"Friendly" shows up in a few unexpected places when you're planning for retirement — and it's worth knowing what it actually means in each one.

Trusts, for instance, are highly “friendly” if your goals are privacy, asset protection, skipping probate or court delays, and leaving a legacy. Whether a trust behaves in a friendly manner depends entirely on what you’re trying to accomplish. The great thing about trusts (and other estate planning tools) is that they’re flexible enough to serve many different objectives at once.

South Carolina is also considered a “tax-friendly” state for retirees:

• South Carolina does not tax Social Security benefits.
• The state does not levy any estate or inheritance taxes.
• Homeowners 65 and older can exempt the first $50,000 of their primary home’s value from property taxes under the Homestead Exemption (state lawmakers have discussed raising that amount, so it’s worth double-checking the current figure when you file).

But numbers aside, the most important kind of “friendly” is the one you feel across the table. As your Personal Family Lawyer, I want to be that too. I smile, make eye contact, and when I ask questions, I listen closely to your answers. If you’re interested in a living trust for you and your family, click the link below to schedule a discovery call.

Protect the Life You’re Grateful For

September has a way of slowing things down just enough to notice what you have. The cooler mornings. The light shifting earlier. The kids settled into routines. The life you’ve built humming along around you.

And in those quieter moments — maybe on a walk, maybe at the dinner table, maybe just for a second before the day picks up — most people feel it: gratitude. For the people around them. For the home they’ve made. For the life that, despite everything, is really, really good.

World Gratitude Day falls on September 21st. And if you’re someone who pauses to appreciate what you have, here’s one more thing worth pausing on: Have you made sure the people you’re grateful for are actually protected?

Most families assume everything will just work out — and a little planning is what actually makes that true. Gratitude is a wonderful place to start, but a plan is what makes it last. This World Gratitude Day, give the people you love the one thing that protects everything else: a plan. If you’re ready to make that happen, click the link below to schedule a discovery call.