Welcome into Judica County Radio. Coming up today, we are going to get into the difference between probate and non-probate assets. Also, the difference between a will and a trust, and finally, Healthcare POA and general POA will have our general discussion, and I have a feeling fantasy football will come up in that discussion. That's all next. on Judica County Radio.
Whitaker and Judica County. With Joshua Whitaker and Joseph Hamer. Welcome into Judica County Radio, your host, Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer, managing partners, Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm. They're practicing attorneys here in North Carolina. Offices in Raleigh, Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fucqua Verina, Gastonia, and in Moorhead City.
I'm Morgan Patrick. A pleasure to jump on with the attorneys and talk legalese. We also get into some other discussions, which are always entertaining. We want to remind you: we have complimentary consults in and around estate planning. That's estate planning.
919-7727000, the number to call to grab one of those. If you've thought about estate planning, haven't gotten the ball rolling, been kicking that can down the road, this is an opportunity for you to kind of dip your toe into the estate planning pool. For that complimentary consult, just simply call 919-7727000, and an attorney will set that up for you. And you can also visit the website to do it, wh.lawyer. All right, Josh, here we go.
Go. I'm tired today, man. Stayed up to watch a really that was a fun football game. No, I I uh I made the this is where I went wrong. I'm a man who really likes to get my sleep.
Like, I need my eight hours. I don't do good with somebody. I'm a man, a real man. I'm a man. All right.
It's Sunday night, man. I was exhausted. Sunday night I it was like eight o'clock. I was like, I think I'm gonna have to go to bed. And I went to bed and I slept till six.
I got like 10 hours of sleep. Yeah, felt like too much. It's too much. Felt great though. You were sleep drunk.
And then I and then I went to bed last night. Yeah, I went to bed about halftime of the game. We're in late. Let's remind people: we record our show on Tuesdays.
So we're coming off a Monday night football game. Lions, I tell you. fantastic game against what a lot of people think One of the best teams in the AFC, the Ravens. Then I I went to bed at like half-time, which was around, I don't know, what is that, 9:30? Ish tan or whatever.
Got up at four, could not go back to sleep.
So now I'm just toast. I'm exhausted. But we're expecting you to carry the show, too.
Well, that's unfortunate. It's unfortunate for you. A little pep in the step. Let's go, Josh. But I had to stay up for a little while because in fantasy football.
We uh I needed Mark Andrews and the kicker. I think it was Luke, the kicker for Baltimore, I needed five points. And they did. Oh yeah. Yeah, Andrews did that.
Yeah. I didn't watch the game actually at a protest, fantasy football protest. boycott o over we we were talking about this before we came on the air, but uh Yeah, we need some rule changes. I'm protesting the defensive scoring in our league, and I'm officially breaking that protest. And we're going to sound like, well, two out of the three are going to be whining about it.
That would be Joe and myself. We're talking about Josh is the commissioner over there, and he's like laughing. This is what it's all about, guys. I'm like, I'm sorry. I'm in three other leagues.
And None of them operate this way. It's out of control. Who plays two D's? Who plays two quarterbacks? I walked into this league totally blind, thinking, you know what?
This is going to be fun. Holy cow. I'm walking around the house cussing your name, Josh. Yep, my children. My significant other is asking me, who is this Josh character?
What this is the official Whitaker and Hamer fantasy football league, and we try to mix it up a little bit. And we try to change something every year to keep it fresh, right, Joseph?
Well, it's that's yeah, that's the theory, but uh, I'm protesting, man. My opponent put up. 49 points between their defenses. It was impossible to overcome.
So, for people who are listening who don't play fantasy football, the standard fantasy football is you play like one quarterback, a running back. A wide receiver, you pick a defense. No, no, no, no, no, no. You play a quarterback, two running backs, three receiver well, two receivers, and you have a flex position. You got a tight end, you got a D, you got a kicker, and that's it.
We went two defenses, which, you know, arguable, arguably, you know, what I I'm not. I'm not going to be too up in arms about that, although I do understand Morgan's argument. It's a double defense. It's the defensive scoring that's a problem for me.
Now, it's a 12-team league. Am I right, Josh? It is. All right, do the math. Do the math, listeners.
That's right off the top. That's 24 defenses are gone. It's a lot of D's gone, man. I think some people stack three Ds on their team, too. Oh, yeah.
I guarantee you, half the league's got three. But we had a defense score 48 points this week, which. By my count, is the highest scoring entity at any position this year. Which is utter insanity, man.
So my question, Joe, to you, since you're an attorney, do we have any legal... Um 100%. I've already started a lawsuit against Josh, his family, his kids, personally. To rectify this issue, we're going to put it, ultimately, it's a democratic process that we believe in.
So we're going to put it to a vote. And I have to believe that the overall, other than these nerds that keep benefiting from it, I don't know who specifically was the beneficiary of this this week, but they can be removed from the league if they have an issue with it. Because that's how this works as well. We put that clause in, we can boot you.
So, my kids, my kids are all entering that obsessed with sports phase. I got two kids who are obsessed with football, and so we're. They're playing football. Yeah, we're watching college football all day Saturday, we're watching pro football all day Sunday. In the meantime, you gotta bet on football and then play your fantasy leagues.
Like, it's like a full football's like a full-time job right now. And basketball, college basketball comes back in forty days from today. Yeah. Yep. And what are you going to do then?
How are you gonna fit all that in? Be very happy. You know, be filled with joy and happiness. I'm going to gain like 78 pounds watching all these sports on TV. I think you're.
You're putting too much of a floor on that amount of weight you can have, man. I think your frame could support. 450. I think a U at four fifty would be awesome. Who was the Eagles player who blocked the field goal?
Well, he didn't block the field goal, but he picked it up and ran it in. Number 90. I don't know his name. I mean, who cares? I mean, they covered.
They covered. That was the biggest. That was the virtue of that. They covered. I heard somebody floated that he was the heaviest guy to ever score a touchdown.
We'll have to get our statisticians looked at. But I was like, what about the fridge? Our statisticians, when they're done. What was the guy from Miami? He was huge.
Oh, yeah. They had a big guy. Will Fork. Didn't Will Fork score either with New England or Miami? I mean, he was a massive case.
He was a big boy. He was big. Probably shorter or something. About half the size of Josh after basketball season stands. Yeah.
So.
Well today We're going to put our fantasy football differences aside. I don't know where to do, man. I think I'm going to do it. I think that's going to go. I'm pretty fired up.
I think that's going to go all show off. I'm 2-1. I'm 2-0-1. My picked-up record was sullied.
Well, ironically, the only league I won in was this one. Yeah, and I'm just like, I can't get out of my own way this year. I'm proud of you for that win because you took down somebody who was undefeated.
So.
Kudos to you for that, Morgan. We always talk a little bit about estate planning, and the reason we do that. 'Cause estate planning affects everybody. Everybody needs some level of estate planning. And we're going to revisit some of the questions that we get.
I just got this yesterday. I had somebody come in for estate planning, and we were talking about what a will does. and we were talking about what a trust does. And there's some overlap there on what they do, but they're very different. Legal documents that do different things for different reasons.
And so I get that question a lot. You know, do I need a trust? What's the difference between a will and a trust? If I just have a will, what happens? And so we're going to spend some time talking about that.
We're going to go back and revisit another question that we get a lot. And when you sit down to talk to an attorney about estate planning, they're going to ask you a lot of questions about your assets. You know, are most of your assets in 401ks and things like that? Or do you have a lot of real property, a lot of real estate? Because we're going to talk about probate assets versus non-probate assets.
Because that's a big. That goes into our decision-making process on how to set up your estate plan, right?
So, we're going to spend some time talking about that. And then I just met with some folks from out of state. Every state's a little bit different on how they handle your health care power of attorney, your living will. Versus your general durable power of attorney.
So we're just going to talk about power of attorneys. All the different ones And and what you need them for.
So, we're gonna have a very estate planning-centric. Show.
So we're not talking about fantasy football. We're talking about estate planning. And we're getting you, we're still doing, as we always do, if you're listening to the radio show. We're going to do a free estate planning consult for you if you call in. Yeah, you will not be consulted on fantasy football.
This will be about estate planning. The opportunity to grab one of those consults is right now. Call this number, 919-77270000. That's 919-77270000. Or you can visit the website, wh.lawyer.
That's wh.lawyer. Again, Judica County Radio, your hosts are Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer, and they are the managing partners at Whitaker and Hamer law firm and practicing attorneys here in our great state of North Carolina. And offices are conveniently located down on the coast at Moorhead City, over near Charlotte, Gastonia, Fucua Verena, Goldsboro, Clayton, Garner, Cleveland, and the cap city, Raleigh, North Carolina. We're back with more Judica County. right after this.
Welcome back to Judica County Radio. Your hosts are Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer, managing partners, Whitaker and Hamer law firm, practicing attorneys here in North Carolina. Officers located in Raleigh, Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay, Verena, Gastonia, and in Moorhead City. I'm Morgan Patrick. We get into different topics when it comes to legalese.
And we're going to start off, Josh, with probate versus non-probate assets. Take it away. Yeah, so when you sit down with your estate planning attorney, Um We're going to ask a lot of questions. Usually, we get the information from you ahead of time, so we don't have to go through a lot of this, but we need stuff like. Do you have kids?
Right. What are your kids' names? When were they born? You know? Who do you want to be your backup executor?
We're going to ask you all these questions so we kind of have that stuff out of the way. But one of the things we talk about when we sit down is we talk about Probate assets versus non-probate assets.
So, when an attorney talks about probate, he's talking about assets that would have to go through your estate. Right. So, uh, or be connected to your estate, require your estate to be open down at the courthouse. Have an executor named, you know, give notice to creditors. uh document where all of your Assets went, a clerk looks over it, proves it, makes sure your executor did everything, and then eventually closes it down.
And that can take six months to multiple years, depending on your assets and your beneficiaries and things like that.
So that's When we talk about probate, that's what we're talking about. We're talking about the process of probating a will and opening up an estate. And so some assets by law, Kind of have to go through your ass, go through your, go through probate, unless you do something to prevent it. Then there's other assets that are non-probate, meaning they don't have to go through the probate process. They're not connected.
And so that's what we try to figure out. What do you. You know, Mr. Client, Mr. and Mrs.
Client, what do you have that's gonna that we need to look at that's gonna be going through your estate? Because if it's already non-probate, And Joseph, you can give us some good examples of Non-probate. Yeah, my fantasy football team would be a non-probate asset that I'm leaving to the kids. And uh with how the year's going, I may the stress may take me out early. And uh you may have to have to go ahead and leave that down to him.
But uh Yeah, i it But One of the goals, one of the starting points that we come from whenever we're setting up the estate plan is. As many things as we can make non-probate assets, ideally, we would make everything a non-probate asset because you don't want to deal with the probate process. You know, it's not. It's not the end of the world if you have to and if it works out that way, but The less legwork that the folks who were administering your estate have to go through, the better.
So.
It it's our goal to To take whatever we can and make it a non-probate asset. And so there's certain things that, certain things that you, you can. Either Let pass through the probate process, or you can designate them in such a way that they don't pass through the probate process. It it really just depends on your goals and and whatever whatever strategic angle that you take to setting things up. But generally speaking, you know, retirement accounts, uh You're going to designate a death beneficiary for those.
Life insurance is going to have a death beneficiary, so that's something that is going to pass outside of the probate process. Ideally, you would structure your real property assets such that they are non-probate assets, have designated survivorship beneficiaries, or uh potentially title the home in a trust You want to get things out of probate. When you, when you, you know, I had someone tell me one time they were listening to the show and we got we got too too legal. They turned us off because we got we got too legal. And so I was like, so I tried to think about that now.
Like, if you're not an attorney and you don't do this every day, but basically. Probate Well, you know, we do a lot of estate planning. We do a lot of different things at the firm. We talk about that, right?
So we do a lot of estate planning, but we also do a lot of estate administration meeting. We do your estate plan, then when you pass away, your heirs come back to us, and then we execute. Your estate plan. We do, we administer the estate, however, it's set up. And You know, from an attorney's perspective, There can be some positive things about probate.
Sometimes we do want probate, but that's very rare. Most of the time, probate is bad. Probate is slowing us down. Probate means your estate information, what you died with, your assets, that'll all be public. Record.
From now until the end of time, right? Probate has a lot of negative aspects. And the biggest thing for me is it slows your heirs. down. Slows down what they can do with your real property, selling it, refinancing it.
you know, um, renting it out. It just it slows it slows things down. And it's more work. That's the other that's the the other thing too. You know, it's it's more legwork.
it's more procedural things you've got to go through. You're going to have to deal with the the clerk's office. You're going to have to do a lot more accounting and reporting. You're going to have to do a lot more filing and A lot of times You it's already tough enough for you if you lose a loved one and you're dealing with a lot of emotional strain. And so The less Legwork that you have to do, the more smooth, easy, and efficient the administration of the estate is after the fact, the better.
And for most people who come in, you know, we talk about stuff, and most people, their two biggest assets, the average family is going to have a couple of. you know adult kids um our our kids in general and their biggest assets are going to be their house. Which is a probate for it's a probate asset, unless you do something to make it non-probate. And it's going to be your 401k and your investment accounts and your life insurance, which, like Joe said, those are all. Non-probate already.
You don't have to do anything to make those non-probate. They're just non-probate assets. And some of those people are gonna come to us, and that's gonna be their two biggest assets. And we're going to work on getting that real property into a trust, get people comfortable with having a trust. buying and selling property with a trust.
And if we can take that Most people's biggest asset and take it out of probate, then that's I think that's a win. Right, that's a win. And not everybody's comfortable with it, not everybody wants to do it, and that's fine. Um But we don't, as estate planning attorneys, we don't like probate assets. We want to make them non-probate.
And that's kind of kind of where we go in our little estate planning calculus. Yeah, I think that would be the ultimate. You know, that's, like I said, the starting point. Usually, when I sit down with folks, that's the first thing we're going to talk about: we want you to have as few probate assets as possible. And ideally, nothing.
You'll have no probate assets.
So, you know, you'll not have to go down and probate a will. You won't have to go and deal with the clerk's office. Clerk's office are great folks. You know, they're they they do a great job. No ill will towards those folks, but again, it's it's a better situation when you don't have to do those things and when you don't have to spend the time, the energy.
The effort. When you're already dealing with a lot of things to clean up and administer an estate for sure. Judica County Radio, again, we have complimentary consults in and around estate planning. 919-77270000 to grab one of those. Again, there's no cost to this, there's no obligation.
Great way to see if you are in good shape when it comes to estate planning. If you haven't started, this is a great opportunity to come in and ask questions. 919-7727000, that's 919-7727000. We've been talking about probate versus non-probate assets. You can also visit our website, wh.lawyer.
That's wh.lawyer. When we return, we are going to get into the difference between the will and the trust. Again, stay tuned. The Will and the Trust coming up next on Judica County Radio. Judica County Radio, hosted by Josh Whitaker and Joe Hamer.
You can find them at Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm. They're the managing partners, they're practicing attorneys here. In North Carolina, offices located for you in Raleigh, Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay Verena, Gastonia, and down at the coast at Moorhead City. If you've got a question you'd like to submit to the show and we can answer it on a future program, send it to us. Email questions at judicacountyradio.com.
That's questions at judicacountyradio.com. And again, as always, complimentary consult in and around estate planning this week. If you've got questions, maybe you've been thinking about doing this, starting an estate plan, but you really don't know how to get the ball rolling. This is a great way to do it. It's complimentary, leaving the checkbook at home.
Just call and ask for one: 919-77270000. It is a complimentary consult on estate planning. 919-77270000. You can also visit the website, sign up there. Dot Lawyer.
So now we move to the difference between wills and trusts, Josh. Yeah. So we spent the last uh the last segment kind of talking about You know, one of the big things estate planning attorneys look at, your assets, probate assets versus non-probate assets. And if you have some probate assets, which most people do, most people's home real estate holdings, LLCs If you're self-employed, your business is an asset, they would have to go through probate. And so we look at the probate assets and we say, hey, a trust may solve this issue.
for you. And then I'll have a lot of people ask me, well, what's the difference between a will What's the difference between a trust? And, um,. And there there is some overlap there. Um But but basically I I usually say, you know, a trust is like a will on Steroids.
I like that analogy. I like squeezing steroid analogies into uh Wall, man. But it's kinda wait, wait, wait. It's kind of like Joe getting into a T-shirt on Saturdays, right? Yeah, that's exactly right.
Squeezing in. You should see me on steroids. You can't. Maybe one day. Maybe if it becomes legal, then if you've ever seen Sausage Made, that's basically.
I like the idea of you, Josh, gaining a ton of weight and me getting on.
some form of performance enhancing drugs and uh I just get jacked, you get fat. And then I can feel better about myself when we look at each other on the radio show. You know, when professional wrestler Matt Hardy did our professional. Promo for us. I've seen it.
It's awesome.
So he went off script. He's paid for his time. He's not a client. But he really. I think sometimes being an attorney is a lot like being a professional wrestler, right?
We've talked about that. It's a great analogy.
So, Matt Hardy was talking about me and Joe, and he went, his line that I like, and I'll probably remember it till the end of time, but he said, He said, what did he say? He said, Josh and Joe, pound for pound. The best attorneys. Of all space and time, and I was like, we couldn't have written a better line for you. The professional wrestler, Matt Hardy.
You look around, we do have a lot of weight between us, man. Like, if. If they announce the the weight like Professional wrestling announcers used to do when you walk into the courtroom, waiting in at. We would be up there, man. We would be up there amongst any other two attorneys, man.
You're going to get some meat when you come to this office. I can hear it now. Put the weight of Whitaker and Hamer behind your case. Speaking of steroids, man, our local hometown, Carolina Panthers, have. Apparently, they had some steroids in their system.
You know, looking forward to a 15-2 finish for the team. If you're a math guy and you care about the statistics and you look at. the empirical data and you look at the the the point differential improvement game to game for the Panthers this year, I think they're by the end of the year, they're gonna win the Super Bowl by like 4,000 points, something like that.
So it's math, man. You can't argue with it. Go ahead, book your Super Bowl tickets now. And uh they just need to play Atlanta every week. I thought Atlanta was better than that.
I thought me chickens. Yeah. Look, man. Get on the bandwagon now. I know your kids.
Your kids like the Bills a little bit because of their their sweet mother, who we want. besmirch on this podcast in case she listens to it. But uh You need to go ahead and Go ahead and lock in now, man. Brighter days ahead. Yeah.
I think our Carolina Panthers. I came into this season feeling really good, and it didn't go well early, and it still may not. I don't know, but I felt really good about the Hornets. Are you talking about the Panthers? I felt really good about the Panthers.
Dumpster fire. I felt really good about the Hornets. Yeah, I feel super good about NC State basketball. Like, I've never been this positive across the board. Got to be careful on that one, man.
You know, you got to be careful on that one. I hope that works out for you. I do. I'm going to make a prediction on NC State basketball right now. All right.
Undefeated NCAA champions.
Okay. Yeah. Go in the distance. I hope that happens for you, man. I want good things to happen for you.
And you're going to weigh a lot by the time the season starts. You've already told us. They're going to wheelbarrow me into my seats. Just come out and dress like Job of the Hut, and you'll be a recurring character. They have to get a special.
You do have season tickets, so you'll be there. They'll have to give me a special lift or I'll have to take the the special elevator. Yeah, yeah. That they take like the food up on, you know. Yeah, yeah.
Well, uh Back to the The very exciting legal discussion, right? Because that is. I got I got blinded by the Panthers there for a second and I just wanted to It was very exciting. When's the last time you've been that excited during a Panthers game? Until next week when they win 40-0.
I think that's it's been a while, man. It's been a while to feel that good. But yeah, so wheels versus trust.
So the trust is a legal entity. I usually tell people that when we're sitting at the table, hey, everybody at this table is going to die. But your trust will not be. Yeah, that's how we start it. And we look people right in their eyes.
You're dying. Yeah. Yeah. Death is inevitable. Yep.
But your trust will survive you. And that's why things in a trust. don't have to go through probate because the trust is a legal entity. It's like forming a Corporation or forming an LLC. You die, but your trust doesn't die, right?
So there's nothing that the trust owns is subject to that probate process because it's its own entity and it's going to live beyond you.
So, in my example, if something happens to me, my spouse is going to. Is also a trustee, a beneficiary, an owner of the trust.
So she just keeps going. If God forbid something happens to both of us, then our backups. Uh, could be your adult children, could be your CPA, could be your attorney, but whoever your backup is, just kind of steps into your trustee position and just finishes the trust according to your provisions. Because in the trust, you'll say, Hey, after you know, me or after me and my spouse, I want everything split. Between my kids, and this is how I want my trust administered.
And the successor trustee just steps in and does that. And they don't have to do anything downtown. The clerks down at the county offices don't have to look at it. It's all private, and it all just takes care of itself. And I feel like that's a very satisfying thing, you know.
That's kind of what I want to happen when I'm gone. Like, it's just, it's all there. And heirs, you know, my spouse or my kids just step in and take care of it. Without having to make an appointment to get downtown and go through all that stuff. And so that's kind of what a trust.
does and and and it will does the same thing But it tells everybody where you want your assets to go. But again, If you just have a will, That means you're gonna, somebody's gonna have to open a probate, right? You're gonna have to go through that process. Your executor is gonna have to take care of things, it's all gonna be public record. I think I said on the show the other day, um, you know, my grandma passed away in the late 90s, and I was sorry for your loss.
I went and pulled her state file because I was pulling another file that was close to her file.
So I pulled her state file and it's all there. You know what she passed away with. Uh, you know, my dad and his brother kind of split everything, and there's bank statements in there, and that's just a record. Uh you know I I like the fact that maybe My information won't be at the courthouse, right? Because I've got to trust.
A little more privacy, man.
Some people like to look at old pictures of their grandparents. to remember them. Our friend Josh goes and pulls the estate file and and reminisces in no manner. You know, we do we handle a lot of real estate too, so we're always at the register of deeds, we're always pulling deeds, and you know, we'll have to, you know, we'll have to every now and again we have to do like a hundred-year title searches or whatever. It's crazy to go back that far, especially like Joe.
I mean, his family's been here for a long time, but You can really trace your lineage through the public records of the courthouse, right? Yeah. That's right, man. That's right. you can do it and uh And you made a good point, man.
Wills and trust, you can get to the same end point. You can accomplish the same things. It's just, again, the big distinguishing factor is the amount of work that it's going to take to get to that same point. And whether whether in time, exactly. And whether that's a smooth, easy process that requires very little time and energy or whether it's a process that could potentially require a lot of time and energy for whoever's doing that work.
If you And I would just say this: if you're listening and you have your own. Business, right? You have your own LLC, you have your own corporation, you know, your family. Family business, you know, if you're self-employed, That uh That's part of your estate plan: is figuring out what's going to happen to this family business when you're gone. Is this something your spouse or your kids are going to run?
Do they have the skills to do it? Are you going to be selling it? Does someone need to come in and just, you know. How's it getting to the next generation? Your ownership interest, and that's a.
That's a big That's probably your number one concern as a self-employed person doing an estate plan. It's kind of solving that and kind of figuring that out. That comes up a lot. We hadn't mentioned that yet today, but that's and that's a multifaceted question too that kind of goes beyond the scope of this hypothetical because you're talking about some business planning aspects as well. But I I'd make the argument that A good estate plan and the right attorney that you're consulting with is going to take all those things into consideration and be able to give you some guidance that's going to cover both of those bases for you.
Well, I think too. I mean, you guys have said it. I mean, it's guidance, it's a pathway, it's something that's written down, and it may be May be tedious to get this done, but it's necessary because it's going to lead to less headaches down the road when it comes to family monies, family businesses, how these all are going to work out.
So, again, a complimentary consult just in and around estate planning is available during the course of this show today. All you've got to do is call 919-772-7000. That will get you in touch with Whitaker and Hamer. That's 919-77270000. You can also visit wh.lawyer.
You can sign up there as well. Again, complimentary, meaning you're not paying for it and there's no obligation, meaning you're not agreeing to become a client. This is a great way to test drive Whitaker and Hamer law firm. If you've got any questions about estate planning, grab one of the consults, 919-772-7277. 7,000.
When we return, difference health or and POA as opposed to the general POA, that's healthcare POA. and general POA, the differences. We'll talk about that coming up next. on Judica County Radio. Judica County Radio, your host, Josh Whitaker, Joe Hamer, managing partners, Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm, practicing attorneys here in North Carolina.
They have offices located in Raleigh-Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fewclave Arena, Gastonia, and in Moorhead City. I'm Morgan Patrick. A pleasure to jump on, occasionally talk about non-legal topics. We are going to sue over the fantasy football, though. I just want you to know that, Josh.
That's coming. That's a million percent coming. Spoiler. Be prepared. Be prepared.
And anyway, I mean, we're a class action lawsuit with all the 11 other people in the league. Let's say no class action, like no class. Anyway, no, we're kidding. We're just having some fun with some fantasy football. We're being compliant.
Definitely in the complaining category. But no, we've talked about already today: probate versus non-probate assets, also the differences between a will and a trust, and now the difference between healthcare POA and general POA. Yeah, you know, here in, you know, lots of parts of North Carolina, you know, in Raleigh, in Charlotte, and, you know, Wilmington, we're very lucky to have a lot of people coming to our state, right? That's a. That's a good thing.
It's a popular place, man. Yeah, you're either growing or you're you're dying, right? No one's no one's just staying the same. And so uh so that's been a good thing for business, you know, here in North Carolina the and and and it happens a lot.
So I sit down with a lot of people who have done their estate plan. But they've done it in other states, right? A lot of New York, Florida, California, folks coming in. They've already gotten a state plan. And, you know, we take a look at it, and there's some things we want to change for North Carolina.
If we can. And one of those that I always, and this may be different attorney to attorney, but one of the things I like to do is 100%. Have you new health care power of attorneys and living wills? And Joe, you may do the same thing, but healthcare power of attorneys and living wills change a lot from state to state. They're created by state statutes and they're not Uniform.
That's right, man. And that's not to say that you can't come to this state. with an out of state POA or living will or what have you, and it not be perfectly valid and functional. Like you said, we've got state statutory requirements that are set to make these documents valid.
So these statutes establish These are the things, these are the boxes that need to be checked for this to be effective in our state. Even with differences from state to state, you could have a document that checks all those boxes and is perfectly functional. But if you're coming in to do a review and if you're getting new things executed and you've moved to the state and you're going to be here. Always a good idea. To just make sure that you're in compliance and that you check all those boxes.
And the easiest way to do that. Because again, we're not talking about a substantial cost to redraft some of these documents for you. It's just to go ahead and get a new document prepared that we know is going to be sufficient under North Carolina law. We know it's going to reference the right statutes. We know it's going to confer all the powers that we want to confer.
And there's just going to be no guesswork, no confusion. The last thing that you want to do is get into a situation where you You need to use one of these documents, and you feel like it's going to work, and it doesn't, and then you're stuck. And that's the real nightmare scenario that we want to avoid. Yeah, so the you know, North Carolina healthcare power of returning, the way the statute reads is you can appoint someone. To make your medical decisions for you when you are unable, unconscious, unable.
you know incompetent You can say, hey, look to my spouse or look to my kid or whoever it is. Say, hey, look to this person to make my medical decisions. And then. You couple that with a living will. North Carolina does allow for a living will.
Um But what it does is it basically would allow your health care power of attorney that could make your medical decisions to also withhold treatment in certain situations. And again, every state's different. You if you come from New York, you have a living will. The living will probably addresses a lot of different Medical situations, and you go ahead and state ahead of time what you want to happen, right? And Living Will in North Carolina just says, hey, if you're.
In a coma. You've got an incurable disease, or you've got advanced dementia, then your healthcare POA, whoever you've designated to make those decisions, can withhold treatment. In those situations. And so the North Carolina version is a very abbreviated document. Um But uh, but yeah, like Joe says, you want to make sure you have the right North Carolina references, you don't want a doctor.
having to send something to their legal department. You know, in an emergency situation. And so time is of the essence in those situations. You know, there's very rarely going to be a time when you really need to use a medical POA that it's not going to be time sensitive. And like I said, that nightmare scenario is where it's not a Apparent on the face of the document, that it is legally sufficient, and you've got to involve potentially the the medical provider's legal team.
To make some kind of interpretation because, again, it's costing you time that you otherwise need. And so that's a healthcare power of attorney. That's a living will. That's all about medical decisions and treatment. And then a lot of times, if you're moving here from out of state, you've got an estate plan, you've got a general.
We call it a general durable power of attorney, and I always call that a business power of attorney. That's the document that. Your, you know, whoever you appoint, your spouse, your adult children, they could, you know, pay your bills. Take care of your life insurance. Take care of any uh you know, anything like that that that you have going on.
And and I get those redone as well from state to state because they reference specific statutes. Again, they're not. Uniform across all states. And so it's better if you're going to, if you're moving, if you're relocating to North Carolina, you're going to be here for a while, it's better to just get a new one done. And like just said, a not very cost.
Prohibitive to have that done. And it's important to remember, too, when you're coming to North Carolina, you know, there are some attorneys out there that are licensed in multiple states, but it's highly unlikely that the attorney. that you're that you're seeing. Is going to have any kind of a license in the state that you're coming from. And a lot of times you're asking to interpret this document from another state.
And the when you talk about a cost-benefit analysis, like we know what North Carolina requires. We can put together a perfectly compliant North Carolina POA, be it healthcare or general. very quickly for you. Versus the amount of time that it would potentially take to exhaustively review what you're bringing to us for sufficiency to make sure that it checks all those boxes it needs to check.
So, um. That plays into the fact that we're going to generally recommend you go ahead and redraft those documents. Because again, it's not a huge cost to do that either, right? Like it's not like you're paying thousands upon thousands of dollars for that. That's a very cost-efficient thing that's not difficult to do.
Well, and you know what happens if you don't have a good POA, right? And so if you just hope the POA works. And then you become incompetent or in a coma or medically unable to handle your affairs and your spouse or your adult children are trying to use that general durable power of attorney and a bank rejects it. Right. Or a closing attorney rejects it.
You can't just get a new one then, right? It's too late to get a new one. You know, if you don't have a good POA, you're regulated again, having your heirs go downtown and apply for a guardianship and having to go through the guardianship. process, which is again lengthy. Stock.
And expensive, too. More expensive than a POA. And that's a great point, Josh. I just want to emphasize that point. One of the requirements for delegating any kind of authority to anybody through these documents is you've got to have the capacity to do that.
So, if you get to the point where you no longer have that capacity, it's too late to make a change. You can't fix something at that point because you are incapable of. Of delegating that authority.
So rolling the dice is a very dangerous gamble. We like to gamble. It's legal. We like to do that on this show, you know, potentially. And this is not a situation that you want to take that chance in.
it it's not a it's not a good gamble to take. We've had real estate transactions where people were trying to buy or sell real property. and gets to the closing date and and one of let's say one of the sellers Uh, has a medical emergency and becomes incompetent, right? Is on medication, is out, cold, you know. And and and If you have a POA, then the other spouse or whoever can just finish the transaction.
And well, we've had transactions fall through because one of the parties fell ill. And was not competent to complete the transaction, and then contracts usually have. Yeah, a time limit. in them and and so they you know they expired and transactions have failed For the lack of a power of attorney.
So, especially, you know, anything can happen at any age, but especially as you get older. You want that all. taken care of, you know. But yeah, maybe not the most exciting segment that we have. I don't know, man.
That got me fired up, brother. But a very, very, very important one. Again, these power of attorneys, healthcare power of attorneys, they're not. Super expensive to have prepared. And once you have them, it's good, right?
I mean, if you relocate to another state, you're probably going to want to redo them. But as long as you're in North Carolina, you're. You're set. Yeah, I mean, you're going over, again, some important aspects. Legally, it's kind of like going to the dentist and getting your teeth cleaned.
It's not the most. pleasurable, but It's necessary, you know, continuing maintenance, so to speak. But we've talked about today probate and non-probate assets, also the difference between the will and the trust, and the difference between health care power of attorney and general power of attorney. Make sure you have everything in order.
Now, estate planning. We do complimentary consults. This is a great starting point. If you've got any questions, you can certainly grab one of these consults by calling 919-77270000. That's 919-77270000.
You can also visit the website wh.lawyer and just say, hey, you know, I want to take advantage of that complimentary consult on estate planning, and they'll sign you up for that. 919-77270000. Again, 919-77270000, or visit the website, wh. We will be back. We'll wrap up another edition.
of Judica County Radio. That's next. Judica County Radio, Josh Whitaker, Joe Hamer are your hosts, managing partners, Whitaker and Hamer Law Firm. They're practicing attorneys here in North Carolina. They've placed offices convenient for you in Raleigh, Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquevarina, Gastonia, and in Moorhead City.
I'm Morgan Patrick. If you've got a question you'd like the attorneys to tackle on a future program, you can send it to us by email, questions at judicacountyradio.com. That's questions at judicacountyradio.com. And as always, we have a complimentary consult in and around estate planning this week. Again, sign up for these.
No cost to you, no obligation to become a client, but you'll get a good idea on what you need for your estate plan. Or if you're currently in the middle of something and want a second opinion, grab one of the consults: 919-7727000. Again, on estate planning, 919-77270000. You can also visit the website, wh.lawyer. That's wh.lawyer.
A lot of good resources there for you, wh.lawyer. Josh. Yeah, so you know, I've got this big long list. We did this one week: these icebreaker questions, right? These questions that you're just supposed to ask, and everybody's supposed to answer them.
off the top of their head. Like, why do you play fantasy football, Josh? Why do you play fantasy football? You know, there was a time. My kids really got me into a lot of stuff because there was a time I got burned out on fantasy sports.
And I stayed in one fantasy baseball league every year. I've stayed in that that league forever. But like I got burned out on fantasy football. How's that going for you by the way? Baseball?
Yeah, how you doing? Uh not not the best this year. Oh, okay. Ha ha! Slight.
I don't really want to talk about it. Yeah. I'm not going to say that. I've never, ever, ever league, but you know. I've never experienced fantasy burnout.
Until now. Until now, man. There's a time for everything. Until that league that invited me in, lured me in, and all of a sudden, double defenses, double quarterbacks has all been employed. Bidding on the saber wire.
What is going on? My kids have a team in this league, and I think they're two and one, right? Not in one? No, I don't think so. They're one and two.
I think they might be one and two. Yeah. They won a game. They did win a game. You had them projected as favorites.
And I I I mean, I'm not gonna say that's bias because they're your children, but uh Yeah, one and two. One and two. One and two. One and two, man. Yep.
Same record as the Panthers, who were going to win the Super Bowl, so there is still hope for them. There's still hope, man. That's early. Yep, exactly. Um.
Alright, I'm gonna ask you guys some of these questions. These are icebreaker questions. All right. Let's break the ice. Yes, I'm ready.
Alright, some of them are lamer than other ones.
Well. That's all right. We'll still answer them. All right, what's your go-to coffee order? Go-to coffee order.
That's easy for me, man. Black black coffee. Co a large black coffee. That's it. Straight up.
Or easy peasy. Yeah, it it's pretty simple. Uh if I'm going hot, it's dark roast, uh splash of half and half, and then I usually go stevia. If it's warmer outside, I'll do iced dark coffee, splash of half and half with a stevia.
So pretty simple. I uh yeah, I like the bl if I'm at home I do the the the black coffee. If I'm actually going somewhere to order coffee, I usually do the red eye. All right, the black coffee with the with the shot of espresso in it. Yeah, it's a little much, man.
That's a little much for me, man. I uh I started drinking coffee late in life. I was a late adapter to coffee. Back before I was gigantically fat. And morbidly obese.
I uh when I was when I was losing some weight, I the black coffee was was good for that, right? Like no calories, you get the caffeine, a little bit of appetite suppression.
So I started black, and I've wavered. When did you start drinking coffee, Josh? I uh it was college. I think it was the first time I had like a College exam, I started drinking coffee. I was out of college before I drank any coffee at all, actually.
I'm the same. I didn't do it until I had a morning show gig in South Carolina and had to be up at four, and I started drinking whatever brown sludge they made at the station.
Now I'm kind of evolved from there every day. Yeah, I need a lot of coffee. But yeah, I. I had this, when I had to study for like an exam exam. I had coffee, go up there to the Cup of Joe.
I was over at NC State. Have real coffee. And then lucky strikes, unfiltered lucky strikes. That was my. Are you kidding?
Yeah, you put those together. And if I couldn't get that, I'd get Levi Garrett. I'd have some Levi Garrett.
Some chaw. And that would really get me where I needed to be. Yeah. The kids, they don't do I don't think the the charl's not very popular anymore. The chewing tobacco.
This is probably before your time. They it it's evolved uh since my college days, but they used to have a thing called Jolt Cola. Oh, yeah. And now it's like Red Bull and Monster and all this other stuff. But the giants are.
Yeah, those are really good for you. I hear. I mean, if you leave it sitting in the can, I mean, it's pretty. There's stuff in there that's not great for you, but boy, I tell you, it was like. triple or quadruple the caffeine and just Very short period of time.
Yeah, we used to do that at sleepover. Get your chat. The jolt caller. Yeah. Get get just real hyper and then just headbutt each other at your sleepovers.
That what you guys did? Yeah, there was always that one kid, man, who couldn't handle his jolt cola. Yeah, yeah. He went too far, you know. Um far.
The um You got more of these icebreakers, man. Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I got waylaid. The.
Alright, last last show. Last show you binged. Oh, Joseph. Love Morgan, I gotta think about that. I gotta think about that.
So Um Gosh, I guess the last one I binged was Ozark. And that. That was dark. That was a couple of years ago. And then we're watching the second season of Wednesday.
Right now? Yeah. Isn't it bad? I heard it was bad. I didn't see the first season.
Ah, first season was really good. Second season, a little bit of a letdown. I think I I think it was the pit that I that the last show I binge watched. after it came out. It's pretty good.
If you like medical things. Pretty good. I've been watching Coach. I've been watching Coach. Yep, yep.
Working my way through season, I think we're on season four of Coach.
Okay. It's good. Are the boys watching that with you? The oldest, oldest is watching it. It's funny, man.
It stands up, man. It's. It it's it it doesn't it's still good. It's still good. Um You're Some of these are dumb.
I'm reading them and I'm not sharing them because they're so dumb. I think you do the dumb ones, man. What's your favorite? What's your favorite comfort meal, comfort food? Like, what's your last meal, right?
Something happens to you, death penalty, right? What's your last penalty? I'm a big. chicken pastry guy or chicken and chicken and dumplings, whichever terminology you like. That one always seems to hit the spot, man.
Probably spaghetti a close second, I'd say. Mm-hmm. I'd go. What do you got, Morgan? No, no, go ahead, Josh.
Your show. I do. I like the barbecue or like even if they're made right, like chitlins, right? If they're made right. Ugh.
You know, with some fried chicken. Chitlins? Chitlins are really good. If they're made the right way. Um Growing up over here in Garner, there were always multiple restaurants where you could enjoy chitlins.
And uh, I got him by accident as a young man. I thought it was barbecue. And they're delicious. All right, so this one kind of hits close to home for you guys.
So when my dad was in law school, Way back in the day, I went to Olemas Law School. And, you know, budget was tight. And I would come in from uh Preschool, because I was super young, but we had. Probably three or four nights a week, we would have chicken pot pies because you could get like five for a dollar back in the day. And I would come into the house, and mom would be baking them.
This is pre-microwave, no microwave, just in the oven. But the smell of chicken pot pie. Um Just, what a great memory for me.
So, if I had a comfort food, it would be chicken pot pie. And I would come in and say, something's in the oven, must be chicken pot pie. Love chicken pot pie. And if it's not in the oven, you better get it in the oven right now, or else there's going to be problems. Hard as a rock, frozen.
The uh yeah, I like that. That's a good that's a good one, yeah. The um This is so stupid. What emoji do you overuse? I use no emojis.
Yeah, I'm an adamant non-emoji user. If I had to use one, it'd probably be the. The face, the the real sad groaning face. Yeah. Yeah.
I can never tell what the faces are supposed to be doing, man.
Well, you can't say that. I mean, I say all right, but you need an emoji translator? Yeah, yeah. That's a million-dollar idea for thumbs up, you know, and I get praying hands. I understand.
And I listen, Josh, I heard this, and maybe our listeners can help us out. I heard the praying hands is actually a high five. Yeah, yeah, it's a high five, right? It's not a praying hand. It's a high five.
I feel like if I'm not. I feel like the praying hand is usually used in like a somber situation.
So if you interpret that as a high five, that could be like. Are you saying there's no praying hands? I don't know. I think the high five is the one that is on most phones, but it's like, you know, something happens. It's tragic, and you send out the high five.
The hands are too perfectly close together for a high five. All my high fives are like that, perfectly symmetrical. If I don't get it perfect like that, we do a real. Think about it.
Something sad has happened, and you send that broken heart or that warm heart, and then all of a sudden you're high five. Yeah, high fives, people raise the spirits, man. You ever had a handshake with somebody that was bad and poor? Yeah. I've started calling redos.
Like, if I have just a bad handshake, I'm like, we're doing that again. It happens a lot in the old adult basketball league that I'm playing in. You come out and everybody's dapping each other up at the start. Yeah, you got to go fist bump.
Sometimes, yeah. You ever grabbed a fist by accident? All the time. That's the worst, man. That's the worst.
It's because there's no rules, man. We need clear-cut rules between when you're going to fist bump and when you're going to shake hands. You ever gone in and you go hand, they go fist, and then they open the hand while you're doing the hand. You hold hands by accident. Yeah.
Well, and you bring up a really good point, Josh. I mean, the handshake, if you meet somebody that's a quick grabber, like, and they get your fingers before you have. An opportunity to form the handshake correctly. I mean, it's painful. And if you wear a class ring, which I do, you know, it hurts.
So, I mean, you literally have to be an aggressive handshaker, and that could come off the wrong way. I'll sue for that, too. Like, that's another lawsuit I'll bring in a heartbeat if you mess up our handshake. Whitaker and Hamer, you never know what's going to come out of the mouths of Josh and Joe. That's where you can find them.
Whitaker and Hamer law firm this show, Judica County Radio. The guys are practicing attorneys here in North Carolina. They've placed offices for your convenience: Raleigh, Garner, Cleveland, Clayton, Goldsboro, Fuquay Verina, Castonia, and in Moorhead City. We have complimentary consults on estate planning. Call our number and grab one, 919-77270000.
That's 919-7727000. And you can also visit the website, wh.lawyer. Another edition of Judica County Radio in the books for Josh and Joe. I'm Morgan. We'll see you on the radio next week.
Judica County is hosted by attorneys licensed to practice law in North Carolina.
Some of the guests appearing on this podcast may be licensed North Carolina attorneys. Discussion on this podcast is meant to be general in nature, and in no way should the discussion be interpreted as legal advice. Legal advice can only be rendered once an attorney, licensed in the state in which you live, has the opportunity to discuss the facts of your case with you. The attorneys appearing on this podcast are speaking in generalities about the law in North Carolina and how these laws affect the average North Carolinian. If you have any questions about the content of this show, you can direct such inquiry to Joshua Whitaker at jmw at mwhlaw.lawyer.
