Episode Transcript

Speakers: Craig Andrews, Ellen Dickerson, Compliance Choir

[0:00] Craig Andrews: You never know how much time you have.
[0:03] Craig Andrews: For me, that stopped being an idea and became reality on August 22nd, 2021.
[0:10] Craig Andrews: The doctors put me on a ventilator and told my wife to call hospice so she could prepare
[0:14] Craig Andrews: for the day they planned to pull the plug.
[0:18] Craig Andrews: Six weeks later, I woke up to an entirely different reality.
[0:21] Craig Andrews: I could not walk, I could not talk, I could not even lift my own arm, and I woke up realizing
[0:27] Craig Andrews: something else, I had not made the right preparations for my family.
[0:31] Craig Andrews: The plans I thought were pretty good fell through when it mattered most.
[0:35] Craig Andrews: That is why fiduciary alchemy welcomes voices that would have warned me about the holes
[0:39] Craig Andrews: in my plans.
[0:40] Craig Andrews: My hope is that you live a long and prosperous life, but I also hope you make better plans
[0:45] Craig Andrews: than I did.
[0:46] Craig Andrews: So tune in, take notes, and stay with us through the end when bluesman grindle and the compliance
[0:52] Craig Andrews: choir.
[0:53] Craig Andrews: Taking a word of caution.
[1:00] Craig Andrews: Today I want to welcome Ellen Dickson.
[1:03] Craig Andrews: She is an attorney with Hardy Al Cozer.
[1:06] Craig Andrews: She is also a board certified estate planning and probate attorney who helps families navigate
[1:13 - 1:23] Craig Andrews: wills, trusts, estate planning, and tax issues that come with protecting wealth across generations.
[1:23] Craig Andrews: One of the things I find fascinating with Ellen, I don't think I know another attorney
[1:26] Craig Andrews: that has a cow, but she has not just a single cow, she has hundreds of cows.
[1:32] Craig Andrews: And so we're going to talk about that for a couple of minutes because that's kind of
[1:35] Craig Andrews: interesting.
[1:36] Craig Andrews: And then we'll start talking about making plans.
[1:38] Craig Andrews: Ellen, welcome.
[1:39] Craig Andrews: Hi.
[1:40] Ellen Dickerson: Thank you for having me.
[1:42] Ellen Dickerson: Yeah.
[1:43 - 1:52] Craig Andrews: So now what shocked me was when we first talked, you were getting your profile says Austin,
[1:52] Craig Andrews: you're with an Austin law firm, very metropolitan, very bougie city.
[1:57] Craig Andrews: It's kind of lost its weirdness.
[1:59] Craig Andrews: It's become, you know, kind of a hips, yeah, the young hipster town, more Leslie Cochram
[2:05] Craig Andrews: walking the streets.
[2:07] Craig Andrews: For those who don't know, he was a homeless trans, transvestite that ran from mayor.
[2:14] Craig Andrews: That was the old Austin.
[2:15] Craig Andrews: That's not the Austin.
[2:16] Craig Andrews: Yep.
[2:17] Craig Andrews: Yep.
[2:18 - 2:29] Craig Andrews: And yes, and when you said, yeah, cows, I'm like, okay, we're getting back into Austin
[2:29] Craig Andrews: weird.
[2:30] Craig Andrews: We have an Austin attorney that has a lot of cows.
[2:32] Craig Andrews: This is this is the type of conversation I'm going to have.
[2:36] Craig Andrews: Yes.
[2:37] Craig Andrews: Yes.
[2:38] Ellen Dickerson: So I live full time with my husband and my husband's family.
[2:42] Ellen Dickerson: And he is sixth generation for working this ranch outside of Austin.
[2:48] Ellen Dickerson: And so, yeah, they, they run a lot of cows and we've had a really fun time just getting
[2:55] Ellen Dickerson: as an office to experience the life that I live outside.
[2:58] Ellen Dickerson: I joke all the time that I am my husband's most inept ranch hand, but I'm always got
[3:03] Ellen Dickerson: in some instances and so it's been fun to be out there and to learn and to experience
[3:09] Ellen Dickerson: the cows.
[3:10] Ellen Dickerson: It's a great breakup to my day.
[3:12] Ellen Dickerson: Yeah. Now, there's a lot of different type of cow ranches, you know, different purposes.
[3:19] Craig Andrews: Wisconsin, I would just assume it's dairy, but you're not dairy.
[3:23] Craig Andrews: What do you all do?
[3:24] Craig Andrews: We're not dairy.
[3:25] Ellen Dickerson: We are a cow calf operation, which just essentially means that we breed cows with the hopes of
[3:30] Ellen Dickerson: producing lots of calves every year.
[3:32] Ellen Dickerson: And then we sell those calves at auction so that they can go on to either be part of feed
[3:37] Ellen Dickerson: lots to go build other people's herds, things of that nature.
[3:41] Ellen Dickerson: And so we predominantly have female heifers, cows that will produce the babies and we're
[3:48] Ellen Dickerson: right in the middle of calving season right now.
[3:50] Ellen Dickerson: So about every other day, we've got a new one dropping at all these different places
[3:54] Ellen Dickerson: and they are about as cute as you can imagine.
[3:57] Ellen Dickerson: Each one is unique and looks different and is a great little blend of their dad and their
[4:04] Ellen Dickerson: mom, which is super fun.
[4:07] Ellen Dickerson: And then at some point, like I said, we'll weed them from moms.
[4:09] Ellen Dickerson: They'll go on and live their lives and we'll keep our herd and keep producing.
[4:15] Ellen Dickerson: The little bit I've seen about the birthing process, that's a big deal involving arm
[4:20] Craig Andrews: length gloves and all sorts of stuff.
[4:24] Craig Andrews: Hopefully you never have to get there is how I will preface it.
[4:27] Ellen Dickerson: That's only when you need to intervene because something has gone wrong.
[4:31] Ellen Dickerson: But for the most part, just I think like any other mom, their bodies know what they're
[4:35] Ellen Dickerson: doing and they know what they're doing.
[4:38] Ellen Dickerson: And so you just let them have it.
[4:40] Ellen Dickerson: They will separate themselves from the herd.
[4:42] Ellen Dickerson: They will have their calves.
[4:44] Ellen Dickerson: Typically the cow will bed down in a certain area with that calf until the calf is able
[4:48] Ellen Dickerson: to get up and walking and move around and they will protect it from predators for that
[4:52] Ellen Dickerson: kind of short period of time until they can return back to the herd.
[4:57] Ellen Dickerson: And I think most people, if you haven't been around cows or around ranching in any shape
[5:01] Ellen Dickerson: form or fashion are also interested to always learn that they have daycares, which are the
[5:06] Ellen Dickerson: cutest thing you can imagine, which is essentially that at a certain point, there'll be one or
[5:11] Ellen Dickerson: two moms left and they'll have five or six of the babies gathered around them and they'll
[5:16] Ellen Dickerson: watch while other moms are off eating or whatever they're doing during the day.
[5:21] Ellen Dickerson: But that's pretty fun.
[5:22] Ellen Dickerson: You can always drive up and see and you'll be like, "Oh, we're having daycare over here.
[5:25] Ellen Dickerson: Here's seven or eight of them."
[5:27] Ellen Dickerson: I didn't know that.
[5:29] Ellen Dickerson: That's pretty cool.
[5:30] Ellen Dickerson: Yeah.
[5:31] Craig Andrews: Yeah.
[5:32] Craig Andrews: There are herd animals.
[5:33] Craig Andrews: They stay together.
[5:34] Craig Andrews: Do you keep donkeys in the fields?
[5:37] Craig Andrews: No, although my mother-in-law is angling for one.
[5:40] Ellen Dickerson: So maybe report back in another year and I'll tell you that we do have one.
[5:44] Craig Andrews: Now my understanding is that the donkeys play an important role, especially if you have
[5:49] Craig Andrews: coyotes.
[5:50] Craig Andrews: Yes.
[5:51] Ellen Dickerson: They try to ward off predators.
[5:52] Ellen Dickerson: There's other animals too.
[5:53] Ellen Dickerson: Some will use either donkeys, they'll use llamas.
[5:58] Ellen Dickerson: Those are known to be pretty territorial as well or alpacas or emos are a big one as
[6:05] Ellen Dickerson: well.
[6:06] Ellen Dickerson: You can have an emo out there to kind of protect the herd and the goal is yes, that they will
[6:10] Ellen Dickerson: ward off any predators like a coyote or something else that may be coming and trying to attack
[6:14] Ellen Dickerson: the cows.
[6:15] Ellen Dickerson: We're pretty lucky.
[6:16] Ellen Dickerson: We don't have too many of that.
[6:18] Ellen Dickerson: These out where we are, we don't have a lot of coyotes that are kind of running around.
[6:22] Ellen Dickerson: We're more concerned with things like snakes or other kind of predators that are a little
[6:29] Ellen Dickerson: bit smaller.
[6:30] Ellen Dickerson: Yeah.
[6:31 - 6:41] Craig Andrews: Well, I used to live in B-cave just southwest of Austin and we had snakes and coyotes.
[6:41] Craig Andrews: If we were sleeping with the windows open, we'd hear the coyotes.
[6:44] Craig Andrews: A lot of times it sounds like they were right outside the window.
[6:47] Craig Andrews: But one of the most horrible sounds I've ever heard is when the coyotes do a kill.
[6:52] Craig Andrews: I mean, it just sounds like something now the depths of hell.
[6:55] Craig Andrews: It does.
[6:56] Ellen Dickerson: It's pretty bad.
[6:57] Ellen Dickerson: And I think probably right up there with a snake actually getting a hold of an animal
[7:00] Ellen Dickerson: as well, because I've had the experience of hearing snakes like try to, you know, we
[7:07] Ellen Dickerson: had like a little family of rabbits at one point that a snake got after and it sounds
[7:11] Ellen Dickerson: horrible.
[7:12] Ellen Dickerson: It's awful to listen to.
[7:14] Ellen Dickerson: And there's usually nothing that you can do at that point.
[7:16] Ellen Dickerson: Nature's got to take its course, but hopefully that stays away from our herd so that we have
[7:21] Ellen Dickerson: to work with that.
[7:22] Ellen Dickerson: Our cows are pretty big and they're pretty, they can be pretty mean in and of themselves.
[7:26] Ellen Dickerson: I mean, if you get close enough to them, they'll rear back and they'll kick and they'll make
[7:30] Ellen Dickerson: sure you know not to come closer again.
[7:32] Ellen Dickerson: And we also have each of our herds has a bull with it.
[7:35] Ellen Dickerson: So ours are spread out across a few different places.
[7:37] Craig Andrews: Each one has a bull.
[7:39] Ellen Dickerson: He's pretty aggressive and knows how to protect his herd as well.
[7:42] Craig Andrews: So he's a kind of one bull the whole bunch of cows.
[7:47] Craig Andrews: That's exactly right.
[7:49] Craig Andrews: Yep.
[7:50] Craig Andrews: Lucky guy.
[7:51] Craig Andrews: Yeah.
[7:52] Craig Andrews: Yeah.
[7:53] Craig Andrews: Well, let's, let's talk a little bit about law.
[7:59 - 8:08] Craig Andrews: And so the, so basically you help, I mean, I would imagine it's just a horrible, nobody
[8:08] Craig Andrews: wants to talk about death.
[8:09] Craig Andrews: Nobody wants to talk about planning for the end.
[8:12] Craig Andrews: And so I imagine that makes your job extra hard.
[8:16] Craig Andrews: You know, I try to induce it with a little bit of humor.
[8:21] Craig Andrews: And I try to make as hard as I can, something that is very stressful and very concerning
[8:25] Craig Andrews: for a lot of people to where we can talk about it.
[8:28] Craig Andrews: And really fun terms to make it less pressure.
[8:32] Craig Andrews: You know, nobody gets out of here alive is, is how we kind of start the conversation.
[8:36] Craig Andrews: And then we kind of take it from there and kind of demystify some of the things that
[8:39] Ellen Dickerson: surround it so that we develop a level of trust and comfort that, you know, even if the worst
[8:46] Ellen Dickerson: happens, right?
[8:47] Ellen Dickerson: When you do pass away, you can feel secure in the knowledge that you have something by
[8:52] Ellen Dickerson: which your family can use to administer your estate to make it that much easier.
[8:55] Ellen Dickerson: And that usually is a bigger driving force for people than, than kind of contemplating
[9:00] Ellen Dickerson: the unknown that is sometimes it happens where a client doesn't do anything until the exact
[9:07] Ellen Dickerson: last moment, which is when we are really having to confront that in real terms.
[9:11] Ellen Dickerson: But most of the time we're doing it well ahead of anyone having to confront that possibility
[9:16] Ellen Dickerson: very soon.
[9:18] Ellen Dickerson: Well, and you know, certainly one of the lessons from my story is you never know how much time
[9:23] Ellen Dickerson: you have.
[9:24] Ellen Dickerson: I never expected to die in my fifties.
[9:26] Ellen Dickerson: Yeah, that's exactly right.
[9:29] Ellen Dickerson: And certainly, you know, planning for the unexpected, that's exactly what we kind of counsel for
[9:35] Ellen Dickerson: as well, because exactly like your circumstance, there could be a day where just suddenly something
[9:40] Ellen Dickerson: happens to you.
[9:41] Ellen Dickerson: And that could be an accident that could be, you know, a medical diagnosis that is finally
[9:46] Craig Andrews: kind of starting to take its toll or some of those kind of slower ones like dementia
[9:51] Craig Andrews: or Alzheimer's that kind of creep in all of the sudden.
[9:54] Craig Andrews: And if you wait too long, it can be very difficult to do planning.
[9:58] Craig Andrews: I tell people all the time, the time that you need to come in and do your estate planning
[10:03] Ellen Dickerson: is not when you need it because at that point it may be too late, meaning you've received
[10:08] Ellen Dickerson: that diagnosis and you're like, Oh, shoot, I haven't looked at my will or even thought
[10:12] Ellen Dickerson: about who could care for my finances and my medical needs if I can't do it myself.
[10:18] Ellen Dickerson: And if you've already gone too far into that diagnosis or you've already gone too far
[10:22] Ellen Dickerson: down that way, we just can't do anything about that.
[10:25] Ellen Dickerson: You have to explore other illegal remedies in order to get help versus doing this before
[10:30] Ellen Dickerson: you get to that point.
[10:32] Ellen Dickerson: And then we have everything we need to immediately jump in and help someone.
[10:36] Ellen Dickerson: Yeah.
[10:37] Ellen Dickerson: Well, and I remember so my dad died of brain cancer in some ways, it was a real blessing.
[10:44] Ellen Dickerson: Yeah, there was very little pain, but he also had a little bit of a runway.
[10:49] Ellen Dickerson: But one of the things we started noticing very quickly was, yeah, obviously his brain
[10:54] Ellen Dickerson: was rotting.
[10:55] Craig Andrews: And so there were some deficits and he became not real good at making decisions.
[11:00] Craig Andrews: Yes.
[11:01] Craig Andrews: Yes.
[11:02] Craig Andrews: And certainly when we start seeing someone moving into incapacity because it's like you
[11:07] Craig Andrews: say, sometimes it's sudden, sometimes it's immediate and sudden.
[11:10] Craig Andrews: And you know, that's the accident that nobody plans for.
[11:14] Craig Andrews: Sometimes it's a gradual slip.
[11:16] Craig Andrews: And oftentimes when you see that, that is where we also see the most gray area for financial
[11:23] Craig Andrews: manipulation for financial remains on the estate where money is going places and we don't really
[11:29] Craig Andrews: know where it is.
[11:30] Craig Andrews: That's when people can be in talked into, you know, sending money to Nigerian princes,
[11:35] Craig Andrews: right?
[11:36] Craig Andrews: Things like that.
[11:37] Craig Andrews: So it's very, very important to have, you know, someone who can step in, who can kind
[11:42] Craig Andrews: of get us back on the appropriate course before those big financial drains hit to an
[11:48] Craig Andrews: estate because that can can be a big depletion.
[11:50] Craig Andrews: And that of course means that there's less money there to take care of this person in
[11:54] Craig Andrews: addition to, you know, what will eventually be left to other family members.
[11:59] Craig Andrews: Yeah.
[12:00] Craig Andrews: Well, you know, one of the things I saw with my folks was my mom had decided she didn't
[12:05] Craig Andrews: want to live in the house after my dad passed.
[12:08] Craig Andrews: And for some weird reason, they decided to keep it a secret that they were in the process
[12:13] Ellen Dickerson: of buying another house for her before he died.
[12:16] Ellen Dickerson: And so his brain is rotting, so not in a real good decision to make decisions.
[12:22] Ellen Dickerson: And she's emotionally not in a great place and some big mistakes were made in that.
[12:27] Ellen Dickerson: And that was still alive.
[12:29] Ellen Dickerson: I just like, I always puzzled me.
[12:31] Ellen Dickerson: I was like, we're here to support you.
[12:34] Ellen Dickerson: I didn't, you know, I was taken a nap and I was waking up from my nap and I ever heard
[12:38] Ellen Dickerson: a conversation.
[12:39] Ellen Dickerson: I realized what was going on.
[12:41] Ellen Dickerson: It's like, why do you pull, I'm not going to, you know, it's your money and do whatever
[12:45] Ellen Dickerson: you want with it.
[12:46] Ellen Dickerson: But we're probably, you know, your kids are probably in a better position to help you
[12:51] Ellen Dickerson: think decisions.
[12:52] Ellen Dickerson: Yeah, if they know and they can help.
[12:55] Ellen Dickerson: So I agree.
[12:56] Ellen Dickerson: And, and hear me also say everybody's finance family dynamics is different.
[13:01] Ellen Dickerson: So for all that I can say, this is what I would do.
[13:04] Ellen Dickerson: I'm coming from a very blessed place of my family.
[13:07] Ellen Dickerson: I know would be very drama free and would respect my wishes.
[13:11] Craig Andrews: That's not the case for everyone.
[13:12] Craig Andrews: But to the extent that it makes sense, telling your children or telling the people that you're
[13:18] Craig Andrews: putting in charge of making decisions for you is very, very helpful.
[13:23] Craig Andrews: One, nobody's concerned or confused about who's in charge they know because you've said whether
[13:28] Craig Andrews: you've disclosed the documents or not, hey, if something happens to me, child a is going
[13:33] Craig Andrews: to be the one that will make these decisions.
[13:36] Craig Andrews: Child a, please, you know, consult with a family, confer with everyone, use them to the extent
[13:42] Ellen Dickerson: you can, but you're going to be the person who's kind of running point here.
[13:45] Ellen Dickerson: And that helps demystify a little bit because again, if somebody is stepping in to have to
[13:50] Ellen Dickerson: care for this, it's typically very emotional and a very stressful time for you and for
[13:57] Ellen Dickerson: them.
[13:58] Ellen Dickerson: So to the extent you can prepare them with, hey, here's where everything is by way of
[14:01] Ellen Dickerson: the documents that you're going to need, hey, family, here's who's in charge.
[14:05] Ellen Dickerson: And by the way, we've had conversations about what happens if I'm put on, you know, life
[14:11] Ellen Dickerson: support machines, but I'm also in a vegetative state.
[14:15] Ellen Dickerson: Have we talked about, you know, who the beneficiaries of my estate are so that nobody is surprised
[14:20] Ellen Dickerson: by who is actually going to benefit?
[14:22] Ellen Dickerson: So to the extent you can prepare them with that information, that's what we want.
[14:26] Ellen Dickerson: And I spend a lot of time with clients to talking about ways to organize yourself just
[14:32] Ellen Dickerson: in case something happens.
[14:35] Ellen Dickerson: And it's a very low lift thing that, you know, I myself do this for a living and I only update
[14:41] Ellen Dickerson: mine once a year, but it's just something that you can do to kind of organize yourself
[14:45] Ellen Dickerson: and your family for here's where my assets are.
[14:48] Ellen Dickerson: Hey, here's where my bills get paid, right?
[14:51] Ellen Dickerson: Who's my mortgage?
[14:52] Ellen Dickerson: Who's my electric?
[14:53] Ellen Dickerson: Who's my water?
[14:54] Ellen Dickerson: Right?
[14:55] Ellen Dickerson: So insurance, information, right, things like that, all things that kind of get compiled
[14:59] Ellen Dickerson: into one place, you update just once a year, but your family knows, Hey, it's there as
[15:04] Ellen Dickerson: a go by should something happen to me.
[15:07] Craig Andrews: And it also helps inform them who's your attorney, who's your CPA, who's your financial advisor,
[15:12] Craig Andrews: right?
[15:13] Craig Andrews: Who are the people in your life that help keep things going such that if something happens
[15:18] Craig Andrews: to you, that can still happen, right, because we don't want you to have any kind of laps
[15:22] Craig Andrews: in your care or laps in the things that are able to take care of you, just because you've
[15:28] Craig Andrews: become incapacitated.
[15:29] Craig Andrews: Well, and that kind of raises another question.
[15:32] Craig Andrews: I ran into this ran to a few of the issues that you were talking about when I was in
[15:37 - 15:45] Craig Andrews: my coma, but one, where do you put it, you know, because that's where things get really
[15:45] Craig Andrews: dicey fast, as I understand, you know, where do you put all this information?
[15:50] Craig Andrews: So a couple of places, once you have documents in place, meaning a will, financial and medical
[15:56] Ellen Dickerson: powers of attorney being kind of the big three, there's others that can come along with that.
[16:01] Ellen Dickerson: My recommendation is always going to be a fireproof water or proof location.
[16:05] Ellen Dickerson: A lot of times people will say safe deposit boxes, safe deposit boxes work great if the
[16:09] Ellen Dickerson: people that you are appointing can actually get into your box.
[16:12] Ellen Dickerson: So you have to make sure that they have access because if not, I can't get into the box.
[16:16] Ellen Dickerson: We can't help.
[16:18] Ellen Dickerson: But a document safe, you can buy small document safe from Amazon for about 20 bucks, 25 bucks
[16:24] Ellen Dickerson: these days, which is a great place to store these documents.
[16:28] Ellen Dickerson: You can slip those under your bed or maybe in a drawer.
[16:31] Ellen Dickerson: And again, just make sure that somebody in your family knows where it is and how to get
[16:34] Ellen Dickerson: it into it.
[16:36] Ellen Dickerson: And then my fail safe, and this probably says a lot, everybody's going to be like, okay,
[16:40] Ellen Dickerson: you did grow up on a ranch and you do have cows.
[16:44] Ellen Dickerson: I was always taught that your freezer was a great fireproof water proof location as well.
[16:48] Ellen Dickerson: So you can just wrap your documents in as a blog, but when your things were to happen,
[16:56] Ellen Dickerson: they're at least there.
[16:57] Ellen Dickerson: But again, just tell your family and make sure that they know not to start dumping things
[17:01] Ellen Dickerson: out of your freezer if something were to happen to you.
[17:04] Ellen Dickerson: But that's kind of a general idea for where you want your originals to be kept.
[17:09] Ellen Dickerson: Copies of the documents can be disseminated to the family members that you believe need
[17:12] Ellen Dickerson: copies of the documents.
[17:14] Ellen Dickerson: And oftentimes these days, most people are willing to accept a copy, most banks.
[17:18] Ellen Dickerson: For example, we'll use a copy of the document.
[17:22] Ellen Dickerson: And so especially if you've given a copy to the people that you're entrusting with making
[17:25] Ellen Dickerson: some of these decisions for you, they should be able to utilize it.
[17:29] Ellen Dickerson: But following that up with, and don't forget, the originals are here.
[17:32] Craig Andrews: Now, I heard once that safe deposit boxes are like, you know, quarantined.
[17:40] Craig Andrews: If you die that immediately those get locked and nobody has access to it.
[17:44] Craig Andrews: Is that true?
[17:45] Craig Andrews: That's correct.
[17:47] Ellen Dickerson: That's correct.
[17:48] Ellen Dickerson: If nobody else is a signer to the box.
[17:50] Ellen Dickerson: So if it's just, for example, if my husband and I have a safe deposit box and both of
[17:54] Ellen Dickerson: us are the signatories on it, if I pass away, he can still access the box because it's
[17:59] Ellen Dickerson: half his box, right?
[18:00] Ellen Dickerson: So he is a key.
[18:01] Ellen Dickerson: He can get in.
[18:03] Ellen Dickerson: But when both of us pass away, my brother, for example, is the person who administers
[18:07] Ellen Dickerson: my estate and who steps in to, you know, control my finances and medical decisions if I become
[18:12] Ellen Dickerson: incapacitated.
[18:14] Ellen Dickerson: He's the one who's going to need the originals if my husband's not there to step in.
[18:19] Ellen Dickerson: And so at that point, he would be locked out of the box.
[18:23] Ellen Dickerson: He couldn't get to the documents.
[18:25] Ellen Dickerson: Thankfully, Texas does give us some routes that we can ask a bank to open a safe deposit
[18:30] Ellen Dickerson: box that will include, for example, if we believe that these documents are located in
[18:34] Ellen Dickerson: the box, but they will not allow you to take any other contents out of the box.
[18:39] Ellen Dickerson: So if you have other things in there, a lot of people keep other important documents,
[18:42] Ellen Dickerson: jewelry, money, right, anything like that, those can't be removed.
[18:47] Ellen Dickerson: They have to stay in place until you die and an executor is appointed for your estate.
[18:53] Ellen Dickerson: And then the executor is given access to the box.
[18:56] Ellen Dickerson: But from experience, if you don't have a key, they make you drill the box and it can be upwards
[19:01] Ellen Dickerson: of $400 to drill a safe deposit box, depending on the bank and how big the box is.
[19:07] Ellen Dickerson: And so it can get kind of costly to have to locate these documents if you put them there.
[19:13] Ellen Dickerson: The easy workaround is just make sure, like, for example, in my instance, my safe deposit
[19:17] Ellen Dickerson: box should have myself, my husband, and my brother, because at that point, if something
[19:21] Ellen Dickerson: happened to all of us and he had to step in, he's on the box and he can get access.
[19:26] Ellen Dickerson: Yeah.
[19:27] Craig Andrews: Now, one of the things that happened to me, I'd given my steps on access to my password
[19:34] Craig Andrews: manager.
[19:36] Craig Andrews: And so he had access to all my business passwords, all my personal passwords.
[19:41] Craig Andrews: The only problem was he forgot he had access.
[19:44] Craig Andrews: And so when I was in my coma, nobody knew how to access anything.
[19:52] Craig Andrews: And so that, I guess that's one of the things I worry about.
[19:58] Craig Andrews: So we have a safe and we have important documents in the safe, it's fireproof.
[20:03 - 20:12] Craig Andrews: And by often worry, and we've given certain people the combination of that safe by just
[20:12] Craig Andrews: always worry, when that day comes, well, they remember they have the combo.
[20:18] Ellen Dickerson: Well, exactly.
[20:19] Ellen Dickerson: And it's a very emotional time.
[20:20] Ellen Dickerson: So the answer may be that they don't remember.
[20:23] Ellen Dickerson: But again, I hope you can prepare them with some alternate routes to get into the safe.
[20:29] Ellen Dickerson: Because again, like I've said, a safe deposit box, you can drill it safe, but it's just
[20:33] Ellen Dickerson: as expensive as it is to drill a safe deposit box.
[20:36] Ellen Dickerson: So alternate options would be when you disseminate copies, make sure that you have written somewhere
[20:41] Ellen Dickerson: in the copies, what the combinations would be to be able to get into where those original
[20:46] Ellen Dickerson: documents are located, as well as even maybe not keeping your originals with you, but maybe
[20:54] Ellen Dickerson: keeping your originals with the person who you have appointed to serve if something were
[20:58] Ellen Dickerson: to happen to you.
[20:59] Ellen Dickerson: So I do have a number of clients who have said, well, I'm not going to need my will.
[21:03] Ellen Dickerson: I'm going to be gone, but so and so is my executor.
[21:06] Ellen Dickerson: I'm just going to go ahead and give it to so and so, and they know what to do with it
[21:09] Ellen Dickerson: whenever something happens to me.
[21:11] Ellen Dickerson: I will say to technologies catching up to this problem, which is that it's starting
[21:17] Ellen Dickerson: to provide some alternative routes for us to get into digital assets.
[21:21] Ellen Dickerson: I mean, I don't know about you.
[21:23] Ellen Dickerson: My life runs off of my phone these days.
[21:24] Ellen Dickerson: It's how I pay my bills.
[21:25] Ellen Dickerson: It's how I get access to my bank accounts, right?
[21:28] Ellen Dickerson: So it becomes incredibly important to be able to get into your phones.
[21:32] Ellen Dickerson: So these days, now you have powers of attorney that will include access to digital assets,
[21:38] Ellen Dickerson: which makes it a little bit easier so you don't have to necessarily just be locked out
[21:42] Ellen Dickerson: of something.
[21:44] Ellen Dickerson: It takes contacting like Apple, for example, to say, hey, I can have access.
[21:48] Ellen Dickerson: Can you get me the codes?
[21:50] Ellen Dickerson: But they've actually gotten very smart about that too.
[21:53] Ellen Dickerson: So for example, and I can only speak to iPhone users.
[21:55] Ellen Dickerson: I don't know that this applies to Android users, but iPhones now allow you to put a legacy
[21:59] Ellen Dickerson: contact on your phone, which is an individual who can walk into an Apple store with your
[22:05] Ellen Dickerson: phone and say, hey, I need into this device.
[22:09] Ellen Dickerson: Had they done that with no legacy contact, Apple would have turned them away and said,
[22:12] Ellen Dickerson: we can't give you access for privacy purposes, et cetera.
[22:15] Ellen Dickerson: But now if you're the legacy contact, they'll give you the code to the phone right there.
[22:19] Ellen Dickerson: You can get in, you can get anything off of it that you may need to, and it's getting
[22:23] Ellen Dickerson: a little bit easier.
[22:24] Ellen Dickerson: So technology, I think, is going to catch up with us in this world to help a little bit,
[22:29] Ellen Dickerson: but it's still, I think, important for you to make sure that you've written down, hey,
[22:33] Ellen Dickerson: my safe code is this, my iPhone password is that in one safe location, because those
[22:38] Ellen Dickerson: are going to be necessary to administer your estate.
[22:43] Ellen Dickerson: And a lot of people will say, okay, well, that's great for finding my assets, finding
[22:47] Ellen Dickerson: my bank accounts, paying my bills, but it's also important for things like your social
[22:50] Ellen Dickerson: media.
[22:51] Ellen Dickerson: So if you have Facebook or Instagram, I have thankfully never had an estate with an identity
[22:56] Ellen Dickerson: theft problem and I never want one.
[22:58] Ellen Dickerson: But one of the reasons why is because I'm very diligent in telling my clients, you need
[23:02] Ellen Dickerson: to go wind down somebody's social media, somebody's Facebook page, so that it's not out there
[23:08] Craig Andrews: for people to misuse.
[23:11] Craig Andrews: Yeah, you know, it's interesting, you know, Michael Dell, of course, a big name in Austin.
[23:19] Craig Andrews: When he was in high school, he was making more money than his teachers, selling newspaper
[23:23] Craig Andrews: subscriptions.
[23:25] Craig Andrews: And one of the things he figured out was the people most likely to buy newspapers, subscriptions
[23:30] Craig Andrews: are people who just got married or people who just lost a loved one.
[23:37] Craig Andrews: Well, if he could have done that in the early 80s, you can certainly do that now, then you
[23:44] Craig Andrews: don't have to, you don't have, you know, he actually, he had employees when he was in
[23:48] Craig Andrews: high school.
[23:49] Craig Andrews: His employees would go to the court houses and start pulling these docs, but you don't
[23:55] Craig Andrews: need to do that.
[23:56] Craig Andrews: I mean, everything's so accessible online.
[23:59] Craig Andrews: And so that would seem to be a really easy way to scam.
[24:02] Ellen Dickerson: You just look for who died this week.
[24:05] Ellen Dickerson: And let me start working that.
[24:07] Ellen Dickerson: Yeah.
[24:08] Ellen Dickerson: And you know, oftentimes people have very easy to guess passwords, which is another, you
[24:13] Ellen Dickerson: know, soapbox to get on with respect to your privacy.
[24:17] Ellen Dickerson: But yes, and how many people have received the Facebook messages from the friend who's
[24:20] Ellen Dickerson: like, Hey, I need money and I need it now.
[24:23] Ellen Dickerson: And you're like, Oh, I haven't talked to this person forever.
[24:25] Ellen Dickerson: Well, it's because they passed away that they don't exist anymore.
[24:29] Ellen Dickerson: And now they're, you know, asking you for money, especially in the elderly community,
[24:35] Ellen Dickerson: that is ripe for people to be like, Oh, okay, here, yeah, here's my money.
[24:38] Ellen Dickerson: Start taking it.
[24:39] Ellen Dickerson: Oh, gosh, I just want to help you.
[24:41] Ellen Dickerson: And, and it's very prone to people misusing it.
[24:45] Ellen Dickerson: So it's a good thing to, to lock down your Facebook and your social media and stuff like
[24:50] Ellen Dickerson: that so that your family doesn't have to deal with that.
[24:52] Ellen Dickerson: Because ultimately, if money starts disappearing or if charges get made to a credit card, the
[24:58] Ellen Dickerson: credit card company doesn't necessarily care that, you know, grandma is incapacitated when
[25:03] Ellen Dickerson: she was purchasing all of those, you know, Apple gift cards to start sending to somebody,
[25:10] Ellen Dickerson: they just care that, you know, they get paid.
[25:13] Ellen Dickerson: And so that can be a really unfortunate thing and a very big place for people to be to be
[25:18] Ellen Dickerson: really prone to, to predators, and like you say, especially when somebody passes away,
[25:23] Ellen Dickerson: most of the time that's public record, right?
[25:25] Ellen Dickerson: If there are people who know how to look for it, there are people who know how to start
[25:29] Ellen Dickerson: praying on individuals who have, who have social media like that.
[25:34] Craig Andrews: I used to, I had a client that sold cyber liability insurance and back when we had him
[25:42] Craig Andrews: as a client, I would periodically look up the top 10 passwords that people use.
[25:46 - 25:55] Craig Andrews: It's ridiculous, password, one, two, three, four, I mean, it's just, there's a standard
[25:55] Craig Andrews: list.
[25:57] Craig Andrews: And then it's gotten worse because people keep reusing passwords.
[26:01] Craig Andrews: So if, if somebody can hack into somebody's account, you know, let's say they hack, hack
[26:07] Craig Andrews: into, I'll say JC Penny, I don't think they exist anymore, so they can't sue us.
[26:13] Craig Andrews: But you know, they hack into, or Sears, they hack into your Sears account, they get your
[26:17] Craig Andrews: password that they use on Sears and they're like, oh, I bet you this person uses the same
[26:22] Craig Andrews: password at their bank or wherever.
[26:30] Ellen Dickerson: So I mean, I'm, I'm a big advocate of having a password manager.
[26:34] Ellen Dickerson: I think it's not easy to compile the passwords because I don't know about y'all, but I have
[26:41] Ellen Dickerson: like 16 different reiterations of different passwords to keep up with these days.
[26:45] Ellen Dickerson: So it definitely does help in order to have that.
[26:49] Ellen Dickerson: And also if you have them saved somewhere, it does make it that much easier for either
[26:54] Ellen Dickerson: your financial power of attorney or maybe a future executor of your estate to come in
[26:59] Ellen Dickerson: and start winding those things down.
[27:01] Ellen Dickerson: Because if not, the alternative is, is we may never be able to.
[27:06] Ellen Dickerson: And so it's a great thing to have those saved.
[27:08] Ellen Dickerson: I think I'm probably one of the few people who would say it's important to know what
[27:12] Ellen Dickerson: your username and passwords are and to have them written down somewhere.
[27:15] Ellen Dickerson: A password saver makes it very easy.
[27:18] Ellen Dickerson: I mean, again, I'm a Mac and iPhone user.
[27:21] Ellen Dickerson: So that's how I know most of the stuff.
[27:22] Ellen Dickerson: I don't know what the, the similar thing is for Android users, but Apple products now
[27:28] Ellen Dickerson: have passkey use and passkey keeps all of your passwords and information.
[27:35] Ellen Dickerson: And I don't even have to think about it anymore.
[27:37] Ellen Dickerson: It's very easy to just fill in all of that information.
[27:39] Ellen Dickerson: It would be just as easy for your family to be able to do the same if and when the time
[27:44] Ellen Dickerson: comes.
[27:45] Ellen Dickerson: Yeah.
[27:46] Craig Andrews: So let's talk about, you know, getting a will in place.
[27:51] Craig Andrews: Yeah, because some people are going to say, Hey, my life is just so simple.
[27:55] Craig Andrews: There's nothing complicated.
[27:58] Craig Andrews: What, what are some, what would you say is the bare minimum that folks should do?
[28:03] Ellen Dickerson: The bare minimum, you should have a will and you should have a set of incapacity documents,
[28:09] Ellen Dickerson: meaning financial, medical powers of attorney and some kind of ancillary documents that
[28:14] Ellen Dickerson: kind of go hand in hand with those.
[28:18] Ellen Dickerson: And they really are because they take care of you two different stages.
[28:22] Ellen Dickerson: Powers of attorney and those incapacity documents are exactly what they sound for for when you
[28:26] Ellen Dickerson: are incapacitated, meaning you are still here with us.
[28:29] Ellen Dickerson: You just happen to be incapacitated for whatever reason.
[28:32] Ellen Dickerson: And then your will takes care of your stuff once something happens to you, meaning you
[28:37] Ellen Dickerson: pass away.
[28:38] Ellen Dickerson: And there are two different stages and two different needs, right?
[28:42] Ellen Dickerson: One is taking care of you while you're alive.
[28:44] Ellen Dickerson: Second is making sure that your assets pass to your intended beneficiaries.
[28:49] Ellen Dickerson: If you do nothing, it's not that there are no other options for you.
[28:53] Ellen Dickerson: It's just that the law provides the options for you.
[28:56] Ellen Dickerson: And I tell people regardless of where you fall in the political sphere, when do you think
[29:01] Ellen Dickerson: your government has ever got it 100% right all of the time?
[29:05] Ellen Dickerson: So a lot of people will say, oh, my family's just like you said, my family's scenario
[29:10] Ellen Dickerson: is simple.
[29:11] Ellen Dickerson: I'm married, we have one child.
[29:14] Ellen Dickerson: It's very straightforward.
[29:15] Ellen Dickerson: I want everything to go to my husband and I want, you know, when both of us pass away
[29:18] Ellen Dickerson: everything to go to my child.
[29:20] Ellen Dickerson: Not necessarily what the default is under Texas law.
[29:23] Ellen Dickerson: If you were to pass away without a will, even in that, you know, simple of a scenario.
[29:28] Ellen Dickerson: Sometimes there are odd quirks that would direct assets differently.
[29:32] Ellen Dickerson: And so the easiest way to just make sure your intentions are met is just write it down in
[29:37] Ellen Dickerson: a will and a will can be a very, very straightforward, simple piece, you know, a couple pieces of
[29:43] Ellen Dickerson: paper that just make that happen.
[29:46] Ellen Dickerson: The other thing is that Texas has probate, which is the process after you pass away where
[29:52] Ellen Dickerson: someone is appointed to oversee the administration of your state and to oversee the assets going
[29:58] Ellen Dickerson: to your intended beneficiaries.
[30:01] Ellen Dickerson: Texas has a default, which is dependent administration, which means every single thing that happens
[30:06] Ellen Dickerson: in your state administration needs to be overseen by a court, but that actually gets very expensive.
[30:11] Ellen Dickerson: And we have an alternate option, which is independent administration, which means that
[30:17] Ellen Dickerson: your estate can go with limited court oversight.
[30:21] Ellen Dickerson: There is still some court oversight.
[30:24] Ellen Dickerson: But if you don't say otherwise, your family has no choice but to go into dependent administration
[30:30] Ellen Dickerson: sometimes.
[30:31] Ellen Dickerson: And so it's important to just make it that much easier.
[30:35] Ellen Dickerson: While it seems, and you may have the simplest will, even just, you know, some of those nice,
[30:42] Ellen Dickerson: you know, independent administration and pieces like that can make a lot of difference in the
[30:46] Ellen Dickerson: administration of your state, both from the aspect of having it move faster, but also the
[30:52] Ellen Dickerson: expense that comes along with it too.
[30:54] Ellen Dickerson: So it can really help minimize things for your family if you just take that one small step
[30:59] Ellen Dickerson: to get it done.
[31:00] Ellen Dickerson: Wow.
[31:01] Craig Andrews: That's awesome.
[31:02] Craig Andrews: Well, Ellen, really appreciate you coming on fiduciary alchemy.
[31:05] Craig Andrews: How can folks reach you?
[31:07] Craig Andrews: So I, you can find my profile online at hardyalkoser.com.
[31:11] Ellen Dickerson: You also can email me at Ellen@hardyalkoser.com and you can certainly call the office at any
[31:18] Ellen Dickerson: time and make an appointment.
[31:20] Ellen Dickerson: I'm always happy.
[31:21] Ellen Dickerson: We do risk free one hour consults at our office, which just means it's completely free to sit
[31:26] Ellen Dickerson: down and talk with us, figure out what estate planning options are available for you and
[31:30] Ellen Dickerson: your family.
[31:32] Ellen Dickerson: And then we go from there.
[31:33] Craig Andrews: Well, excellent.
[31:35] Craig Andrews: Well, thanks again.
[31:36] Craig Andrews: Love the conversation.
[31:37] Craig Andrews: Of course.
[31:39] Craig Andrews: Thank you for tuning in to fiduciary alchemy, the coolest financial podcast you're likely
[31:44] Craig Andrews: to find.
[31:46] Craig Andrews: We go looking for voices like the one you just heard because I want you to dodge the mistakes
[31:50] Craig Andrews: that I made and learn it without the coma, without the drama, without nearly paying the
[31:55] Craig Andrews: man.
[31:56] Craig Andrews: I don't know why I lived.
[31:58] Craig Andrews: When so many others died, that part's still a mystery.
[32:02] Craig Andrews: Now, some folks ask, Craig, what is it you do?
[32:04] Craig Andrews: Well, I'm telling you now that's no mystery at all.
[32:08] Craig Andrews: We solve hard marketing problems and crowded markets, so good folks like our guests can
[32:12] Craig Andrews: rise above the noise, become visible, memorable, irresistible, and grow like never before.
[32:18] Craig Andrews: If organic growth is your problem, reach out, call me.
[32:22] Craig Andrews: Let's make a plan and bring your next steps into the light.
[32:25] Craig Andrews: But don't leave yet.
[32:27] Craig Andrews: Stick around a minute more and listen to bluesman grendel and the compliance choir deliver a
[32:32] Compliance Choir: word of caution, just for you.
[32:48 - 32:57] Compliance Choir: This podcast is for information, education, that is all.
[32:57 - 33:07] Compliance Choir: It is not financial tax or legal advice to guide your call.
[33:07 - 33:18] Compliance Choir: Nothing here is an offer, nothing here is a buy or sell, no recommendation, no solicitation
[33:18] Compliance Choir: here.
[33:19 - 33:34] Compliance Choir: I'm saying it plain and well, plain and well, plain and well, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm, mmm,
[33:34] Compliance Choir: past performance ain't no promise of what tomorrow brings.
[33:41] Compliance Choir: Market's turning people loose on all kinds of hopeful things.
[33:49] Compliance Choir: Every investment carries risk, prints a walk and fade away.
[33:57] Compliance Choir: What works for one won't fit us all.
[34:01 - 34:11] Compliance Choir: That truth is here to stay, fade away, fade away, yeah, that's the coming of things.
[34:11 - 34:22] Compliance Choir: The compliance blues, Lord, the compliance blues, get your own financial tax and legal
[34:22 - 34:34] Compliance Choir: help before you make your move, mmm, that's the compliance blues.
[34:34 - 34:49] Compliance Choir: Your situation's yours alone, your needs are not the same, different facts and different
[34:49 - 35:01] Compliance Choir: goals can change the whole damn game, so talk to somebody qualified before you choose your
[35:01 - 35:14] Compliance Choir: own road, because the weight of every money move is your own load to hold, your own road,
[35:14 - 35:27] Compliance Choir: your own road, that's the compliance blues, Lord, the compliance blues, get your own financial
[35:27 - 35:40] Compliance Choir: tax and legal help before you make your move, mmm, that's the compliance blues.
[35:40 - 36:01] Compliance Choir: Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh.
[36:01 - 36:13] Compliance Choir: Informational, only, educational to get qualified financial tax and legal advice!
[36:13] Compliance Choir: That is right for you!
[36:31] Compliance Choir: (upbeat music)