says do most lawyers that fall into the category of i know you do the litigation side too but that fall into the probate side are they willing to meet and talk with someone initially to try and gather information about what they need without charging them an arm and a leg so to speak i mean is it is it a pretty easy process to have someone sit down with you and go through some of the stuff yeah you know i try in that initial intake phone call i try and get a pretty good conversation a pretty good idea of what the individual is looking for to see if we can help them and if they would like to meet in person we do that too so yes there are absolutely ways at least in my personal experience to do that get a lawyer involved that's it that's the takeaway here a minute and a half remaining time enough for a quick final thought from both of you maureen if you would you go first please uh i just please get a will i know that that sounds silly but these documents really make it very easy on the family going forward and it's just it's a very very important document in my opinion yeah you know and you want that document you want that document to be something that you know is going to be approved by the court and something that actually allows you to direct your resources and assets and those things getting a lawyer involved early is really really smart you can always make small adjustments to your will as needed maureen's story about getting on a plane is a very similar story that i have with my wife and my wife was was more pushing me to try and do something like that and we did and it gave gave me some level of peace but having a lawyer get involved to make sure that you're making good decisions and making you think about all the little things like maureen talked about about whether you need a bond or not need a bond whether or not you know you've got to petition the court for certain things those are all important things that getting a lawyer involved in is important really good thanks for being on thank you for having me thank you both for being here thank you a great job important conversation glad we had it and thank you as always for being here with us we'll look for you next time have a great week we'll see you next time on the attorneys thanks for watching the attorneys sponsored by hollis wright