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Episode 12: DIY Disasters - Part 2: Words Matter!
29 Plays6 months ago
This week we're diving back into the world of DIY estate planning fails in Part 2 of our series! Lorie Burch and the Burch Law Team (Cyntia, Sara & Sam) expose some real examples of poorly-worded Wills we've encountered and explain why vague terms in your Will can actually be just as problematic as having no plan at all. Hear about how those online DIY estate plans often lead to more headaches, because even when your situation seems straightforward, the law is never simple!
PLUS, don’t miss our roundup of other DIY mishaps, from disastrous home renovations to clothing catastrophes and, yes, even mushroom couches. Join us for an episode packed with legal insights!
Join us every Wednesday for new episodes!
Resource: How to find the right Estate Planning Attorney checklist
Where you can find Burch Law:
- IG @BurchLawTX
- FB @BurchLaw
- YT @LorieBurchLaw
- hello@burch-law.com
- (972) 385-0558
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Transcript
The Pitfalls of DIY Legal Documents
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another episode of one of us knows what they're talking about. And the other one is you. Today, we're going to tackle a topic that we've tackled before, and we will tackle many, many times because it comes up far, far too much. But it has to do with the complete disaster that the DIY do-it-yourself forms and all of that create. So the last time that we talked about this, we talked a lot about the signings and how most of them aren't even signed correctly. And that seems so silly.
00:00:38
Speaker
So, so silly, doesn't it, Sam? So silly. So silly. I bring in Sam because she's the one that currently oversees a lot of the signings. And when people try to do this remotely, we make them scan it, send it to us. And probably at least 50% of the time we have to say no, do this, do this, do that. um And they miss it. and it's kind of shocking. So when it comes to things like the DIY or frankly these legal services where you fill things out, they generate documents and send it to you to get signed on your own, the vast majority of the time, and when I say majority, I'm not talking about 51%. I'm talking about like 90% of the time. They are not valid because they were not signed correctly. It seems silly.
00:01:29
Speaker
I agree that it's silly. And yet it is the reality that we have faced that I have seen for decades now, which doesn't make me feel good that I can say decades other than it's great to have that experience under my belt. But today we're going to talk about on the rare occasion, they've actually pulled it off. They got it signed correctly and we deal with some of the really, I think, I don't, was this my verbiage or was it Sarah's verbiage? Or maybe no, it's not. I'm gonna say wild stuff that it says.
00:02:07
Speaker
just like completely out there. And I think one of the things that happens a lot is when people are married, and ah you know, being married is a beautiful thing. it's It's two people coming together, saying we are going to unite our lives and commit to one another in this thing called life.
00:02:32
Speaker
Isn't that what Prince said? Isn't that crazy? Yeah. i and And they start thinking themselves as one. And I think that's a very ceremonial thing, whatever you did at your wedding, maybe you did. um We did sand. Some people do candles, all of that to show unity.
00:02:57
Speaker
The state of Texas, however, still sees you as two distinct people and sees two to speak distinct estates. So what happens a lot, a lot, not majority, way more the majority, is people presume that their spouse gets everything, gets to be this, that, or the other. So when they fill out these forms or do this DIY stuff, they assume that their spouse gets it. So they'll just say, if my spouse doesn't survive, then XYZ.
Marriage and Legal Assumptions
00:03:32
Speaker
So
00:03:34
Speaker
Cintia or Sam, not Sarah. Cintia, Sam, what but thoughts and experience have has Birch Lawson in this regard? Mostly upset family members when it comes time to COVID. But we've we've seen it where, so if someone says, we have one in particular that said, if my wife doesn't survive me, then everything goes here, but the wife survived. Yeah, I think there was one also with a husband essentially saying that the kids get everything if the spouse does not survive them. So, Laurie, what does happen to their stuff then? How it's hypothetically, hypoetically Kimberly would say, if my wife doesn't survive me, everything goes to the kids.
00:04:28
Speaker
Would you, we've established in the past that you would co-own your home with your two kids and then the two kids that she had from a previous marriage. How would you, would you get it back? How could you get it back? Would you? Could you own the whole pie again? The most accurate answer is it's going to be however the probate judge decides this is interpreted. and whatever the probate judge determines is needed. And I mean, that's really the most accurate answer. The problem is, is that in a couple of decades of doing this, the number one thing that I've heard from everybody is they want to make things simple, straightforward. They don't want to leave a mess because nobody actually, I hope everybody's sitting down who's listening to this. Nobody actually wants to have to get their will, trust, powers of attorney a estate plan done.
00:05:28
Speaker
people don't call us like thrilled to death, they're gonna do this or thrilled to death. So it's just the reality and more people need to face the reality that this is coming for you. Sooner or later, who knows, which is the reason to get this done. And they're not completely thrilled with the idea of having having to do this. But it is a reality, right? So The thing about it is that when things are
00:06:03
Speaker
left up to interpretation, right, is when we don't know. So they don't want to leave a mess, but a mess can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. And so the problem is, is even if you've done something DIY or something where you think it's this better of better than nothing, which a lot of times we talked about this before, it is nothing because it doesn't even get signed correctly. So it's like you didn't do anything. But right now we're talking about if you actually pulled it off and created something that's valid, so we have to go buy it with Cynthia's example, where we're excluding a spouse, it it's leaving a mess. And when I say a judge has to interpret it, really all that needs to mean to people is that it's going to take more time, more delay, or more expense and all of that to sort out. And then it is left in the hands of the people that you're leaving behind,
00:07:00
Speaker
to agree, consent, do do whatever. And so I think that's probably one of the biggest mistakes that I see in the actual drafting of some of these things is people making assumptions that things happen automatically when they're married.
Estate Planning and Executor Misconceptions
00:07:21
Speaker
that don't actually happen automatically. so They kind of bypass something. so A lot of our clients think, like well, why would I need to name my spouse as an executor? Why would I need to name my spouse as my medical power of attorney? They're the ones who get to make medical decisions for me.
00:07:38
Speaker
um One of the things I dealt with a client non not too long ago, but I actually remember it's when we lived in the previous house and I was doing a late night walk because I just needed and needed that. and I remember looking at my phone and seeing a text from a client who basically said, you know I'm really sorry, but that doesn't make any sense. When I was trying to say, you have to in your will give things to your spouse first. We've bought this together. This is all ours. It's all joint. But the reality is that is how the law looks at it at it. And it's not automatic that your spouse is going to be able to make decisions, inherit things, and all of that. And so that is why we see a lot of things happen in the DIY space where people who make those assumptions or have those understandings, or I guess we should say misperceptions,
00:08:35
Speaker
and then they somehow pulled off getting it signed correctly and now we have to deal with it. So they are in fact leaving a mess, which they're saying they don't want to do. And I think one of my favorite ones, we've talked about this before, I think, but one that we had to do and just it it's not It's not like Mad Libs where you just fill in the blanks, people. It's really not. um What was the 100 shares one? We won't name names, even though we can't because it's a public record. Yeah, we've mentioned this one before. um But I think I've actually got it pulled up here. um Okay, i I'll say this because no, we've redacted names.
00:09:24
Speaker
Okay, now for those of you listening, which is probably in the thousands by now, for those of you listening, and this this may sound reasonable to to you, but let me break it down for you in case it sounds correct. I direct my executor to divide the residue of my estate into 100 equal shares, which will be distributed as follows. Enter name will receive zero shares and enter second name will receive zero shares.
00:10:11
Speaker
For those following along at home. I know Sarah Sam of the hundred shares, equal shares they put out there. How many have we distributed? Zero. Oh, crazy. um So provided, however, if any beneficiary and alternate beneficiary, if one was appointed, which you don't appoint beneficiaries, I don't even know what that means, shall die before becoming entitled in accordance with the terms of my will. Nobody's entitled to anything at this point, by the way, to receive the whole of his or her share, which is how how much Sarah
00:10:55
Speaker
Zero. Zero of the residue of my estate, such share or the amount remaining of that share will be divided, wait for it, will be divided amongst the remaining beneficiaries in shares proportionate to the above share allocations.
00:11:17
Speaker
Have we given anything to anyone at this point? Nope. What? We haven't? um nada, et cetera, et cetera. And here we have something that I really love called wipe out provision. Oh, wipe out. And here's what we've been talking about. Should my spouse predecease me? Did not.
00:11:51
Speaker
or failed to survive me by 30 days and I should leave no children, they did, child, grandchildren, or no children, child, grandchildren, or grandchild surviving me, or should they all die before becoming entitled to receive the whole of their share, which at this point we've given away nothing. then I direct my executor to divide among remaining residue of my state into 100 equal shares and to pay such shares as follows. 100 shares, finally there's someone who's going to get something to enter name and children for their own use absolute if they are alive.
00:12:37
Speaker
Wow. And if I scroll up to the beginning of this will, that person is one of this person's children. So it says if none of my children had survive me, so I've given it away nothing. But if my wife doesn't survive me and none of my children survive me, I give 100% to this child of mine. Or 100%
00:13:07
Speaker
OK, this person and children, but we just said the only way this wipeout, huh, wipeout provision comes into play.
DIY Financial Document Risks
00:13:18
Speaker
As if none of my children and none of my grandchildren and so forth survived me. Maybe they know something we don't about like resurrection or something. What's their secret? Tell me your secrets. Tell me your secrets. And so then another favorite part of this one is when it talks about the executor. So the executor is someone who is in charge of making things happen. So they ah get into the bank accounts and they um have access to the home. They can sell it. They can pay off expenses and distribute things according to the wishes of which in this case, we have no idea what they are. And so I appoint person's name and children
00:14:06
Speaker
and person's name to be the executors of my will. So you named a person and all their children and another person to be the executor.
00:14:22
Speaker
To be the ones who need to sell a house, I'll show up at a bank. I mean, And the biggest issue we ran into this, and and this is not uncommon. I'm just using this one to highlight things we see all the time. The biggest issue of this is normally when we see these type of wills and we're happy to review them, we look down to the signing. The biggest issue is this was signed correctly.
00:14:51
Speaker
So, I mean, look, if you have a will and it was signed correctly and it's a valid will, we We need to use it. So I'm using this one in particular as something to really demonstrate a lot of things. And it's where we we aren't, we don't do document preparation, we do planning. And we have a really cool tool on our website, birch-law dot.com,.com,.com, cyalawyers.com. Anyway, you get the idea. All those yeah URLs we do. Look for the checklist.
00:15:34
Speaker
Because we have a checklist of, first and foremost, you cannot go to these reduced services and DIY stuff. But secondly, how do you find, and as we'll do this as another topic, don't you think it'd be a great topic, Sarah, for a podcast? How do you find a quality law firm to do this for you? and and Part of that criteria is really looking for the guidance and advice and the experience. Anybody can pull up a form, and I, you know, Sarah knows. My favorite thing when you look at the testimonials and reviews of online sites or will kits that, you know, the most brilliant financial planners in the world have put together is that those testimonials all talk about how easy it was to create.
00:16:24
Speaker
Well, I'm going to tell you right now, I don't think it's very hard to fill out blanks. But they don't get signed badly. You don't get the advice. And I would be willing to bet that this person, this will that I'm looking at, found it very easy to fill in those blanks with so and so and my children. And All it did was create a mess. So whatever they paid for this, I don't care if it was 50 bucks, I don't care if it was 200 bucks, I don't care if it was zero. It was not work, the paper it was printed on, because all it did was cause a total, total mess.
00:17:06
Speaker
So we have other ones, um you know, we've talked about signing before, but just to reiterate some of the things that we've seen is ah where people will have family members sign or people who are named in the documents. That can cause a lot of issues. Default is it's not valid. um There are some exceptions and everything. But again, what was I saying? The number one thing that we've heard through all the decades is that people are trying to make this you easy and straightforward and not leave a mess. And so like with anything that has great value or an investment or an r ROI, what's ROI, Sam? Return on investment.
00:17:51
Speaker
There you He's got all the letters. You know, I thought I was going to go Sarah, but I went soon. And yes, it what is. What is Sarah? A return on investment. Oh, that's not nice. I was mean. Well, see, now I'm confused because Sam already said it. Well, the literal definition, which is I know your go to. But what does it mean when I'm saying a good or what would be a good ah ROI? I see. I see. um You get you get more money back than what you put in. The super, super close. You get more than what you put in. And the reason why I'm making that distinction is because everybody has a different value, right? For us, we got a great over um ah ROI.
00:18:39
Speaker
paying $25,000 for a suite at the Taylor Swift concert. yeah Like to us, that is a no-brainer. That experience, getting to share that, getting to share that with each other, the value that we received far exceeded that. Other people would think that's ridiculous. So it's somewhat objective subjective. But when we're talking about getting an ah ROI on the time and money you spend to put together a will a trust estate plan is these people are thinking 50 bucks for a will kit 200 bucks online what have you is a value because they're perceiving I think a couple of things I think some people know that
00:19:32
Speaker
It's not the best thing to do because people who come to us are like, oh, I have an internet will or i have a DIY. Well, there's a lot of shame involved and we hear a lot of better than nothing, which hopefully we've helped dispel the fact that it's not better than
Misleading DIY Legal Services
00:19:45
Speaker
nothing. I would almost suggest handwriting your wishes on a napkin is better than any of the crap you're going to see online for real or real. Um, And also, I think some people, because Cynthia and I have talked about this, where we won't name names, but where someone has a car seat for their kids, but they don't actually like anchor it the way you're supposed to. So it's just that act, it's performative, that you feel like you've checked the box, this is where I'm supposed to do, but you're actually actually not doing anything. And the sad fact is, if they were in a major accident, that
00:20:27
Speaker
safety seat, that car seat would not perform as it's designed. And there would be no liability because they didn't use it the way it was supposed to be used. Right. So all of this stuff is it's not a checkbox on your to do list to just be like, um you know, this check, this check, will check, adulting, I did good. It's really something that no matter how simple you think your situation or circumstances are, the law is never simple.
00:20:59
Speaker
And there's a reason people go to law school. There's a reason people um work really, really hard to pass bar exams and do this. um Some of them are complete D bags and they just like to feel better than other people. But a lot of them is because there's a very ah special licensing and obligation and standards you're held to when you're creating this stuff for people. So the idea that we could think that we could just do this ourselves. um Is your unintended gravely mistaken? Right. And I'm going to go ahead and say something that I know Sarah and Cinty in particular want me to say. Are you really that naive?
00:21:49
Speaker
Are you really, really and I again. One of us knows what they're talking about and the other one is you. um I think a lot of people are fooling themselves, thinking that they understand this stuff. um The funny thing is, is for a lot of our clients where we draft the documents, send them to them, they're very overwhelmed by a lot of the language. And it's like, yeah, it's, it's kind of complicated the stuff that the kind of standard things that we know to put in there, that you don't know needs to be put in there. One thing we'll probably talk about again, but I want to bring it up for Sam and Sarah make this ridiculous is that we had someone lose their homestead exemption. And
00:22:34
Speaker
On one hand, it's completely reasonable because they don't know not only the language that needed to be put in their living trust, but then the language that needed to be put in the deed that they recorded to put their home into the living trust to make sure that they wouldn't lose their homestead exemption. Like to me, that's like, why would you know that? And yet there's the charlatans that create these online forms and even maybe they have really great general financial advice and they're going to do a will and a state plan in a box.
00:23:13
Speaker
And the problem is, is like none of them are licensed attorneys. So guess what? They do not have the ethical obligations to make sure that they are giving the proper guidance and advice. They're not on the hook. You know who's on the hook? People like me. And we take that very seriously and want to make sure that if you're going to do this, you're going to do it right.
00:23:38
Speaker
yeah Yeah. Okay. I do have a serious point before we make it silly. Okay. Wait, stop. Stop. I, Sarah, i need to make sure I'm sitting down. I am. Okay. So I, I think it's really kind of funny how the two years of working here, I've learned just how terrible these online sites are and I've gotten to the point where nothing grinds my gears more than I'm watching TV and I see an ad for one of them or I'm scrolling through like Instagram and I see an ad for them. I'll be at the gym and I see an ad for it and it just fuels me. It's just yes so enraging. And I see like, you know, these this professional football player promoting it. And it's like, oh my God, dude, it's just it's so it's just
00:24:31
Speaker
it's it's enraging and it's just so funny how working here has really made me. Sarah won. I love you ocean and to I think that's the most passion we've ever seen out of Sarah. Yeah. but in the why i don't know group I know what you're referring to with the professional football player and what really makes me mad about that one. is that a lot of the excuses, not reasons, excuses people will give us to not get it done or get it done by a qualified law firm is cost. In this protect particular professional football player, I know, has a couple grand to throw at this. He may not throw anything else that great, but he could throw a couple thousand grand at this.
00:25:26
Speaker
Who is it? And yeah, so that took you two years to get to. Imagine where you'd be in like 20 years. You'd be like jaded and angry and you'd create a podcast called, one of us knows what we're talking about. And the other one is you, Matt Stafford.
00:25:45
Speaker
feel like i just It's also just misleading. cause you know for i would I would put money on the fact that that professional football player, one, doesn't actually have any estate plan, or two, definitely didn't do it through the online source that he is now promoting. Yeah. I feel like we should also point out that Sarah just doesn't get angry often. So that was why we could watch. That was like, that was new. Dude, yeah nothing, nothing fuels me more at the gym than like seeing those ads. And I'm just like, God. But okay. So Sarah, let's, let's transition to a therapy session here. Why does that, why does that like fuel you?
00:26:34
Speaker
It's just like, I think it's just because people are promoting it and not knowing how ridiculous they kind of are. And it's, it's just, if only people knew the truth about them, then they wouldn't be, you know, so, you know, happy to go do it. They're taking advantage of people. Right. They're taking advantage of people. Footwinking. I like hoodwinking. It's a great movie. Is there a movie called Hoodwinkie? Yeah, it's an animated movie. For children or for adults? I think it's kind of like one of those ones where it's technically geared towards children, but it's got jokes in it for, like, adults and It's like all the people are crying it inside out, too, like all the parents that are just falling in their seats.
The Role of Executors and Gender Biases
00:27:25
Speaker
I want to see it inside out, too. So Lori, I think we are an experts law. Oh, yeah, Cynthia.
00:27:34
Speaker
So in your professional opinion, do you think that, she didn't do this, but let's say my mom decided to leave me and my brother as co-executors and decided that we had to act unanimously. Do you think that would leave a mess?
00:27:55
Speaker
You know, I think one of the issues is that I know for a fact that you and your brother do not live in close proximity. yeah that shows even Even if you would be completely in agreement on everything, it can cause a practical issue of if you're needing to go to the bank together or there's emergency medical decisions and you got to get two people to come from two different places to be there. I think also just the natural idea of getting people to agree on things. Now, one thing that we hear a lot, and i I sympathize with this, is that they want everybody to be involved in the decision. And so what I usually say is, look, when you're appointing someone to make medical decisions or to be an executor, you're not saying that they can't get input or guidance from other people.
00:28:50
Speaker
You're just saying that the third party, whether it's a bank, a hospital, financial institution, what have you, knows that they only have to listen to that one person because I have give or take five million siblings. And so if I am the one who's appointed at the point person, the last thing I want to do is just be like, no, I'm making this decision. I want to hear what my siblings have to say, and even if they're like you know in disagreement, ultimately I'm the final arbiter ah of that decision. And so from a practicality standpoint, I don't necessarily think it's great to put people together. However, everybody's, and this kind of gets to the point, why you don't fill out a form and why you get advice.
00:29:38
Speaker
is that there are circumstances where we've had people where they get that they understand it. But ah maybe there's some tension in the family and they just feel like the best thing for them is to make sure that both people feel like they're being included or on the same page. And so as long as we explain the pros and cons of the different approaches and how it will work. then we can definitely and do that. But I would tell you, in my experience, most of the time, once we explain the reality of how that plays out, most people are in agreement with, you know what? You're right. Let's let's appoint one person at a time. The other thing I always give our clients an out on is, let's say it's ah parents who have adult kids,
00:30:21
Speaker
is say, blame your attorney, blame me. Say, I said it was made the most sense to name this person and this person as successor not to work together. I mean, if that makes it better, then do that. If it's a matter of making sure that you're naming the closest in proximity to you first, or naming the person the oldest child first. if that if If you want to say your attorney said that that was the best thing to do, then do that to mitigate any sort of family discrepancies. But ultimately, default setting is it's always easier if there's one chef in the kitchen. Cynthia, did you want to add any texture to that with your own particular family dynamics?
00:31:08
Speaker
Oh, like my mom probably would have chosen my brother, but he lives in a different country. What do you mean probably? Okay, well she would have. Okay. Yeah, she would have. Despite the fact that he is in no way going to want to deal with it. He is in no way easily able to deal with it sometimes. And you have a legal background. Yeah, I do. um yeah Now, I'm not going to put you in this category, but we do have people from a cultural standpoint where if they have a male child and a female child, they will defer to the male child. yeah that Even if they have no capability or qualifications to do things. Yeah.
00:31:59
Speaker
It's really weird whenever like there's a significant age difference and that happens. It's like this, this child is way more, has like the ability, the means, the little bit more life, just experience in order to be able to navigate these situations. But you're naming your 18 year old. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. For sure. So again, that's kind of highlighting just a big picture overview of some of the wild stuff that can be put into these documents that you don't even realize that you're putting in without the guidance. So this kind of falls into our whole like DIY fails. And so I'm i'm scared to transition to this, but I think that um we're going to give them another shot because the first time we did DIY fails,
00:32:49
Speaker
ah Sarah and Sam tried to come up with ones that were not DIY fails, other than Cintio. Was that that episode? Yeah, well that was the joke. Okay. Right. And you would agree that's not a fail.
00:33:06
Speaker
Because you kind of love it. Yeah. i we give in And then Cintia did make some allusion to say I'm cutting her own bangs, which which I cut them this weekend begin and they look fine. Nobody's commented on them. So I think I did.
00:33:23
Speaker
so okay Awkward once again, but Sarah and Sam, what you like would you like to discuss some potential actual DIY fails that you've seen? how we we I just use that one will to illustrate a lot of things that can fail when you try to do DIY legal planning. What are some other ones that you've seen? Go Sam, go. okay Me, okay. um Just because I really liked the, the Douches, I really wanted to mention Douches. but your
00:33:56
Speaker
Wait, wait, what? Malches, they're mushroom couches or cheers, I guess mirrors. It's like a, it's like an armchair. It's like you have the fabric and then, you know, like on ah trees. just Yeah. Like trees where those mushrooms will grow on the side. People will like crochet mess those types of mushrooms and put them onto the couch. rabbi couches. Why? Why would somebody do that? I don't know. There's a picture in the chat. Maybe they're maybe they're just obsessed with mushrooms. I could see a tiny fairy living in it. Well, or what about a smurf? Yeah, to young to remember smurfs, they lived in mushrooms. oh I love no. That's okay.
00:34:45
Speaker
I always felt now I'm i'm a i'm ah Gen Xer and Smerce for my jam. Like that was one of my obsessions. People who know me know that when I love something, I love it all the way. And so Smerce was one of the early on things. And they said they were three apples high, but the figurines were always like four inches high. And it always bothered me because I feel like if they were three inches high, they'd be really cute and adorable the way that we imagine.
DIY Fails and Personal Stories
00:35:16
Speaker
But if they truly were three apples high, that'd be a little freaky. Yeah, yeah it's like, yeah, a little bit more. Yeah. Yeah.
00:35:25
Speaker
And completely irrelevant and not important. And Sarah will probably edit this out. But the people with birch law know that my 14 year old daughter is a horseback rider and is very, very obsessed and and into it. So they're talking about a large horse and how many hands high it was. And I think another somebody else I can't remember who it was in the conversation was like, that's how you measure horses. And I'm like, yes, and you measure smurfs by apples.
00:35:57
Speaker
It seems like a good place to interject that, um but it was a lot of weird scares. Another thing on that same vein, how big is Azrael then? Because he is a good bit bigger than those Smurfs. Right. So I think this three apples high thing is really ridiculous. Why do they say that? Because even compared to Gargamel, they they look like and it was Hallmark that had the little figurines. I still have tons of them one because I couldn't let go and now they might actually be worth something. And I would go in there and get them and they they really were like three, four inches high. So where did this three apples thing come from?
00:36:38
Speaker
Maybe it's really small apples. Yeah. Maybe they're like, release maybe they're smart, but they don't have small apples. Like if it was like they're corn or they have like the miniature corn. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, how did we get here? Um, I'm just saying that was tall then. Margamot is massive. As he should. Yeah. Mushrooms. Mushrooms. Okay. yeah So I feel like that word I feel like with douches, that wasn't really actually a fail fail because we ended up loving it so much. Where the mouches just say we loosely. I feel like you're using the word we a little loosely. You guys laugh. It doesn't mean we love it though. As you enjoyed it. So I'm making a collective we. For people who who watch the video of this, I request in the same room as Sam. So I'm just looking at her right now. like yeah no
00:37:33
Speaker
Okay, me and Sarah really, really wanted it. Yeah, it was a ha ha time. Where I feel like mouches are just kind of ugly and I feel like they would be uncomfortable to sit in. True. Yeah. What if one of the mouches or one of the mushrooms is like positioned just so on the mouch, where it's like a pillow? It just doesn't look comfortable. Like from that picture, it just doesn't. That would be comfortable. But so speaking of which, at in our couch, my five year old Adley, like she shares my seat a lot. And so she like snuggles up to me, but I need something like lean my head on. And so a lot of times I got to do with I got to deal with what's just laying around me. And so I'll have one of her stuffed animals and I'll like put it behind my head. And that's what I'll kind of lean against.
00:38:23
Speaker
but I can't let her see it. Because if she sees that I'm doing that, then suddenly she wants to hold that stuffed animal. yeah It's usually a unicorn. That's how kids work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. ah So we can agree upon yet another not DIY fail. ah What else do we have? Crying man.
00:38:48
Speaker
um So, oh man, which one do I go with? Okay. Not the sidewalks. Yeah, no, not the sidewalks. I, so I've lived in my apartment for about two years and it took about a year and a half of living in there for me to not only get one, a level, but two, a stud finder. And so I didn't really think you were into studs. Thank you for that. Good one. So believe it or not, I'm i'm Bob the Builder in my apartment. ah Emily likes to hold the nails. i am I am the one who puts everything up. So if you look a little closely, everything's slightly crooked um because, you know, didn't get a level. Oh, I wish I were going to say because you're not straight.
00:39:36
Speaker
why are So much better. But yeah, so don't look too closely in my apartment, but I think that's a DIY fail because why why did it take a year and a half to get those two things come over? Yeah, I was just going to say, well, we can't because you don't invite us over. It's small. and stay over on your couch, sit on the floor. yeah We have said we will bring our own snacks. We will bring our own entertainment. We will just, you know, exist with you. All right. And you can look at all my own straight wall decor and we can find all the studs. Thank you. Yes. I'm very curious where you put all the plants though. That's my big thing.
00:40:21
Speaker
have so many plants. Oh, that's right. There's a whole plant thing. And they all have names. They do. A lot of them have died. um But it's okay. so for them Well, one time, um sarah Sarah brought um a small plant into the office and kept it behind her. And several times I was like, Sarah, you need to water it. And she's like, No, that one just likes to be dramatic, i'm like, because it wants water.
00:40:51
Speaker
I would secretly wore the plant when she office with me. and then I wish you did that with my plant because Cynthia let mine die when I went on vacation. It was already dying. it's Its number was up. It was starting to turn with a great color. So it was like on hospice care with you.
00:41:12
Speaker
Yeah, like the last like two and a half to three weeks, it was starting to get a little like, oh, I'm just gonna keep watering it. But think of it all. One of the one of the best birch law moments that you all have missed, dear, dear listeners, is when I asked Sarah and Sam what they thought hospice was. They know they know now. I actually, which it may surprise those who follow along that Sarah mostly got it right. Yeah. In comparison to Sam.
00:41:48
Speaker
when Anyway, what's another version of definitions? My brain just blanks. And that's why building came out of my mouth. but listen so It's like, ah you all don't appreciate this movie airplane, but we've got to get this woman to a hospital. A hospital? What is it? Well, it's a big building with patients, but that's not important right now. That was me.
00:42:14
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. it's Anyway, so what's another, let's see if we can get closer. That's yeah it's getting closer. What would be another DIY fail? Yeah. So a fun thing me and my ah sister used to do when we first moved here ah to the America. When you say here, or do you mean to the United States of America? Yes. Yes. so Specifically to Houston. She said the America. The America. Yeah. um The America. The America. Let's just go. Um, we used to, you know, because it was what, 2009, 2010. So, uh, those like, we don't know, you could do for like your jeans and stuff. Um, we're very in. And so me and my sister would buy like jean shorts and stuff and decorate them. Um, and I was like obsessed with doing with the American flag. Um, and I'm like a medazzler.
00:43:05
Speaker
No, it's like paint that you put like a or like marker that you paint like puffy paint. No, it's more like dye. I guess would be the better word like staining. Airbrush. Airbrush. No, it wasn't your brush. It was dyed on like you. press it Yeah. on um But we would do the American flag a lot and I'm 90% sure I have appeared that where the American flag is backwards. um I am 100% sure that you need to produce those. Yeah, do you still have any? I don't think I do. I think I donated them when I moved to Dallas. We can make some more. I could. so be so Somebody who went to like the Goodwill and got a tuna dollar par pair of jeans or walking around with a backwards American flag.
00:43:54
Speaker
So, well, that's better than an upside down American flag that one of the Supreme Court justices flew on January 6th. I know you all know about this. slide chair my one All right. Let's go there. There's a question mark on it. Oh, that's always good. Oh, got it. Okay. Yeah. If you wanted to do it. But I think this is our fourth one. And we usually stop at four. So
00:44:22
Speaker
but ah Okay, so what is? ah um So this is.
00:44:35
Speaker
and i want to go with this i i like go I want to hear about the bathtub. OK, I'll go with the bathtub instead. So my my mom is a big DIY. She's actually really good. Like she's she's crafty. She's creative. Like she's she knows how to interior decorate. Like she's she's really good. um Which interior decorating is what, Sarah? Decorating your interior. your interior
00:45:06
Speaker
Yes. um So not mature enough. So a big like when they when we lived in that house, a big, a big thing was just kind of it was an older house built in like the 70s or 80s. So they were always, always revamping it and things like that. And um one goal was there the their master bathroom. And so they completely like gutted it and redid it. But my stepdad you know being like a ah man was like, let me take care of the bathtub and kind of manhandled the faucet in a way that you could not get it back on with anything. So they just had a broken bathtub that they can no longer use.
00:45:55
Speaker
And then they ended up selling the house like a few short months later with bathtub, completely non-functional faucet missing. But I mean, it worked anyways. it's just It's kind of funny when you think about the fact that that I would say that's their one DIY fail I've seen. Wait, hold on. You said it worked anyways. What worked? The selling of the home worked. up I just wanted to clarify. They probably had to do what's called allowances or something in there. for Probably. Yeah. Yeah. My sister's ex-husband, they were living with my parents for a while in the upstairs and someone kept into the toilet. And so he like replaced it, but he put like most of it on backwards. So I guess that could be a good one.
00:46:41
Speaker
The toilet on that? The toilet on that? Yeah, he no like the actual seat he put something on backwards to where like he he fucked it up. It's really just added to the reply to him. so Can you find out what it was? Yeah, I lost my favorites. I need to know who was going backwards. I have to see, but he did something. Like, did it not flush down? It flushed up? Yeah, totally. Yeah, just put you on the face. of day
00:47:13
Speaker
Wow. I'm thinking of the components here. I really need to know. Yeah, I'll ask. He did something to it where it was like broken or like it worked. It was just. Do we have specific examples of cake fails? No, the only one I could really want. Why did you put it? Well, i because I was like, good well, I didn't know if we needed more. That's why there was a question mark, but we usually stop at four. So we stop whenever I've gotten tired of you all.
00:47:48
Speaker
usually four Um, but there was one specific, I think hope to, to sit, I was about to say, Cynthia to Sarah, um, we're, it's, you know, like, um, well, I don't remember what the show is called. Um, but the one where like they recreate bakes and they usually turn out like horrible nailed it. Yeah. Like those kinds of fails, but that's all like, where there was one specific where it was Pippa Pig and it was a whole bunch of cupcakes and they like iced over it but they did it so badly like it doesn't even look like Pippa. She didn't deserve that. That show is such a perfect embodiment of DIY fails for real and it's what happens when you have non-experts do something that actually takes experience and and a cra like knowledge to do something.
00:48:43
Speaker
That's good. All right. Good job. Anything else that we want to offer for today?
00:48:51
Speaker
do it Is there anything else we can offer? We can always offer more. But, you know, ah Elvis didn't do. On course. On course. Elvis didn't do on course because you always got to leave the audience wanting more. group And that's where we are. OK. Great. Well, ah thank you once again for joining us for another enlightening and hopefully entertaining episode edition experience.
00:49:25
Speaker
ah One of us knows what they're talking about and the other one is you. Definitely join us next time as we will explore another legal issue and life issues brought to you by Sam and Sarah. wo and Until next time.