January 03rd, 2019

Today's song is "These Are My People" by Rodney Atkins   

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/These_Are_My_People

Well we grew up down by the railroad tracks
Shootin' b.b.'s at old beer cans
Chokin' on the smoke from a lucky strike
Somebody lifted off of his old man
We were football flunkies
Southern rock junkies
Crankin' up the stereo
Singin' loud and proud to gimme three steps
Simple Man, and Curtis Lowe
We were good you know

We got some discount knowledge at the junior college
Where we majored in beer and girls
It was all real funny 'til we ran out of money
And they threw us out into the world
Yeah the kids that thought they'd run this town
Ain't runnin' much of anything
We're just lovin' and laughin'
And bustin' our asses
And we call it all livin' the dream

[Chorus]

These are my people
This is where I come from
We're givin' this life everything we've got and then some
It ain't always pretty
But it's real
That's the way we were made
Wouldn't have it any other way
These are my people

Well we take it all week on the chin with a grin
Till we make it to a Friday night
And it's church league softball holler 'bout a bad call
Preacher breakin' up the fight
Then later on at the green light tavern
Well everybody's gatherin' as friends
And the beer is pourin' till Monday mornin'
Where we start all over again

[Chorus]

We fall down and we get up
We walk proud and we talk tough
We got heart and we got nerve
Even if we are a bit disturbed

[Chorus]

This is an interesting song to analyze in the context of estate planning and elder law.  But think about this question, and then read the lyrics again.  Who are YOUR people?  Now, did you read the lyrics?  

When you are planning for your future and writing wills, compiling documents, or doing all the other work that a true estate plan entails, you really need to ask yourself:  WHO ARE MY PEOPLE?  When you're planning something as important as your retirement, what happens to your spouse if you pass away, what happens to yourself as you age in place, or anything else in this phase of your life:  you must ask--who are my people?  I mean two things by that.  1)  Who can you count on when the chips are down and something happens to "activate" your estate plan?  And 2) Who handles all my stuff, and handles the responsibilities of an executor, when I pass away? 

Sodoma Law PLLC can help you figure out the answers to both questions AND we can help you to formally, legally, memorialize your plan so that everyone who needs to know "who your people are" can quickly tell "who your people are".  

If you were to get into a car accident today, and be hospitalized tomorrow, do you have a medical power of attorney, and a regular power of attorney, set up?  We can help you do that, so everyone knows "who your people are."

If that car accident were serious, and you did not survive, do you have a legal will in your state of domicile?  If you do, have you talked to your executor in the last few years?  Are all the people you designated still the ones you want to get custody of your minor children?  Things change, and you need to make sure those "who are your people" are still your people.  We can help refresh your will!  Or write a new one.

In summary, the song is a good one because it reminds you to ask yourself:  Who are my people?  And does everyone else know who they are?