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Transcript

66 | Estate Planning 101: Key Steps for Financial Clarity and Peace of Mind (with Adam Zuckerman) · Your Money, Your Rules | Financial Mastery, Wealth Mindset, Leadership Principles, Intuitive Decision-Making, Human Design

0:00
Erin Gray: You're listening to generate a life Well-lived podcast.
0:02
Erin Gray: I'm your friend and confidant, erin gray.
0:04
Erin Gray: On this podcast, we will explore all things money, business and self-development, including human design.
0:10
Erin Gray: I hope you enjoy the journey where I share everything that I know and am continuing to learn a long way as I honor my heart's desires while inspiring and encouraging you to do the same.
0:20
Erin Gray: Hey, hey, how are you?
0:22
Erin Gray: So I'm back from Oahu, I'm back in the swing of things and you know, for the last couple of years, when we lived in Maui, grayson did go to school, but it was literally down the street and she did say she wanted to go to school when we lived here.
0:42
Erin Gray: So 6 am is legit.
0:46
Erin Gray: I don't know how I feel about that quite yet.
0:48
Erin Gray: I typically take her and Jason picks her up, but I'm I have kind of unsubscribed to so many things and I don't know how I feel about getting up.
0:59
Erin Gray: I typically get up around seven.
1:01
Erin Gray: She gets up at six, but yeah, so back in the swing of things.
1:07
Erin Gray: I do want to say a couple of you reached out and said hey, aaron, I can't find how to get on the email list in order to come to your workshops and webinars, so I want to apologize for not being more clear.
1:22
Erin Gray: If you go to my website on the homepage and you scroll to the very bottom, there should be just a sign up.
1:30
Erin Gray: It says something like want to join my workshops, and then you just put in your name and your email address, and or you can just send me a text message.
1:40
Erin Gray: If you go in the show notes, send me a text message and just say hey, aaron, I want to get on your email list so I can come to the webinars, I'll be happy to add you there.
1:49
Erin Gray: I'm making some changes on the website.
1:51
Erin Gray: I'm working with a lovely company that she is local, she's amazing, her staff is amazing, and so she's helping me get some different things changed up on the website.
2:07
Erin Gray: So I'm super excited about that.
2:08
Erin Gray: What's to come?
2:09
Erin Gray: So, on today's podcast, we're going to dive into basic estate planning, but more so the homework that I think is helpful to do before you sit down with an estate planner.
2:22
Erin Gray: Adam Zuckerman is on the podcast and we dive into his company, why he got started doing it and how I believe it's going to help so many people when they sit down with their estate attorney.
2:33
Erin Gray: So let's dive in.
2:35
Erin Gray: Hey, my friends, how are we today.
2:37
Erin Gray: So on today's podcast I have Adam Zuckerman.
2:39
Erin Gray: He is the founder of Buried in Work.
2:41
Erin Gray: He is a previous attorney, mba, businessman, all the things.
2:46
Erin Gray: I'm going to let him kind of introduce himself, but we're going to talk about estate planning today and how he's been able to use his brilliance to be able to provide service to the world.
2:57
Erin Gray: So thanks, Adam, for coming on and having a conversation today.
3:00
Adam Zuckerman: Aaron, great to be here.
3:01
Adam Zuckerman: I need to hire you to do all my PR.
3:03
Adam Zuckerman: I'm still an attorney, I'm just not actively practicing.
3:06
Adam Zuckerman: So I barred in DC, passed the Illinois bar, went to law school, that whole bit.
3:10
Adam Zuckerman: But I found out that by helping people organize their information as it relates to estate planning, getting all their information in order and then shipping them off to other providers that help them, it's worked out a little bit better for everybody.
3:23
Adam Zuckerman: So glad to be here.
3:24
Erin Gray: Yeah.
3:24
Erin Gray: So let's dive in quickly, briefly, like tell us what I mean.
3:29
Erin Gray: We both come from a financial and, yeah, attorney background, so it's like we know what estate planning, estate planning is and what they do, but like tell the audience, like what is it, what do they do, what do they not do, things of that sort.
3:44
Adam Zuckerman: So typically when people talk about estate planning, it's the transition of their assets after somebody dies Pretty morbid topic can be actually pretty interesting to talk about, and they go to estate planning attorneys to help them organize the information and simplify that process for them.
3:59
Adam Zuckerman: So it could be creating estate plans and we can talk about what that means.
4:02
Adam Zuckerman: It's, advising on asset protection.
4:05
Adam Zuckerman: It could be tax planning, trust administration.
4:07
Adam Zuckerman: It can be helping with the probate process after somebody passes away.
4:13
Adam Zuckerman: A lot of people don't realize that on average it takes 570 hours or more in the United States to administer an estate after someone dies, which is a lot of time that not a lot of people have.
4:22
Adam Zuckerman: It could be helping with healthcare or advanced directives.
4:25
Adam Zuckerman: It could be updating estate plans from somebody else or, if you bought them online or did it yourself, charitable planning as well, and then a whole host of other things when you have a business underneath you, so business succession planning too.
4:38
Adam Zuckerman: It also is parallel to family law.
4:41
Adam Zuckerman: So maybe you have one marriage, maybe you have three kids, maybe you've adopted.
4:45
Adam Zuckerman: So there's a lot of different things that estate planning attorneys help with and that's relating to that transition of the estate, but the entire process comprehensive estate planning is so much more than that which you have to use an attorney for.
4:59
Adam Zuckerman: It's organizing all of your information, it's end of life plans.
5:02
Adam Zuckerman: It's what do you want to have happen to you if you can't advocate for yourself?
5:05
Adam Zuckerman: So lots, lots to discuss.
5:09
Erin Gray: It's like the estate I view the estate attorney is like almost like the end of the end of the stop, after you've already had these thoughts and conversations and thinking, pondering about this stuff.
5:22
Erin Gray: It's like, yes, they're there to help you go through this, but like you've got to kind of be clear on what you want, and I don't think a lot of us one, because, like you said, maybe it's morbid, but I think the Western society thinks very differently about death than a lot of a lot of the world does.
5:37
Erin Gray: So we don't want to think about it, but like we all are going to die and it's part of it and so we avoid that.
5:44
Erin Gray: But we don't spend much time thinking about like well, how do I want what?
5:48
Erin Gray: What do I want my legacy to look like?
5:49
Erin Gray: And not just from a financial standpoint, but like how do I want things to pass on and you know and and make it easy for my family members, right, Well, some people want to make it easy on their family members.
6:02
Erin Gray: Uh, that's the hope I, I, I hope, all of my listeners want to make it easy on their family members.
6:06
Erin Gray: Uh, that's the hope I.
6:06
Erin Gray: I.
6:06
Erin Gray: I hope all of my listeners want to make it easy on their family members okay, that's the hope.
6:10
Adam Zuckerman: You'd be surprised.
6:11
Adam Zuckerman: Sometimes there's actually someone we're spinning up a podcast right now and we are in discussions with someone who is paid to go to funerals to talk to people that go to the funerals to give end-of-life messages that the person didn't want to tell them to their face.
6:26
Adam Zuckerman: So there's some really interesting tangents that that are involved.
6:31
Adam Zuckerman: But, yes, your listeners are phenomenal.
6:34
Adam Zuckerman: Nobody wants to make it hard on anybody.
6:36
Adam Zuckerman: It's.
6:36
Adam Zuckerman: It's hunky-dory for everyone.
6:38
Erin Gray: I mean, everybody has baggage no, I, I think, I think most, I think.
6:42
Erin Gray: I don't think anyone intentionally wants to.
6:45
Erin Gray: I think we avoid things right and then by default that does make it.
6:49
Erin Gray: So can we talk a little bit about your company, what you do?
6:53
Erin Gray: Because when you and I talked before the podcast I was like holy smokes, adam, like this is incredible.
6:57
Erin Gray: So tell the listeners what you thought of, how you even got to that point and then what you've created.
7:05
Adam Zuckerman: All right, so I'm going to answer your first question, which was when do attorneys typically get involved?
7:09
Adam Zuckerman: And the answer is there is no specific formula of when they get involved.
7:13
Adam Zuckerman: Some people, if you want to take running as an analogy or sports, they want to take up running first and then they join a running club and then they get a coach and suddenly they're world-class sprinters.
7:22
Adam Zuckerman: Other people go straight to a coach because they know that they need help with it and they're not going to get motivated on their own without somebody that's helping them right from the get-go.
7:30
Adam Zuckerman: So, there isn't a one-size-fits-all solution for everybody.
7:34
Adam Zuckerman: It's a question of what fits for you based on your situation, and that estate plan that you create.
7:39
Adam Zuckerman: It has to be for today, with the understanding that something could happen to you tomorrow, but you also have to go back to it over time to keep it updated, because where you are in a decade from now is going to be very different from where you are today.
7:51
Adam Zuckerman: So those are the prime tenets there.
7:54
Adam Zuckerman: Engage an attorney when you think you need to, and if you don't know, you may want to talk to one, because they'll help you figure out what you don't know.
8:00
Adam Zuckerman: There's a lot of the known known, the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns.
8:04
Adam Zuckerman: That third category is why attorneys are especially helpful.
8:08
Adam Zuckerman: They'll train for it, all right.
8:15
Adam Zuckerman: So, barry didn't work Like you said.
8:15
Adam Zuckerman: I've got a weird background.
8:16
Adam Zuckerman: I'm an attorney, I have an MBA, I've worked in big companies and little companies.
8:18
Adam Zuckerman: My father was at my house and we were doing some woodworking in the basement.
8:22
Adam Zuckerman: He walked up the stairs and he said Adam, I'm tired.
8:25
Adam Zuckerman: And Aaron, if you say I'm tired, your husband says he's tired.
8:28
Adam Zuckerman: I say I'm tired.
8:29
Adam Zuckerman: Typically, what that means is I need to go and take a nap.
8:31
Adam Zuckerman: When my dad says it, it means I need to go to the doctor.
8:34
Adam Zuckerman: And the reason why is six and a half years prior he was diagnosed for the first time with leukemia, so blood cancer, and for him to complain saying he's tired, it means that something's actually kind of wrong.
8:44
Adam Zuckerman: He's not feeling good.
8:44
Adam Zuckerman: He shouldn't get out of breath walking up the stairs like that.
8:47
Adam Zuckerman: So he goes to the doctor's office and he checks in and then they do some tests and they say, okay, come to the hospital on Thursday, we're checking you in, checking you in, and 12 days later he passed away.
8:56
Adam Zuckerman: So far too quick.
9:00
Adam Zuckerman: There's some good things that happened.
9:01
Adam Zuckerman: He was around for six and a half years.
9:02
Adam Zuckerman: I donated a really personal experience.
9:05
Adam Zuckerman: He got to meet my nieces and my nephews and build a relationship with them as they were little, which is great.
9:14
Adam Zuckerman: We got to say goodbye, which is a gift that a lot of people don't have.
9:19
Adam Zuckerman: That opportunity for people if they die in their sleep, for example.
9:21
Adam Zuckerman: After he passed away, I was the executor in the will.
9:22
Adam Zuckerman: My mom was still around.
9:24
Adam Zuckerman: I helped her transition assets and get the estate and the affairs in order.
9:27
Adam Zuckerman: My sisters did a lot too, but I was very diligent in taking notes of everything I was doing.
9:32
Adam Zuckerman: Literally, I called this person for this reason.
9:34
Adam Zuckerman: This is where I thought to call them and why.
9:36
Adam Zuckerman: And when I showed my mom's financial planner what was going on and what I was working on, they said it was the most comprehensive transition they've ever seen in their life and I had to give it away to other people.
9:46
Adam Zuckerman: On the one hand and I know that we're a little bit friendlier here than some other podcast I was like yeah, in my head you're full of shit.
9:51
Adam Zuckerman: And the reason why I was thinking that I was like it's really nice that you're saying that, but you just don't want me to move my mom's funds to another broker.
10:01
Adam Zuckerman: On the other hand, the two birds on your shoulders, the devil and the angel.
10:06
Adam Zuckerman: The angel's going no, adam, you're pretty organized.
10:09
Adam Zuckerman: You did pretty good work here.
10:09
Adam Zuckerman: Talk to some other people.
10:11
Adam Zuckerman: So I listened to the angel.
10:12
Adam Zuckerman: Put the devil in the pocket that, flick on your shoulder and it disappears in poof poof land and I showed it to some friends.
10:21
Adam Zuckerman: I showed it to some of my mom's friends and they said absolutely, adam, this information is really well done.
10:26
Adam Zuckerman: Take your mom's information out, summarize what you did and put it online.
10:29
Adam Zuckerman: So I made a quick website I'm a technologist in some respects and I posted to three social media sites LinkedIn, facebook, nextdoor and in a week we had over 10,000 visitors to the website which is crazy.
10:41
Adam Zuckerman: The website which is crazy and from there, buried in Work, was born.
10:48
Adam Zuckerman: We thought it was going to be a small website with just a little bit of information and since then it's expanded to more than 1,700 articles.
10:53
Adam Zuckerman: It has nearly 40 checklists and guides for free.
10:57
Adam Zuckerman: It has directories for service providers like attorneys and cemeteries, funeral home, hospice care.
11:03
Adam Zuckerman: It has products like the estate preparation package that has been described by another company.
11:10
Adam Zuckerman: That is the most comprehensive solution on the market to help people organize their information.
11:14
Adam Zuckerman: We can talk about that.
11:16
Adam Zuckerman: We have card games which I have absolutely fallen in love with.
11:19
Adam Zuckerman: One's called One More Story.
11:21
Adam Zuckerman: So if you're watching the video here, one More Story.
11:23
Adam Zuckerman: This card is in the family and traditions.
11:25
Adam Zuckerman: I just picked a random one off the deck.
11:27
Adam Zuckerman: What is your earliest childhood memory?
11:29
Adam Zuckerman: Right?
11:30
Adam Zuckerman: So we created these.
11:32
Adam Zuckerman: So, instead of staring at your cell phone when you're in a hospital or you're around with family, you have something to talk about and you can actually connect and get those stories out of people before they're gone.
11:41
Adam Zuckerman: And what we found is that it's amazing.
11:43
Adam Zuckerman: People are buying these card games and they're using them on dates.
11:47
Erin Gray: It's going to say it's, it's like a get to know each other.
11:49
Erin Gray: Not necessarily I mean you're saying dates, but like your family, right, like you, we've lost that sense of connection and asking those questions with our family, you know, and the ages of, like my kid, like she doesn't I mean her great grandfather just passed away last year but like I asked those questions, and so it's like we're getting further and further from those storytelling, you know.
12:14
Adam Zuckerman: Exactly, exactly right, and that's why it's called one more story.
12:16
Adam Zuckerman: The goal isn't to get through the deck.
12:18
Adam Zuckerman: The goal is rather to to see where the conversation takes you, so I'm going to play one with you right now.
12:23
Adam Zuckerman: This is family and Traditions also.
12:25
Adam Zuckerman: Erin, what was your most memorable birthday or milestone celebration?
12:33
Erin Gray: memorable?
12:33
Erin Gray: I don't know, but I remember I see pictures of like swimming, like uh, we had a swimming party, um, and I love the pool, I love water.
12:41
Erin Gray: What about you?
12:43
Adam Zuckerman: um, oh, the one that popped in my head.
12:46
Adam Zuckerman: I was super little, um, I grew up in washington dc area in maryland and my mom somehow contact the washington capitals the hockey and we got 25 free tickets, 25 free hot dogs and 25 free Cokes and we had a row of seats for me and my little friends at the top of the stadium.
13:07
Adam Zuckerman: And I think it was like anybody at the time could apply and get it, but I don't know why.
13:11
Adam Zuckerman: That's the silly experience for me.
13:14
Adam Zuckerman: All right, so good memories.
13:16
Adam Zuckerman: So that's one more story.
13:17
Adam Zuckerman: We created a game.
13:18
Adam Zuckerman: Nothing Left Unsaid.
13:19
Adam Zuckerman: That's being used by attorneys as gifts, by hospice companies, nursing homes.
13:24
Adam Zuckerman: These are great for activity rooms, road trips, where it's.
13:27
Adam Zuckerman: Do you have a will?
13:28
Adam Zuckerman: Do you have a trust?
13:29
Adam Zuckerman: Do you have hidden valuables?
13:30
Adam Zuckerman: Where are they?
13:30
Adam Zuckerman: Who helped you with your information?
13:32
Adam Zuckerman: How do you?
13:40
Adam Zuckerman: feel about palliative care, hospice care, in the event certain, certain circumstances happen.
13:43
Adam Zuckerman: So this is like the estate preparation package on speed dial.
13:45
Adam Zuckerman: We have content for businesses, we've got id cards, fridge magnets with emergency contact information and every single day things just keep increasing, increasing as more people get involved and we partner with more organizations.
14:01
Adam Zuckerman: So, buried in work is turning into what some people are calling the not which is the wedding planning website, for estate planning and end of life tasks, and the caveat is is that we won't make your will, we won't make your trust.
14:10
Adam Zuckerman: We'll help you get organized.
14:11
Adam Zuckerman: You'll understand what needs to happen, so you'll follow our checklists and you're the 56 things you want to do after somebody passes away.
14:18
Adam Zuckerman: So it is easier on you.
14:20
Adam Zuckerman: You're not learning when, when things are tough, and you'll save money with your attorneys and your service providers because you'll have everything in one place and they can serve you a little bit better because they know what you need.
14:29
Erin Gray: It's so brilliant and it's so like you say, like your or your mom's financial planner said.
14:33
Erin Gray: It's so thorough because, like you said already, it's like we don't know the question if you're not in the in the um arena, right, like you don't know the questions to ask, and so it's not.
14:44
Erin Gray: I don't think it's ever from a typically it's not from a place of I mean, there is the resistance right Of like hey, I'm going to die at some point, but like it's not typically from a place of like I don't want to.
14:55
Erin Gray: It's just like I don't even know the questions to ask to even get started.
14:59
Erin Gray: You know, yeah.
15:01
Adam Zuckerman: Yeah, we.
15:01
Adam Zuckerman: We created a quiz for that reason.
15:03
Adam Zuckerman: So a lot of people said mom and dad don't want to talk to me, or how do I bring this up?
15:07
Adam Zuckerman: How organized are we?
15:08
Adam Zuckerman: It was a free quiz.
15:08
Adam Zuckerman: It takes two and a half minutes.
15:09
Adam Zuckerman: Um, that helps you figure out how organized you actually are, if you were to die for your estate or if your parents were to pass away or someone else that you might be involved with.
15:19
Adam Zuckerman: And what we're finding is that most people that take this quiz are getting between a two and a four on a scale of 10.
15:26
Adam Zuckerman: Some people are getting an eight, nine and a 10, which is great and, yes, that's wonderful.
15:28
Adam Zuckerman: We want that, but only one third of Americans even have a will, which is funny because 100% of Americans actually have an estate plan.
15:37
Erin Gray: Yeah, they just don't think they do.
15:40
Adam Zuckerman: That's exactly right.
15:41
Adam Zuckerman: So if you die without a will, you have an estate plan and it's called interstate and the government is going to dictate how your estate is processed.
15:50
Adam Zuckerman: So if you want to take control and actually make things simpler on everybody, go take the quiz, figure out how organized you are and at least bare minimum get a will in place.
15:59
Erin Gray: Yeah, and an estate plan doesn't mean it does right at the time of death, but it also means like power of attorney, medical power of attorney, like you know, if something, if you were to be incapacitated and you're a single mom, like who's going to take care of your kids, and like all of that living stuff, like it's living and it's at death as well, is that a good way to explain it?
16:19
Adam Zuckerman: That's exactly right.
16:20
Adam Zuckerman: So an estate plan is to take you from where you are today to when you are passed away, and all of your assets have been distributed to someone else.
16:29
Adam Zuckerman: So it doesn't matter if it is 10 years before when you pass away.
16:33
Adam Zuckerman: You should have an estate plan in place because you could be incapacitated.
16:37
Adam Zuckerman: Who do you want to have advocate for you?
16:39
Adam Zuckerman: Who do you want to be able to take control of your finances if somebody needs to?
16:43
Adam Zuckerman: Who do you want to have make those medical decisions for you If you are by a hospital that is religious and you are not religious, do you want to have a document in place that says if you will not do this specific surgery for me because your religious hospital doesn't do this, I'd like you to transfer me somewhere else?
16:59
Adam Zuckerman: There's so many different things that come into play that before I was in this industry, before it was explained to me, or I learned it researching and through the different experiences that I've had as things have developed, I would have no idea.
17:13
Adam Zuckerman: This is important.
17:14
Adam Zuckerman: I think we may have mentioned this on one of our previous conversations.
17:19
Adam Zuckerman: There was an individual that I was helping in Virginia.
17:22
Adam Zuckerman: He was married and had two kids and he got a divorce and he updated his will.
17:27
Adam Zuckerman: So his will says that 50% of his assets go to one kid, 50% goes to the other kid in case something were to happen.
17:32
Adam Zuckerman: And we started talking about uh payable and death beneficiaries on his bank accounts and he didn't update them from his ex-wife and he didn't realize that those, if you have a bank account, uh they follow it insurance bypasses the will it bypasses it's contractual.
17:51
Adam Zuckerman: It happens before the will so his ex-wife.
17:53
Adam Zuckerman: Unless she wanted to redistribute, she'd get all the cash in those bank accounts.
17:57
Adam Zuckerman: And there's so many silly little things like that that matter.
18:00
Adam Zuckerman: They're not silly, but they matter and they're small that unless somebody points that out to you, you're not going to notice it.
18:07
Erin Gray: And what I have found is a lot of financial institutions don't know about it or they aren't savvy with it, and I mean this from the most loving space.
18:17
Erin Gray: But like your, your banker, unless they are pretty established from a financial awareness standpoint and they know those things, they aren't.
18:26
Erin Gray: Like I've had to say no, like I think it was fidelity.
18:29
Erin Gray: I was like no, this exists, you need to call whoever you need to call and you need to tell them that there is, you know, transfer on death or joint right, you know with survivorship or whatever it was like, whatever language right, and everybody has different language.
18:42
Erin Gray: And so it's like, a lot of times, people here we go, you do as the, as the client or consumer, you don't even know the questions to ask.
18:50
Erin Gray: Then you're working with people in financial institutions that may not be aware.
18:54
Adam Zuckerman: So it's like Under under our resources tab on the website, there's a link that says ask three questions and we have a free form that people can download.
19:04
Adam Zuckerman: Uh, it has three specific questions that you should ask and write down for every single one of your accounts, and the reason why.
19:09
Adam Zuckerman: The first one is what will happen to this account and or policy when I pass away?
19:13
Adam Zuckerman: The second question is who is authorized to access and communicate with the institution regarding this account or policy when I pass away, because they won't just talk to anybody.
19:22
Adam Zuckerman: You have to have letters of administration or they have to have a form on file beforehand and for letters of administration you have to have a death certificate.
19:30
Adam Zuckerman: It's a whole thing.
19:31
Adam Zuckerman: And third, what benefits or entitlements will be available to my designated beneficiaries when I pass away?
19:37
Adam Zuckerman: So it's that three-question grouping and there's a form you can download to fill this out will get you confidence of you know exactly what will happen, and it will also give your heirs, your loved ones, whoever is dealing with all the stuff, the answers they need to actually transition and access those accounts quickly.
19:54
Adam Zuckerman: And it's important because the little things here matter.
19:58
Adam Zuckerman: Aaron, you and I are married right now.
20:01
Adam Zuckerman: You are the head of the household when it comes to finances and you have taken out all of our credit cards.
20:05
Adam Zuckerman: Thank you very much for managing that.
20:06
Adam Zuckerman: I am secondary on the account.
20:09
Adam Zuckerman: Unfortunately, you went bike riding mountain biking, let's say hypothetically, down a slope at a ski thing in the summertime.
20:16
Erin Gray: Your bike flips adam has no idea what happened with my husband two weeks ago all right.
20:22
Adam Zuckerman: So there's a story here.
20:23
Adam Zuckerman: Your face is getting red, um, so that happens.
20:26
Adam Zuckerman: You pass away.
20:27
Adam Zuckerman: I'm really sorry, yeah.
20:28
Adam Zuckerman: What happens then is that I lose all of my credit cards as your spouse and secondary account holder.
20:34
Adam Zuckerman: So suddenly I have no credit cards.
20:36
Adam Zuckerman: So what we need to do is we need to.
20:39
Adam Zuckerman: So suddenly I have no credit cards.
20:40
Adam Zuckerman: So what we need to do is we need to make sure that you have a credit card in your name and I have at least one credit card in my name.
20:44
Adam Zuckerman: So, in the event, something were to happen to us and we want access to credit, both of us can still continue to buy things and we're not stuck with no access to credit, with no access to bank accounts, with no access to funds.
20:53
Erin Gray: So it's like Same thing as authorized user and his own credit card, or you mean something completely different.
20:57
Erin Gray: I'm just using this as an example for people, because this happens.
21:02
Adam Zuckerman: Yeah, this happens often.
21:03
Adam Zuckerman: Both of you should have a credit card where you are the primary cardholder.
21:08
Adam Zuckerman: Okay, you don't have to have the other person as a secondary on that account, but you should have at least one credit card If you use credit.
21:20
Adam Zuckerman: Some people are cash and that's okay, but if you use credit, you should have at least one card where each of the spouses or partners have their own credit card and that protects them.
21:24
Adam Zuckerman: It's always good to have, if you trust the person, access forms online or filed with the institution to let the institution speak with you.
21:31
Adam Zuckerman: But the more important thing in a timely manner, is, if something happens, you don't want to not be able to pay for food or pay for the funeral or pay for what you need to.
21:39
Erin Gray: Two things that have come up that I'm thinking about.
21:41
Erin Gray: One is let's talk about from the death standpoint, when you are in that, if it happens in a sudden form, if it happens suddenly, then you aren't necessarily in the mindset to be making these decisions Right.
21:56
Erin Gray: So it's like make it easy on yourself for, like in these times of what is it?
22:03
Erin Gray: Um, suddenly right, like suddenly happens, in these times you like make it easy on yourself and and have that all laid out.
22:11
Erin Gray: The other thing is that I've talked to and this has been true in my own personal is like when we had one financial planner.
22:16
Erin Gray: I was like been true in my own personal is like when we had one financial planner, I was like listen, because my husband was just like you take care of all that stuff.
22:21
Erin Gray: I'm like that's great and also like I want you to be a partner.
22:25
Erin Gray: But I know a lot of families or marriages that there is one person that typically handles all of the things, all of the accounts, all of the investing, all of the money and passwords and all of that, and then the other one is along for the ride and not from a place of the person doesn't want the other person to know.
22:42
Erin Gray: It's just like they don't, they don't really want to be as involved, and I remember saying, like you have to call our finance, like if something were to happen, like here's where everything is, but like you have to call, and I think I think from the person that handles the money, making sure you have your passwords and you're like all of this information in a place that they can easily we joke, cause I'm like, well, our daughter's name is Grace and I'm like, well, grayson will be able to show you where it is, you know, but it's like telling, making sure your family knows where is this information, because it's it happens, the more people I talk to, like there is one primary person that handles the money, yep there's almost always a relationship split and a split of the duties, and it's not saying male or female, it's just easier on a on a unit, yep.
23:28
Adam Zuckerman: The conversation that comes up far too often is well, we were going to work on it later.
23:33
Adam Zuckerman: Yeah, I don't need to do it right now.
23:35
Adam Zuckerman: Yep, um, oh so, and so knows where the files are on their computer.
23:38
Adam Zuckerman: But if you're a movie fan and love Zoolanders, like, the files are in the computer.
23:43
Adam Zuckerman: How are you going to find the files if you don't know where they are in the computer?
23:46
Adam Zuckerman: Like for my dad, I know that he could tell me in the physical file cabinet in his office that in second drawer down the third file back is this file.
23:54
Adam Zuckerman: That is very different than someone telling me I think the file might be in the office.
23:58
Adam Zuckerman: Go find it.
23:58
Adam Zuckerman: So him grabbing the file would take 13 seconds and for me it takes four hours.
24:03
Adam Zuckerman: And that's specifically what we designed the estate preparation package to eliminate is that scavenger hunt of information that will take countless hours when things are stressful, when some things are time sensitive.
24:16
Adam Zuckerman: We don't want that to happen to other people.
24:19
Adam Zuckerman: We actually released a product and it's really expensive.
24:22
Adam Zuckerman: It costs $0.
24:23
Adam Zuckerman: It's called the estate summary worksheet.
24:27
Adam Zuckerman: Come to the website.
24:28
Adam Zuckerman: It's in the estate planning grouping.
24:29
Adam Zuckerman: You can download it for free and it has three pages of the most important, critical, foundational information you can have.
24:37
Adam Zuckerman: So, adult one, adult two, their names, maiden names, social security numbers.
24:41
Adam Zuckerman: Then, do you have a will?
24:42
Adam Zuckerman: Do you have more than one trust?
24:44
Adam Zuckerman: Do you have advanced medical directives?
24:45
Adam Zuckerman: Do you have an accountant, lawyer, bank accounts, things like that, your primary assets, liabilities and net worth, which is extremely important to figure things out.
24:53
Adam Zuckerman: So checking accounts, saving accounts, certificate of deposit, mutual funds, things of that nature.
24:58
Adam Zuckerman: Your liabilities as well, if you have a house, mortgage or vehicle loan, and then your sources of income.
25:03
Adam Zuckerman: And there is so much more that the estate preparation package goes into family genealogy for residences, passwords, digital legacy, health, medical records, health history literally everything that you could think of, like for our pet profile.
25:18
Adam Zuckerman: We literally work with veterinarians on it, which is crazy.
25:20
Adam Zuckerman: Start here, like get the estate summary worksheet.
25:26
Adam Zuckerman: That is the first thing.
25:27
Adam Zuckerman: It should take you literally less than 15 minutes to complete.
25:30
Adam Zuckerman: And then, after you do that, use our free guides, go find an attorney, call Erin up personally if you have her phone number, make her help you out she loves doing stuff like that or get the estate preparation package.
25:42
Adam Zuckerman: We'd love to support you and have you support us and tell your friends about it, so yeah, Can we dive into like a little bit of like.
25:50
Erin Gray: You know we live our life in phases and so like for the single person or you know, double income, no kids or single, no kids, like just kind of what you have seen or things that might be missed, is the word that comes to mind that maybe we're not thinking about Cause?
26:08
Adam Zuckerman: yeah, yeah, okay.
26:09
Adam Zuckerman: So if you are a single person, you are over the age of 18, you should have a will, you should have advanced directives.
26:16
Adam Zuckerman: Not a lot of people do.
26:18
Erin Gray: And advanced directives are basically like hey, I got hit in the head and I can't make decisions, and someone makes financial decisions for you Well, you've already laid that out but they just follow the paper, and then also medical.
26:31
Erin Gray: So they're making medical decisions for you based on what you've already stated beforehand and they mean different things in different places.
26:38
Adam Zuckerman: Yeah, some states an advanced directive is a legal document that is dictated that you have to use a specific form.
26:43
Adam Zuckerman: In other states it's not, so you can go to the website and learn what what they are okay, but at a bare minimum, you should have a will, and the reason why is if you have a shirt on your back most of us have a shirt um, those assets will have to get detailed and it just sets things in place where you're on a trajectory as you get older, as you accumulate more things, as many Americans do, you'll have that foundation that you can edit because you don't have to create a new will every year.
27:10
Adam Zuckerman: You can do something on a codicil where it just gets updated.
27:13
Adam Zuckerman: But they're not expensive.
27:15
Adam Zuckerman: It's a very basic will if you don't have a complicated estate and then you let that plan evolve with you.
27:20
Adam Zuckerman: So, single person, absolutely you should start it.
27:22
Adam Zuckerman: When you get married, absolutely you should have a review.
27:26
Adam Zuckerman: Some people that we speak with recommend that you should be updating your will every single year, just reviewing your estate plan every year.
27:33
Adam Zuckerman: Some people do it on April 16th, so I did my taxes.
27:35
Adam Zuckerman: Now I do this and I'm good for a year.
27:41
Adam Zuckerman: It's an easy date to remember.
27:42
Adam Zuckerman: Yeah, um, anytime you have a life event, so somebody dies, that you're related to somebody that's in your will.
27:46
Adam Zuckerman: Get a dog, you get a cat, your kids are born, your kids turn 18, you get married, you get divorced, um, you get a big promotion, anything like that.
27:54
Adam Zuckerman: You have new accounts.
27:55
Adam Zuckerman: That's when you should be revisiting also For the dual income no, kid the dinks.
27:59
Adam Zuckerman: Or the dual income, no, kids with cat and dog the dink with cat dude.
28:05
Adam Zuckerman: I guess maybe you should also be looking at this, because oftentimes you think, wait a minute, my standard trajectory of what goes to who?
28:18
Adam Zuckerman: Well, I don't have people that are directly in my lineage, so who do you want your assets to go to then?
28:22
Adam Zuckerman: Typically, the way that's structured is that 100% of your assets goes to surviving spouse and they have the ability to do everything, and then it goes to siblings and other people if both of you pass at the same time.
28:35
Adam Zuckerman: But you can get really complicated in how things are set up when you start utilizing trusts.
28:39
Adam Zuckerman: So, aaron, you and I are married again.
28:42
Adam Zuckerman: Congratulations, great marriage.
28:44
Adam Zuckerman: I am on a biking trip.
28:45
Adam Zuckerman: This time I die.
28:46
Adam Zuckerman: You don't like one of my sisters for some reason and decide to cut them out of the will because you control all the assets.
28:52
Adam Zuckerman: That's possible, but we could create a trust where that's not possible for you to do.
28:56
Adam Zuckerman: So you can get as complicated as you want with trusts.
28:59
Adam Zuckerman: There's lots of different types.
29:01
Adam Zuckerman: This is not the time to go into all of them, but we've got a free introductory guide for Wilson Trusts on the website too.
29:08
Adam Zuckerman: But there are a lot of different variations that train professional like an accountant, attorney, the hospice, palliative care person.
29:16
Adam Zuckerman: When you get older you know the the doctor.
29:19
Adam Zuckerman: There's a lot of different things that come into play.
29:22
Erin Gray: What about from a business perspective?
29:24
Erin Gray: Business owners.
29:26
Adam Zuckerman: Ooh, business succession.
29:27
Adam Zuckerman: This is fun, yeah, there is so much to it.
29:31
Adam Zuckerman: So it depends on what type of business you own.
29:34
Adam Zuckerman: Is it a sole member?
29:35
Adam Zuckerman: Is it a corporation?
29:36
Adam Zuckerman: What we say is you have to have the basic information in place, and you're probably going to have a complicated situation in front of you If you have multiple people that are involved.
29:45
Adam Zuckerman: You should have a buy-sell agreement in place, because if we are married and I have a business partner somewhere else, that business partner is in business with me.
29:57
Adam Zuckerman: He might not want to be in business with you, erin.
30:00
Erin Gray: Definitely not.
30:01
Erin Gray: I haven't found many business owners that want to be in business with the wives or the spouses, I should say.
30:07
Adam Zuckerman: Or the husband With anybody with the estate, with the children, with whoever?
30:11
Adam Zuckerman: First thing is find all of your agreements, make sure they're in place for operating agreements whatnot?
30:14
Adam Zuckerman: You have to have a list of your key.
30:15
Adam Zuckerman: Make sure they're in place for operating agreements whatnot?
30:16
Adam Zuckerman: You have to have a list of your key customers, key employees, because when you pass away, your employees still have to get paid.
30:22
Adam Zuckerman: Your customers are still relying on you.
30:25
Adam Zuckerman: So what is that plan?
30:26
Adam Zuckerman: And part of estate planning involves succession planning of when is the right time for me to divest from this business.
30:32
Adam Zuckerman: Some businesses are on autopilot.
30:34
Adam Zuckerman: They can just keep running, but eventually it's going to catch up because you still need to pay taxes and everything.
30:43
Adam Zuckerman: So, long story short business owners, I applaud you for being entrepreneurial.
30:46
Adam Zuckerman: It's important that you get that side of the house organized too.
30:48
Adam Zuckerman: If you need introductions to companies that help with that, we're happy to make introductions.
30:51
Erin Gray: Okay, I wanted to ask about and this is more of an emotional or a mindset but the resistance.
30:59
Erin Gray: I think the resistance comes from like it's one we don't want to talk about.
31:03
Erin Gray: It too it's you're having to do something you're not used to doing, so just the way that the mind works and wants to.
31:09
Erin Gray: But what do you advise, suggest, yeah, for people that are like, uh, you know, you already said like I'll get to it later.
31:19
Erin Gray: What do you have to say to that?
31:22
Adam Zuckerman: Start.
31:22
Adam Zuckerman: Start now.
31:25
Erin Gray: Something right, just like, just take one step.
31:27
Erin Gray: Like I think what happens is we get so overwhelmed because there's so much stuff and it's like you can just get on the website today and like what tiny step are you going to?
31:36
Erin Gray: You know, make versus, I got to do all of this stuff and this.
31:40
Erin Gray: We just get so overwhelmed, we just shut down.
31:42
Adam Zuckerman: This is a real question.
31:43
Adam Zuckerman: Before I started, buried in work, I'd hear from friends So-and-so passed away, so-and-so got in a car accident.
31:53
Adam Zuckerman: I cannot go more than a day or two now without having somebody call me up that I haven't heard from in a while, saying somebody just had XYZ happen to them.
32:03
Adam Zuckerman: Moms fall and slip their heads.
32:05
Adam Zuckerman: More moms slip and hit their heads.
32:08
Erin Gray: Yeah.
32:09
Adam Zuckerman: I've had 43 year olds with three kids that don't wake up.
32:12
Adam Zuckerman: We've had car accidents.
32:14
Adam Zuckerman: Uh, literally a few weeks ago somebody fell down the stairs and didn't make it like just every shit happens, shit just happens.
32:25
Adam Zuckerman: You don't know you do not want your family to be in that situation figuring things out.
32:30
Adam Zuckerman: Yep, you have to start.
32:32
Adam Zuckerman: Get the estate summary worksheet.
32:34
Adam Zuckerman: Again, it doesn't cost you any money, it's free.
32:36
Adam Zuckerman: It will take you 15 minutes to fill out and then you'll figure it out from there.
32:40
Adam Zuckerman: Our estate preparation package again, I can't.
32:42
Adam Zuckerman: I can't afford you to buy it enough.
32:44
Adam Zuckerman: It's helpful, it's diligent.
32:46
Adam Zuckerman: In some some cases, for many people it's actually too comprehensive.
32:50
Adam Zuckerman: It weighs 12 pounds, you know, and that's paper that come in a usb drive for all your files.
32:55
Adam Zuckerman: It's big.
32:56
Adam Zuckerman: Nobody's going to fill all that out because not all the information that we're asking is going to be applicable to everybody.
33:01
Adam Zuckerman: So how many houses do you have?
33:02
Adam Zuckerman: Some people have three, some people have one, some people have none.
33:04
Adam Zuckerman: Uh, you may not have many siblings, so it goes through a lot quicker than you think.
33:08
Adam Zuckerman: But get that.
33:12
Adam Zuckerman: Read the Getting Started pamphlet that comes with it.
33:13
Adam Zuckerman: It says focus on these sections and then in your own time, you start completing it and before you know it, you'll realize I have a will, I have advanced directives, my information is in one place and you'll be good to go.
33:25
Adam Zuckerman: And while you're doing that, you have to make sure that you actually tell your loved ones that you're doing it.
33:31
Adam Zuckerman: You don't have to tell them that you have a will or what's in it.
33:33
Adam Zuckerman: You don't have to tell them that you have a trust in what's in it.
33:35
Adam Zuckerman: You just have to let them know that hey, I've started a process.
33:39
Adam Zuckerman: Things will be easier on you.
33:40
Adam Zuckerman: You know, if they're the executor of your will, you should ask them, because some people don't want to.
33:44
Adam Zuckerman: You can actually say no know, or the guardianship of your children, or you know pets, if you want to go that far.
33:53
Adam Zuckerman: But if you start the process, go through with it and people don't know where to look.
33:55
Adam Zuckerman: It's as if those documents in that process never took place.
33:57
Adam Zuckerman: So start it, tell people.
34:02
Erin Gray: This is similar to money in the sense of people, in the way that if you have a negative relationship with money and it's not fun, it's like how do we make this fun?
34:13
Erin Gray: Like that's what came through to me.
34:15
Erin Gray: It's like we have to make you know, like.
34:17
Erin Gray: You got to make this fun.
34:19
Erin Gray: You got to make money fun like yeah, new card, new card.
34:22
Adam Zuckerman: One more story love and relationship.
34:24
Adam Zuckerman: Erin, who is your celebrity crush, denzelzel Washington?
34:28
Adam Zuckerman: There you go.
34:29
Adam Zuckerman: Okay, it's fun and that's the thing Like we we have on the site.
34:33
Adam Zuckerman: After you take the quiz on the how to start the parent, how to start the conversation with your parents, yeah, there's literally cut and paste text messages that you can send like hey, I just took this quiz and I'm really interested in this.
34:43
Adam Zuckerman: Let's, let's talk.
34:44
Adam Zuckerman: Yeah, oftentimes people want to have the conversation.
34:47
Adam Zuckerman: They don't know how to start it.
34:48
Adam Zuckerman: You can very easily get this game, which is fun.
34:50
Adam Zuckerman: Well, let's go for another question.
34:52
Erin Gray: It is fun Is it only on your site.
34:54
Erin Gray: It's just on your site, right?
34:56
Adam Zuckerman: Right now it's on the site buriedinworkcom.
34:58
Adam Zuckerman: Actually, no, there's more places now.
35:04
Erin Gray: John's Hopson Hospital as of today, is going to put it in some bookstores.
35:05
Adam Zuckerman: We're talking to a few other vendors.
35:06
Adam Zuckerman: We're getting it up on Amazon soon, but buy from the website if you want buriedinworkcom.
35:11
Adam Zuckerman: This one is family and traditions.
35:13
Adam Zuckerman: What do you know about your family's ancestry?
35:18
Erin Gray: My great great grandparents came over on the boat from Belgium.
35:22
Erin Gray: They were shoemakers.
35:25
Adam Zuckerman: Okay, all right yeah.
35:27
Erin Gray: I mean, but this is what I'm talking about, right, all right, yeah, I mean, but this is what I'm talking about.
35:33
Erin Gray: Right like this is you don't you haven't it.
35:34
Adam Zuckerman: I mean, I love the cards I'm gonna buy.
35:35
Adam Zuckerman: Here's the thing.
35:35
Adam Zuckerman: This is why I brought it up.
35:36
Adam Zuckerman: So it's cool that your family has soul.
35:38
Adam Zuckerman: That's a pun.
35:39
Adam Zuckerman: Um, when your family plays this game.
35:43
Adam Zuckerman: On the back of it it says buried in work in the website on the background yeah this goes hey mom, actually I got this from buried in work.
35:50
Adam Zuckerman: Or hey dad, actually I got this from buried in work.
35:51
Adam Zuckerman: Or hey dad, or hey friend, I got this from buried in work.
35:52
Adam Zuckerman: It's actually a neat game that helps start conversations about estate planning, and this is why I picked it up.
35:57
Adam Zuckerman: The conversations we're having right now where I'm learning about you are really important, but they're focused on some other stuff as well that I'd like to talk to you about, and that's your intro.
36:06
Adam Zuckerman: You have a fun time with the game and you say, okay, it doesn't have to be today, let's do it tomorrow.
36:10
Adam Zuckerman: You come to our website, you get the checklist of questions to ask and boom, you're perfect, or you know you're closer to perfect.
36:16
Adam Zuckerman: It's never, ever perfect, but that's that's why we started coming out with this product.
36:22
Adam Zuckerman: Like we, we want people to have these conversations that aren't always easy.
36:26
Erin Gray: Yeah, totally Anything else that I haven't asked or we haven't talked about that we want to share.
36:35
Adam Zuckerman: If you don't want to pay for anything, tell your HR department at your company to call me, because we work with HR departments, we work with companies as perks and maybe they'll buy the estate preparation package for you, who knows?
36:52
Erin Gray: and maybe they'll buy the estate preparation package for you.
36:55
Erin Gray: Who knows I'm like?
36:55
Adam Zuckerman: and if that is you, you have to ponder why you're not valuing yourself enough to pay I totally agree with that it's not expensive and, like an average estate attorney in america, costs 150 to 400 an hour.
37:07
Adam Zuckerman: Right, you can obviously buy things, things on spec, on package but if you fill out all the information and take it to them, you're going to get a better product and they'll be more efficient.
37:17
Adam Zuckerman: So guess what?
37:17
Adam Zuckerman: They're going to bill you less hours.
37:18
Adam Zuckerman: It pays for itself.
37:20
Adam Zuckerman: I sound like an infomercial.
37:22
Erin Gray: It pays for itself.
37:24
Erin Gray: I mean, I remember having the conversation I think Grayson was maybe we had already had a will and everything, but we did our trust and she was maybe it was 2013.
37:32
Erin Gray: So what is that?
37:33
Erin Gray: She was one and just the.
37:35
Erin Gray: You know the back and forth.
37:36
Erin Gray: She gave us the pamphlet back and forth and like asking you know who's going to take care of her and making sure, like it's a process, right, and it's also it's another form of self-love for yourself and your family, right?
37:51
Adam Zuckerman: Like yeah, um, there's an individual.
37:56
Adam Zuckerman: His name is Jim Adams.
37:58
Adam Zuckerman: Uh, he retired from NASA in 2016.
38:02
Adam Zuckerman: He is the former deputy chief technologist in the office of chief technology.
38:08
Adam Zuckerman: So, effectively, that that means is he was on the team that was responsible for planetary missions in our solar system.
38:15
Adam Zuckerman: Billions of dollars, awesome, awesome, awesome stuff.
38:18
Adam Zuckerman: We were talking to him about the estate preparation package and he said Adam, you know what?
38:23
Adam Zuckerman: Whether or not you administer someone's estate, somebody is going to administer yours.
38:29
Adam Zuckerman: Leave your heirs the gift of organization.
38:32
Adam Zuckerman: And that is the slogan that's on our website.
38:36
Adam Zuckerman: That is the slogan that is on the side of the box when you order it leave your heirs the gift of organization, and you might not be around to thank them for it, but they'll thank you for it.
38:48
Erin Gray: I like have full body chills, like that's one of the things I set my grandpa I was my grandpa's financial planner and so we set him up with his trust and we funded it correctly and we did all of those things.
38:57
Erin Gray: And so then when my dad had to go and be the trustee and you know, divvy up all the assets same thing the state attorney was like this is the not the best, but but like this is a really great, like who did this?
39:18
Adam Zuckerman: you know, and it has been so simple for my dad.
39:19
Adam Zuckerman: Yeah, and, and it is Fun tip there, fun tip there.
39:20
Adam Zuckerman: If you are putting a house into a trust, make sure that you do the final step of transferring the title into the trust.
39:26
Adam Zuckerman: Oftentimes people do everything and forget to actually do the final transfer.
39:29
Adam Zuckerman: So sorry to interrupt.
39:30
Erin Gray: No, that's, that's what she was referring to.
39:32
Erin Gray: Right, like I did, all the assets I funded that.
39:34
Erin Gray: I should say that when we talk about funding the trust, it's one thing to draft the trust.
39:38
Erin Gray: What they call it is funding.
39:39
Erin Gray: The trust is you physically have to go to the what's it called Not the DMV, that was for the vehicles, but whatever I did for the tax assessor's office I think that's what I did in Texas, and I put all of his properties that he had in the trust, and so then it was just so simple.
39:59
Adam Zuckerman: Another hack is something called a pour over will.
40:01
Adam Zuckerman: So you create your trust and then in your will it says that all of your assets, upon your passing, immediately transfer into the trust.
40:09
Adam Zuckerman: And a lot of people think that probate is a bad process.
40:12
Adam Zuckerman: It's not.
40:13
Adam Zuckerman: It's just a process you have to go through.
40:14
Adam Zuckerman: But one of the reasons why people don't like probate is because it's public.
40:18
Adam Zuckerman: You have to file your will with the local jurisdiction and it shows what assets you're distributing.
40:22
Adam Zuckerman: You can actually see some past wills online that are pretty cool from celebrities.
40:26
Adam Zuckerman: When you have a trust, it is a private process.
40:29
Adam Zuckerman: Nobody can see past that wall of lilies.
40:32
Adam Zuckerman: So what happens is your assets go through.
40:36
Adam Zuckerman: That process avoids probate and simplifies things.
40:38
Adam Zuckerman: Fun tip.
40:40
Erin Gray: Yeah, and not to go down the rabbit hole.
40:44
Erin Gray: But here we go back to you might have to educate.
40:47
Erin Gray: I know when we applied for mortgages they wanted to see our entire trust.
40:50
Erin Gray: I'm like you don't need to see the entire trust.
40:52
Erin Gray: Here's your certificate, like so it's just an educational thing.
40:55
Erin Gray: I think that and I think that you know, as, as more people do it, as more people become aware, then it will change, but not not just because a financial institution tells you it cannot be done is not necessarily truth and fact.
41:09
Erin Gray: It just might not be and, um, they might not be educated or aware of it people make mistakes people don't know.
41:15
Adam Zuckerman: Um, and another thing that people don't know about is power of attorney.
41:20
Adam Zuckerman: First of all, power of attorney lets you act on somebody else's behalf.
41:24
Adam Zuckerman: It can be revoked at any time.
41:26
Adam Zuckerman: So aaron and I, again, we created power of attorneys for each other.
41:29
Adam Zuckerman: I don't like Aaron anymore.
41:31
Adam Zuckerman: I'm going to revoke it.
41:32
Adam Zuckerman: Aha, there are springing powers of attorney that you only get powers in the event that something happens to me.
41:38
Adam Zuckerman: There's power of attorneys that are limited in scope, so financial or medical only.
41:42
Adam Zuckerman: But what most people don't realize is that power of attorneys immediately cease the moment the grantor of that power passes away.
41:53
Adam Zuckerman: So, whereas if you and I were married or you and I had power of attorney in that relationship, we could empty out our bank accounts, we could pay bills, but the second one of us passed away, you'd no longer be able to do that for the other person.
42:08
Adam Zuckerman: So when someone passes away, you call up their credit card company and you're like hey, I want to talk to you about this person's account.
42:13
Adam Zuckerman: They just passed away.
42:15
Adam Zuckerman: They go oh, I'm really sorry, I can't talk to you anymore.
42:17
Adam Zuckerman: And you're like I literally talked to you three days ago and they go nope, you no longer have that legal ability, so you have to understand when your powers start, when they end, if they end when they don't, and everything else in between.
42:30
Erin Gray: And all of that information-wise is on the website.
42:33
Erin Gray: They can learn and go back Articles, guides, checklists, you name it.
42:40
Erin Gray: I do want to say one other thing, and I know you're not practicing a state attorney, but thoughts on, because I've had people want to be co-trustees or co.
42:46
Erin Gray: So what are your thoughts on that?
42:49
Adam Zuckerman: Trust the people that you are empowering with your trust.
42:52
Adam Zuckerman: It is one of those situations where everything is unique.
42:59
Adam Zuckerman: You're unique, just like everybody else, or circumstance is unique.
43:01
Adam Zuckerman: You can have secondary trustees as well, backup trustees, so to speak.
43:05
Erin Gray: The reason why I say or co-executors.
43:07
Erin Gray: It's almost like co-executor and co-trustee.
43:09
Erin Gray: So after you pass away, then now you have two people that are having to make decisions.
43:14
Adam Zuckerman: There are a lot of very complicated ways to set up trust, and when I say set them up, there are dozens of different types of trust.
43:21
Adam Zuckerman: If you are looking at a trust, you should not be doing it on your own.
43:25
Adam Zuckerman: You should be working with a professional and ask the professional come to the website.
43:30
Adam Zuckerman: We have a checklist.
43:30
Adam Zuckerman: These are the questions that you ask when evaluating an estate attorney.
43:33
Adam Zuckerman: One of the things you have to understand is is that estate attorney is going to be helping you with your trust?
43:38
Adam Zuckerman: Are they familiar with individuals in your specific situation?
43:42
Adam Zuckerman: Not exactly, but similar to your situation.
43:44
Adam Zuckerman: So I am not going to ask a estate planning attorney that only works with couples that have assets of $3 million or less to create trust structures which involve legal creation of entities or a high net worth individual with $50 million or more, because they're going to screw up on the tax implications on it.
44:06
Adam Zuckerman: It is a very special subset of people that can do that.
44:09
Adam Zuckerman: There are times to have multiple executors.
44:13
Adam Zuckerman: There's times when you hire the accountant to audit the accountant to audit the accountant, so you create all those different environments.
44:20
Adam Zuckerman: There are times when you want to create a trust that says that individuals are only going to get access to the funds after a parent passes away if you don't want that parent to have control over it.
44:31
Adam Zuckerman: But then you have to figure out the assets that are required to keep that trust active, because there's annual filings that have to go on with it.
44:37
Adam Zuckerman: It's a legal entity, so there's a lot of stuff that you need to have an idea about.
44:43
Adam Zuckerman: And when you walk into your attorney's office, that's what the estate preparation package helps you do is list out all the people, list out what you want to have happen and then, using that formula and that information, they can then, in their mental computer, go oh, these are the options that are appropriate for us to discuss and put in place.
45:00
Adam Zuckerman: Yeah.
45:02
Erin Gray: I love it, Adam.
45:02
Erin Gray: Thank you so much.
45:04
Adam Zuckerman: Yeah, it's been fun.
45:05
Erin Gray: Where can people find you?
45:06
Erin Gray: I know we talked about Buried in Work.
45:08
Erin Gray: Come to the website, anything else.
45:10
Erin Gray: Or where can people find you?
45:10
Erin Gray: I know we talked about buried in work.
45:11
Erin Gray: Come to the website, anything else.
45:12
Erin Gray: Or is that mainly where you hang out?
45:13
Adam Zuckerman: Yeah, it's easy to find me there Buried in workcom.
45:15
Adam Zuckerman: If you need to get in touch, there's a contact form there.
45:18
Adam Zuckerman: If I don't answer it, somebody else will.
45:19
Adam Zuckerman: Uh, if we don't get back to you, submit again and tell us that we didn't get back to you.
45:23
Adam Zuckerman: Um, there's a lot of imbalance.
45:24
Adam Zuckerman: That we're getting A that we're getting.
45:26
Adam Zuckerman: A lot of people are working on the project now, which is great, and if we can help you, I'd love to.
45:31
Adam Zuckerman: If there are resources that you're confused with that we don't have, let us know.
45:35
Adam Zuckerman: We want to create them or at least find somebody who can help you.
45:44
Erin Gray: Our goal is to simplify estate planning and end of life tasks, and we're having a good time doing it.
45:46
Adam Zuckerman: I love it.
45:47
Adam Zuckerman: Thanks, Adam Appreciate it.
45:47
Adam Zuckerman: Thanks so much, Aaron.
45:50
Adam Zuckerman: Appreciate it.