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E58: Special Interview with Lorie Burch (A Mockumentary)
12 Plays9 days ago
In a first-of-its-kind interview, Lorie Burch sits down to answer questions about estate planning. What unfolds is part documentary, part disaster, and entirely unforgettable.
Tune in for an interview that starts with questions, ends with answers (mostly), and might just change the way you think about life, death, and legal documents forever.
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Visit burch-law.com/podcast to reach out!
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Transcript
Introduction to Lori Birch and her work
00:00:00
Speaker
Law. It's the thing that stops us from doing crimes unless you're really rich. But behind every law is a lawyer, which is like a person, but with more folders. And today, I'm meeting one of the most legal people in America, Lori Birch.
00:00:15
Speaker
She's an attorney from Dallas, Texas, a place most famous for big hair, big hats, and confusingly, not the TV show Dallas. For 20 years, Lori's been running an LGBTQ law firm.
00:00:28
Speaker
That means she helps people with wills, estates, and making sure your homophobic uncle does not steal your house when you die. She's been breaking barriers, fighting injustice, and probably explaining what power of attorney means 900 times a day.
00:00:42
Speaker
But who really is Lori Birch? To find out, I'm going to sit down with her in a chair in an exclusive, never-been-done-before interview and ask the big questions like, do lawyers go to school just to learn how to spell fiduciary?
00:00:57
Speaker
And if a gay tree falls in a forest and no one's around, does it still need legal representation?
What is estate planning?
00:01:04
Speaker
This is One of Us Knows What They Are Talking About and the Other One Is You with Lori Birch.
00:01:12
Speaker
How are you, Lori?
00:01:15
Speaker
I am okay. was not expecting that. So, see where this goes. All right. Well, I'll start off with an easy question. um We're dying to know what exactly is estate planning?
00:01:31
Speaker
Well, if I were to use the definition that some people I know would, it's planning for your estate. But a more elaborate definition would be you've got to make a plan for what's going to happen when you check out.
00:01:48
Speaker
So ah who's going to get your house? Who's going to take care of your kids? Who's going to make decisions for you in case of emergency? So all of that is under the umbrella of a estate planning.
00:02:02
Speaker
Okay. So when you say planning your estate,
00:02:07
Speaker
that implies that there is a nation planning as well. What about the nation?
00:02:17
Speaker
are you Are you confusing estate with ah state a state? Yeah, like Texas. Okay. Okay. Okay.
00:02:28
Speaker
Well, that's not what the word is. It's a state with with an E. With an E. Okay. Yeah. Gotcha. Okay. So that, need to rewrite some questions here. And frankly, I don't know that anybody's doing any planning for our nation currently.
00:02:43
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. I
What is the difference between a will and a living will?
00:02:44
Speaker
don't think so either. so And I'm only licensed in Texas, so. Okay.
00:02:53
Speaker
So I've heard a lot about, you know, wills and trusts and I'm curious what the difference is between a will and a living will is. It sounds like one is just slightly less dead.
00:03:10
Speaker
you're So you're asking the difference between a will and a living will? Correct. Right. ah So, you know, that that's a fair question because a lot of people are confused and I don't particularly like the terminology that's used because it is confusing. But a will is basically a document that says when you die, this is how I want my money, my assets, and even my kids' to be taken care of and this is who's in charge of making that happen.
00:03:40
Speaker
A living will, as the expression is used, is more for a document in Texas called a directed to physicians where you're saying you would or would not want your life artificially prolonged if you are being kept alive by machines or artificial means.
What are trusts and why are they important?
00:03:58
Speaker
Like AI.
00:04:01
Speaker
I mean, the A in AI is artificial. I'm not sure that AI could keep you alive if you were in a terminal condition. Right, right. What about trust?
00:04:12
Speaker
That sounds like, is that just some somebody you trust legally? I mean, generally it's a good idea to name people and to put people in charge who you trust.
00:04:23
Speaker
But the term trust refers to another type of estate plan where you can put things into a trust. And then there are many types of trust. So a living trust, not to be confused with living will, a living trust is one that you would create right now where If you put your assets into it, if you pass away, it doesn't have to go through a probate court process.
00:04:48
Speaker
There are other types of trusts, like if you have young children and if you die before they're old enough, then you can say they can get your money and your stuff, but it would go into a trust where someone else oversees it for them until they reach a certain age that you're picking and then they can take control of it themselves.
What is probate?
00:05:08
Speaker
Okay, so when you say probate, like probation?
00:05:16
Speaker
No, no, not at all. That's a completely different word. Probate is the court process and the court system where when someone passes away and technically when there is any sort of incompetency proceedings, which I'm going to guess you might be familiar with, um that they would oversee the...
00:05:38
Speaker
If there is a will, over approve it. Who can be the executor? If there's not, determine who the heirs are, who would inherit, ah who can take care of kids, subject to there not being any plan. But it's the overall ah legal process, court oversight, public process, when someone passes away.
00:05:58
Speaker
And when you say executor, is that somebody who kills me?
Who are heirs and what is the 'laughing heir' statute?
00:06:03
Speaker
ah No, no, again, a completely different word, although sounds similar, so I can get the confusion, but no, executor is vastly different from executioner, and in fact, fun fact, that if you do kill somebody, then by operation of law, you would be disinherited from their estate.
00:06:24
Speaker
So, ah executor good, executioner bad. Got it. Yeah. Yeah, I would agree. You you also mentioned the word airs in there. So when we're talking about airs, what does my oxygen have to do with anything that gets divided up in my estate?
00:06:45
Speaker
I mean, I'm frankly at this point not sure that there is a lot of oxygen that you're using. um But again, completely different word here.
00:06:57
Speaker
ah Airship or airs. in this context is H-E-I-R and that is someone who would be a relative, ah anybody could be your heir who's a relative whether it's a spouse, a child, a mom, dad, aunt, uncle, sibling,
00:07:15
Speaker
And in fact, in Texas, there is no limit to how far they'll go ah with airships. So it could be third cousin, twice removed. I don't know if that's a thing.
00:07:26
Speaker
ah But you can keep going and going. And that's called a laughing air statute. And we don't have that here. So like the Energizer Bunny, you keep going and going and going until... you find someone and I guess the expression comes from they're so remote to you that they're laughing at the thought that they inherited your vast estate.
What happens if you die intestate?
00:07:44
Speaker
But again, completely different word.
00:07:47
Speaker
Got it. Well,
00:07:53
Speaker
I've heard that when you die without a will, it is called intestate. But what I'm wanting to understand is what does that have to do with my digestion?
00:08:08
Speaker
um Well, that's a fair question because your instincts are correct here. has nothing to do with it because, again, different word. It's intestate. I'm not sure what you thought you heard. um Reading is a good thing because I think you might see how these words are actually spelled and written rather than just ah listening.
00:08:30
Speaker
But intestate is the expression when one dies without a will or any sort of legal plan.
00:08:39
Speaker
It does kind of sound like digestion though.
00:08:44
Speaker
I'm gonna let you have that. Okay.
00:08:47
Speaker
So say I have a will.
00:08:52
Speaker
Say I just handwrite and I just say, just figure it out. Do lawyers like that kind of challenge?
00:08:59
Speaker
Well, I mean, probate lawyers do because it's nice and messy and you can make a lot of money at the fighting and the prolonged court delays of figuring out what you meant by that.
00:09:11
Speaker
um Attorneys that also do the estate planning part, no, we would generally disfavor that. It doesn't have any sort of testamentary intent. ah It doesn't sound like it has any sort of value whatsoever to give any indication to what somebody would want, nor is it signed with the formalities required to even make it a plan.
What are the formalities for legal documents?
00:09:36
Speaker
So ah in general, I would i would discourage that.
00:09:41
Speaker
Okay. And what are those formalities? Well, in every state, including Texas, there are requirements for how ah documents are to be signed to be legally enforceable so that they'll work.
00:09:55
Speaker
And every document has a different ah a different requirement. So wills in particular in Texas need to be witnessed twice by someone who is unrelated to you or um disinterested in the sense that they are not named in your paperwork.
00:10:15
Speaker
ah They have to be at least 14 years of age. And for good measure, while it's not a requirement, it's good to also have it notarized because without a notarized will, those witnesses would have to go to court and testify that they remember you signing your will and all of that. and you can imagine, unless you die imminently, it may be hard to track down people who signed a will.
00:10:36
Speaker
decades, cities and states later. So having it notarized while not required is a what we would call a best practice so that that testimony does not have to be given at the time of your death.
00:10:52
Speaker
And so what is a notary public and is it contagious?
00:10:58
Speaker
Um, no, I mean, it's, it's a, it's a designation where somebody can get, um, licensed by the state that they're able to take sworn statements that are recognized, um, in courts in the legal system that someone can attest or swear to the facts stated in the documents. And the notary is empowered by the state to,
00:11:26
Speaker
ah give their stamp of approval. And I really don't know how any of that would lead to any sort of transmission or or or whatnot. So i think I think you're safe. I think you probably have a natural immunity to catching the notary public.
What are powers of attorney?
00:11:50
Speaker
That's good. So I've heard a lot about powers of attorney. um
00:11:56
Speaker
What really are those? And if I give somebody power of attorney, does that mean they outrank me?
00:12:06
Speaker
I mean, if you're unconscious, yes. oh So um a power of attorney, ah which there's lots of powers that attorneys have, but it's completely unrelated to that, ah but is where you're designating someone to act on your behalf. So if it's a more financial power of attorney, then they're able to pay bills, ah contact banks, handle money and property for you.
00:12:30
Speaker
You can choose whether to have it effective immediately. So I guess they could outrank you. um or upon your disability or incapacity. Then there's also a medical power attorney where you can designate who can make medical decisions, but only if you are not able to make them yourself.
00:12:46
Speaker
They can't take that away from you if you're able to knowingly make those decisions. So like if I'm executed?
00:12:57
Speaker
um i I don't see that as a medical procedure, but I mean, there are states that have assisted suicide where it's not one of them.
00:13:09
Speaker
Okay.
00:13:12
Speaker
So once I create a trust,
00:13:18
Speaker
it seems like it goes through ah a lot of different processes. And, um, there's There's a lot of assignments and i don't do well with tests.
00:13:31
Speaker
i ah So with these assignments, I mean, what what do you do once you get your trust? And am I going to get any sort of praise from the appraisal district for getting my trust?
00:13:47
Speaker
ah So there's a lot to unpack there. One, i would imagine that you may not be great at tests or homework. And so you may not be, not everybody is, ah good candidate to do a trust. But um in essence, if you're doing one of these living trusts, there are certain types of assets that you can assign to your trust, such as personal property, vehicles, even LLC interests.
00:14:14
Speaker
And I'm sorry, what was that last question? So
00:14:21
Speaker
how much praise do I get from the appraisal district?
00:14:26
Speaker
Okay, so the appraisal district, which is who oversees the recording of deeds and land filings and homestead exemptions and and so forth.
00:14:39
Speaker
Again, I think you're you're getting hung up on on one part of the word, um appraisal as opposed to praise. And I suppose since an appraisal of your home um it's not really you getting the praise, but I suppose you could look at it as your home getting the praise if they determine that it has high value.
00:15:03
Speaker
Okay.
00:15:06
Speaker
Okay. So I think to wrap up here, I have a few documents that, you know, I really want to get some more insight on. And
00:15:19
Speaker
I think my biggest question is When should I schedule my appointment of agent to control disposition of remains? When do you schedule...
00:15:33
Speaker
Okay. When do you schedule your appointment of agent? Well, um yeah, it's it's not an appointment like at like a doctor's office. All right. So i think there's some misunderstanding there.
00:15:48
Speaker
It's really where you're appointing someone. who is going to oversee hopefully instructions you've left behind, um but is going to oversee the disposition of your remains, which sounds pretty foreboding, but basically we're talking about, you know, cremation, burial, or, or the like, but ah you don't need any Calendly link or ah to to schedule anything. It's really just a person you're designating.
00:16:16
Speaker
Okay. Or appointing. I can send them. A Calendly link. Okay. Sure. Yeah. How about So, next document I'm confused about is when we're talking about gift by living donor, what if I'm not ready to give up my organs?
00:16:35
Speaker
Well, I mean, there are certain organs that you can live without um that other people might need. But ah that aside, it's really meaning more while you're living, you're saying that upon your death,
00:16:51
Speaker
that you are willing to have your organs donated for life-saving or transplantation or or medical purpose purposes, but only once you're dead. Okay, so it's only when the executioner kills me.
00:17:05
Speaker
In your case, I think that's very likely.
What does 'per stirpes' mean?
00:17:08
Speaker
Okay.
00:17:14
Speaker
So one thing to wrap this up, I see a lot in wills per stripes. And why is it per stripes and not per stars and stripes? I mean, this is America, is it not?
00:17:29
Speaker
I mean, it is. and again, i i think a little little ah nuance that I see you're struggling with, and it's okay. it's you know Law is very complicated. well But the word is is not stripes.
00:17:43
Speaker
It's actually spelled and pronounced sterpes, and it's just a Latin phrase for how... um distribution can go. So let's say if you've got ah two children and you want everything to go equally to them, but if one of them dies before you, but they leave children, you can say leave everything to your descendants per stirpes.
00:18:07
Speaker
So no, no reason to call into question anybody's patriotism here, but per stirpes. And that means that the deceased child share would follow down to their children being your grandchildren.
Conclusion and reflections on the interview
00:18:21
Speaker
Okay. Okay.
00:18:25
Speaker
Well, I think I've learned a lot today. I appreciate your thoughtful answers. It was great have you. Yeah, normally, normally I would say anytime, but I think this is 20 minutes of my life. I will never get back, but also never forget.
00:18:43
Speaker
Thank you. Likewise.
00:19:22
Speaker
you