Valentine’s Day and Estate Planning: Protecting the Ones You Love Most

Name: ESTATE PLANNING – Avoid Probate and Take Control of Your Future
Start: 2026-06-16T14:00:00-04:00
End: 2026-06-16
Location: Post 25 Kitchen & Lounge

Attorneys Greg McIntyre and Jordan McIntyre

Valentine’s Day is about love—romantic love, family love, and caring for the people who matter most to us. At McIntyre Elder Law, we often remind clients that one of the most meaningful acts of love is planning ahead to protect your spouse, your children, and yourself.

In a special Valentine’s Day edition of The Elder Law Report, estate planning and elder law attorneys Greg McIntyre and Jordan McIntyre—father and son—discussed how thoughtful estate planning can provide security, clarity, and peace of mind for the people you love most.

Protect Minor Children Through Trust Planning

For couples with minor children, one of the most important estate planning steps is creating a plan to protect children financially if something unexpected happens to both parents.

Trust planning allows parents to:

Appoint a trusted person—such as a sibling, family member, or close friend—to manage assets for children
Ensure funds are available for education, healthcare, and daily needs
Protect children from receiving large inheritances too early

Trusts can also work hand-in-hand with life insurance. While attorneys are not insurance agents, term life insurance is often affordable and can be a powerful way to fund a trust. If both parents pass away, life insurance proceeds can flow directly into the trust, helping cover the costs of raising children, sending them to college, and supporting them as they start their adult lives.

Protecting the Family Home

For many families, the home is their most valuable asset—both financially and emotionally. At McIntyre Elder Law, we often use Lady Bird deeds (also known as enhanced life estate deeds) as a way to protect a primary residence and transfer it to chosen beneficiaries outside of probate.

Lady Bird deeds can:

Allow homeowners to retain full control of the property during their lifetime
Protect the home for a surviving spouse
Pass the home directly to children or other beneficiaries without probate

In some cases, trust planning may also be used to protect the home. Often, the best solution involves a combination of tools tailored to a family’s specific needs.

Protecting Your Spouse

Estate planning is not only about children—it’s also about protecting your spouse. This is especially important as couples approach retirement or face health concerns.

Trust planning can help:

Protect assets if one spouse needs long-term care
Shield resources from certain creditor claims
Ensure financial stability for the healthy spouse

Joint family trusts, for example, allow married couples to create a single trust together, manage assets during their lifetimes, and ensure those assets pass smoothly to the surviving spouse and eventually to chosen beneficiaries.

Avoid Guardianship with Powers of Attorney

One of the most overlooked—but most important—acts of love is putting powers of attorney in place.

Many people assume that marriage automatically gives a spouse the legal authority to make financial or healthcare decisions. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Without proper documents, spouses may be locked out of bank accounts, retirement accounts, real estate transactions, and medical decision-making.

Essential documents include:

General Durable Power of Attorney for financial matters
Healthcare Power of Attorney for medical decisions

Without these, families may be forced into a costly, time-consuming court guardianship process. Planning ahead is far more efficient, less expensive, and far less stressful for loved ones.

Loving Yourself is Part of Loving Others

Caring for others starts with caring for yourself. Just like the airplane safety rule—put on your own oxygen mask first—you must have your own estate plan in place to truly protect those around you.

This includes:

Having a will and/or trust
Naming the right agents and successor agents
Clearly stating who inherits your assets

Without a plan, state law decides for you through intestate succession statutes. These laws can create surprising and uncomfortable outcomes, especially in blended families or second marriages.

A Lasting Valentine's Message

Valentine’s Day is a reminder to think ahead, care deeply, and plan intentionally. Estate planning isn’t just legal paperwork—it’s an act of love.

By creating a comprehensive plan, you protect your spouse, your children, and yourself, while giving your family clarity and peace of mind during life’s most difficult moments.

If you haven’t reviewed or created your estate plan, Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to start.

📍 Offices in Shelby, Charlotte, and Hendersonville
📞 Call us at 1-888-999-6600
🌍 Visit our website: www.mcelderlaw.com

Don’t wait until it’s too late—take control of your future today!