The Let's Get Comfy Podcast
Hosted by Founder and CEO of Comfort Measures Consulting LLC, Norman Harris. The Official Healthcare Edutainment station. Empowering listeners with the knowledge and resources to age comfortably. The podcast platform will uniquely provide laughter, peace, joy, resources and most of all COMFORT. Fostering professional partnerships and engaging the audience by providing them access to a REAL family-like conversation. That gives them the REAL reasons. Connects them to REAL reliable resources. To get REAL results. For REAL Comfort! Through interviews with C-suite healthcare leaders, experts, caregivers, founders, authors, educators, and thought leaders who are doing incredible work for older adults, family caregivers, and the healthcare community.
The Let's Get Comfy Podcast
Navigating Law and Life Lessons with Ed Spinks
Discover the inspiring journey of Ed Spinks, a board-certified elder law attorney and founder of Speaks Law Firm, as he shares his transition from the disciplined life of a US Marine to a passionate advocate for families in need. Ed opens up about how his military background has shaped his approach to law, bringing unique insights into the significance of board certification in elder law. His story is not just about professional success; it's a testament to the power of community and compassion in building a career dedicated to uplifting others.
Our conversation flows through Ed’s military experiences, revealing lessons of camaraderie and resilience that have informed his civilian life and legal practice. Listen as Ed recounts tales of teamwork and stress management from his diverse service in both the Army and the Marine Corps, illustrating how these experiences have carved his path in the legal realm. He also shares personal anecdotes about his cherished military coin collection and his active engagement in community programs that support children with special needs, painting a vivid picture of his multifaceted life.
Ed’s personal life is a tapestry of heartfelt stories, from his upbringing in a small Ohio town to his family-oriented adventures in Florida. He shares the serendipitous tale of meeting his wife, Tina, and the pivotal moments that have woven their lives together. The episode concludes with crucial insights into planning for the future, discussing essential topics like end-of-life planning and asset protection. Through Ed’s expertise, learn why proactive planning is paramount and how it can safeguard your future and that of your loved ones.
Welcome to the let's Get Comfy podcast brought to you by Comfort Measures Consulting, the official healthcare edutainment station, empowering listeners with the resources and insight to age comfortably. We are your station for laughter, peace and joy, but most of all, comfort. I am your host and sole proprietor, norman Harris, and today we have an amazing guest, a wonderful surprise. He is the founder of Speaks Law Firm, serving the greater Tampa Bay area, and has been practicing in the area of elder law, estate planning and special needs for over 20 years. He is a board expert in elder law by the Florida Bar.
Speaker 1:Ed is a graduate of the University of South Florida State University College of Law. He is retired from the US Marine Corps after serving 25 years, including tours of duty in Iraq, saudi Arabia, kuwait and the Horn of Africa. Ed is an active member of the VFW and the Military Affairs Committee for the Florida Bar. Ed lives in Tampa with his wife, tina, two wonderful children Big Willie, big William 13, and Lily. He enjoys volunteering at the YMCA and coaching Buddy Baseball, a league for children with disability. He is on the St Mark's Episcopal Church and recently completed a four year term as the president of Hillsborough County Superintendent Advisory Committee for Students with Special Needs. Students with special needs. I present to you the only board certified male and elder law attorney in Hillsborough County, mr Ed Spinks. All right, welcome, ed.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Thank you for having me here today. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, ed, I had to highlight you being the only male board certified attorney in elder law in Hillsborough County. It's a wonderful accomplishment. I was able to come to your celebration for that. I came at the end, right, so nobody probably remember seeing me there, but I did want to support. I came from Plant City. I said, you know, invite me. I need to meet Ed man.
Speaker 1:We had a wonderful conversation, your first meeting, and you were just so open and welcome and transparent with me. I need to meet Ed man. We had a wonderful conversation, your first meeting, and you were just so open and welcome and transparent with me and you took time to listen to me, listen to my vision. You shared insight for me, actually introduced me to Mr Steve Hopper right, yes, a wonderful gentleman as well but you also invited me to a networking group as well. So, just from our first initial meeting and introduction, it's like you just said you know what? I see something in this gentleman and you gave me an opportunity.
Speaker 1:And everybody don't do that, everybody don't open their arms to you and say, hey, I see what you're trying to do, I want to be a part of it and I support you, even if I only haven't known you for two years. You know even for 20 minutes you give your heart. I can see your heart there and it's exemplifies in the family that you have, and Miss Tina as well, your wonderful wife. So just meeting her first and her introducing me to you, she said you have to meet my husband and I understand now why. So I'm so happy to have you a part of the show Again. I want to repeat this Mr Ed Spinks is the only male board certified elder law attorney in Hillsborough County. He's the third one in Pasco County. That's a big accomplishment. Go males, go male. So if you chime in here with me, man, just talk about why you gave me a chance.
Speaker 2:I appreciate it and it was great to meet you and I understood your mission right away, because we got a lot of overlap in what we do. Because what we do we help families, we help people and a lot of times it's in a time of need. They're down and they can't find the next thing to do is, or they're depressed because of something's happening in the family and we can help rise them up. You know we help those people up and we can help those families and I see you have it in your heart, in your background, is what you've done and that's what we know we try to do as well, and that's where I find my motivation and my purpose in the things that we do.
Speaker 1:Thank you, sir, Thank you so much. So let's start with the thing that I'm highlighting and I told you and wife I definitely want to place emphasis on is what does it mean to be a board certified and elder law attorney?
Speaker 2:What does that mean Sure. And so in Florida, you know I have many attorneys in Florida. I wish I had this statistic here. I'd say the exact number, but there's a lot of attorneys in Florida.
Speaker 2:And so to be board certified, it means you've practiced in one particular area of the law, so you have a focus on the area of the law and you've also had additional training. You've had a certain amount of continuing legal education, so you focused on the law for at least five years in your area. You've had a higher degree of training in that area than is required by the Florida Bar. You also have to be verified or background checked by your peers in the Florida Bar themselves. They take a certain number of recommendations and referrals and then they check your background to make sure that you truly are practicing in that area and you got the expertise necessary. The third thing you have to do is take a written exam. Now you would think, hey, somebody's practicing this area of law for five years. You know a written exam would be a piece of cake, but the statistic I was given before I took the exam was only 25% of the exam takers actually pass this exam.
Speaker 2:Twenty-five percent the exam takers actually pass this exam 25%. So it's a very low number, even though you got to be practicing in that area and be verified before you even get to sit for the exam. So I was fortunate enough to be in that 25% and get board certified in the area of elder law what we do and what we love doing.
Speaker 2:One other statistic that I do find interesting is out of all the attorneys in Florida doing. One other statistic that I do find interesting is out of all the attorneys in Florida, there's only 7% of the attorneys that are board certified in any certain area. Now there are other certifications, be it personal injury, real estate, aviation, elder law, different areas consist of that, but only overall 7% of attorneys.
Speaker 1:So you have to come up with some sort of slogan. Ed 7%er.
Speaker 2:Yes, you're in the 7% of Ed.
Speaker 1:I get a little bad so if you would just describe your services at Spinks Law, just your different locations and where the community members can locate you Sure.
Speaker 2:We practice really in three areas estate planning, elder law and special needs. And so we break that down to kind of everybody understand. We do all the pre-planning, the things that everybody knows they need to get put in place but procrastinates to do so. That consists of estate planning with trusts and wills and powers of attorney and those things that you're taking a proactive approach for in your estate. And the elder law umbrella that's normally helping families when they got a loved one going to assisted living, nursing home or, you know, getting elderly, hence the name. So those services after somebody turns 65, deals with a lot of medical qualifications, sometimes some Medicare benefits as well.
Speaker 2:And the third is near and dear to our hearts we separate it. It's a special need planning Because it really is an umbrella of the two earlier things estate planning, elder law. But it's for those children with special needs and I say children because that's normally what you're dealing with those family raising children with special needs. You didn't mention our son. William has Down syndrome, so he's personal to us, so you know personal to us, and so we help them with a guardianship planning, with special needs, trust, able, act, accounts, doing those things that will help, you know, be successful for the rest of their lives.
Speaker 1:All right, good. So let's go back to the origins, right, the origins of Spinks Law Firm. How did you start the firm and if you would describe the differences of when you first launched right and then, how you've grown now and where you are now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, towards the end of my duty in the Marine Corps, I was stationed here at McDill, locally, so it gave me the opportunity to start my own firm, and so when I got to the point of having about 21 years in service, you can retire at 20 years. So I knew I wanted to start my own firm and try to do my own thing out there, based on the experience that I previously had. I was fortunate enough that the Marine Corps needed additional help during that time, and this is probably about 08 or 09. So we were pretty tied up overseas when, when I say we, I'm military in general they needed somebody on staff at MacDill.
Speaker 2:So I was able to transfer to be a reservist and then work at MacDill as a reservist and then also be here in Tampa, not being on deployment, and able to open the law firm up. So, like most people, I think when they start the law firm it's going to do anything that comes in the door right. I refer to it as door lock. You know walks in the door, you'll represent them. So I had done estate planning and litigation before in the Marine Corps. So those were the main two things I focused on because I'd already had experience in that area. But anybody came in with those two things, I would take them.
Speaker 1:So why the Marines? I hear these stories about how hard the Marines is and just how tough you have to be, and that's why I just didn't go in the military at all. So why you chose the hardest one to try to go. Or is it the Navy SEALs? Which one do you think?
Speaker 2:Well, I won't talk bad about the Navy SEALs, but I'll tell you the whole story, since we've got a few minutes here. Actually, it's true the Marines are by far the toughest, based on my experience. But I didn't start out there. So when I was 17, I graduated from high school, I first went in into the Army, so I was a smoke operations specialist in the Army. So it's an interesting job where you make smoke screens that cover the battlefield. I don't think they have it anymore because the technology is advanced so they don't need it.
Speaker 2:But when I first went in, that was our main job in 1985. This is great to smoke. Our job was to make smoke with these incredibly large generators and we would burn 55-gallon drums of oil through this generator, but it made a tremendous amount of smoke. It would cover acres and acres. Wow, you could make miles of smoke with these things. And so I was in a smoke platoon and so we had probably 30 of these generators or something. Now, the downside of being a smoke generator operator there's one place where you can make smoke screens it's not sitting in an air-conditioned office it's out in the woods my first story.
Speaker 1:I was at fort riley, kansas um out in the woods all the time I think my uncle was, uh, stationed there too. It's been around a long time.
Speaker 2:You Custer was there and they have General Custer's house there and a museum preserved to him and the cavalry from back in the day. So that place, fort Riley, has been around a long time but they made book screens at that place. So what triggered me to make the change is I got out of the active duty army and was in the reserves, got recruited by the Marine Corps recruiter and so those recruiters, you got a way of getting it. Yeah, they got you. And so I'm like, hey, how about stepping up a level now? But it was good for me, because one desirable thing about the Marine Corps at the time because I was going to school at USF was that they said if you do get accepted into law school, they'll divert the contract so you can be a Marine Corps lawyer, if not, you'll be a Marine Corps ground officer. So you kind of get to do whatever you want to do based on where you're at when I was finished with USF. So it was the path that came to me, was the best path for me at the time.
Speaker 1:So you were able to go to law school without any debt.
Speaker 2:Well, unfortunately I was not, because they said they would allow you to wait and go on active duty for the Marine Corps Got it, but they put you in the reserves during law school time. So basically what you got to do is pay for law school on your own, then, when you were done, then it'll put you on active duty. Got you Very smart Put you in the reserves and I worked in recruiting command during law school to help.
Speaker 1:Thanks, okay, three qualities you think you gained from the US Marine Corps.
Speaker 2:Top three qualities yeah, really, the Marine Corps presents a lot of challenges, but probably the number one thing the Marine Corps does is help you focus and help you make decisions in stressful environments, because you can imagine, you know anytime you're in that combat environment or going through operation. They want you to be able to think decisively and make decisions when you're under a lot of stress. So that's one thing is focused, and that's one reason why the training is so tough, because if you can't be under that amount of stress and make a decision, you can't be a good leader anywhere, not just in the Marine Corps but in the civilian world as well. Decision-making under stress is the greatest challenge Probably. The other two things are just working well within an organization. You've got to be part of a team.
Speaker 2:The Marine Corps is built on teams, be it the fire team, the squad, the platoon, the company level, the battalion, everything's a team and everything's focused on one mission. So everybody needs to know what the goal is and be working to accomplish that goal or that objective of the team. And then the third thing is you know kind of ties into team. But I just think it's the camaraderie you get with your fellow Marines or your fellow soldiers, sailors out there, that you're working in part of that cohesive unit and that's a really strong bond you develop. You know, I kind of add, about Fort Riley and doing some of that work out there. But I still stay in touch with some of those guys that I met, you know, back in 1985 and they've gone, you know, throughout the country and throughout the world. But we still stay in touch. We can kind of talk about things we did out there.
Speaker 1:Good, good. Thank you for sharing that. So I need to hear stories. I love military stories.
Speaker 2:So if you give me a triumph story and a tragic story, Sure, sure, I was in 25 years, so I got to run the spectrum of triumph and challenge stories. You know, the most difficult stories are, of course, the one stories because it's not only the fact that you're under stress or have to go on deployment to certain places, you know, be away from your friends and family, but you do make these bonds that I talked about with these. You know members and you know, as we all know, during the wartime people die and so you've got people that you have an immediate bond with or you've had a long connection with who end up passing as a result of the war. So, you know, really take a toll on you. It's probably the worst thing about being in the military, and I guess the worst thing about being in the military and I guess the worst thing about anything is you know your friends that you've made over these years During the military.
Speaker 2:Yes, during the military you know the hardest things to overcome, be it if you're in the same unit or if you read it in the paper or something down the road. It's just difficult to you know, process those emotions, or you know that but, you also.
Speaker 2:You know significant triumphs. You know for me, you know everything. You know everything in the military is built on being successful and having a triumph. You know military schools. You know if you start bootcamp, you know that. You know cycle and graduate. You know across that field and you know be whether it's in the army. You know Marine Corps and get your Eagle Globe and anchor, and so it's in the uh army. You know marine corps and get your eagle globe and anchor, and, and so it goes on and on. You know core uh ocs is similar to the um boot camp equivalent, so they have drill instructors there. It takes 12 weeks to get through, but at the end of that you're commissioned as an officer in the marine corps. So you become a second lieutenant at that time and get the Eagle Globe and anchor, which is symbolic of the Marine Corps. You know when you're truly a Marine when you complete that process and, as you can imagine, I mean I've been at you for 12 weeks. Yeah, that's what.
Speaker 1:I do, I'm under stress.
Speaker 2:And then the next rule for all Marines is you have to go to something they call the basic tool, but everybody goes to that, every Marine Corps officer and that's six months where you learn all the Marine tactics you know, really learning your ship to shore movements and your strategy and tactics for combat operations, particularly operating from the ships and moving into the shore.
Speaker 1:Got it. So when you first started, when did they cut your hair off Pretty much day one, day one, day one of any endeavor they cut your hair off.
Speaker 2:How do you feel when they cut your hair off? Pretty much day one, day one, pretty much day one of any endeavor, they cut your hair off. How did you feel when they cut your hair?
Speaker 1:off.
Speaker 2:You know, the first one in 1985, my hair was long too, so I mean it was probably long down to like my collar you know you had a sunshade.
Speaker 1:I had a time.
Speaker 2:When you like, comb it back like this and yeah, straight down the middle that they were able to. You know, spinning chair, when you're spinning around you have about a quarter of it shaved off, oh man. So that was a good time, but ever since that day, because just you know, you got to keep it short.
Speaker 1:So as you can see, I've just had to have it, so that's the one time that they've shaved it off.
Speaker 2:It's been off ever since.
Speaker 1:So I've grown it back. So you started early on years ago serving and you continue that right uh through, just as you've grown as an adult as well. But if you will just talk about what makes you, you know, are and just your endeavors in civic engagement, because you're, you're involved in the community as well.
Speaker 2:So yeah, you'll be, you know, and I'm fortunate, you know, and be engaged with my children because they're still young williams 13, at least eight and so it opens the door because they both do athletics at the YMCA, which I've been involved in, you know, be it coaching or supporting those athletes. I joined the coaching buddy baseball. It's a baseball league for children with disabilities and they pair them up with a child that doesn't have any disabilities and just help play a baseball game. So games, because it's about three innings bat around each time, you know out there and have a good time playing, you know a great time in that season.
Speaker 2:And the league is really growing tremendously as far as kids go. So, and then, of course yeah, you mentioned that yeah, I'm a vestry at St Mark's Church. It's kind of like director for the church and I've been on there for I think two years now and so we rotate though you can only be on there three-year terms and it comes off Okay. Also had the ability to be elected president of the Superintendent Advisory Committee for Children with Special Needs in Hillsborough County. This is all really linked to the kids. I got to meet these people and I was working with that group, so I attended as a member for a while and then eventually was able to move up and be president, which just ended last year. So that was kind of a long term thing to be in four years, but very enjoyable. I learned a lot about how the county government operates and particularly the school system and the school board Good good good.
Speaker 1:So, with that being stated, you have definitely different endeavors, but I noticed you indicated family is very important to you because a lot of your endeavors are connected to you spending time with your family. But what would you say outside of family right and your business, your law firm, what would you say? Your most cherished possession is?
Speaker 2:It's tough. Of course I've got to take the easy answer. I don't want to dodge that. Of course, faith We've got to have our faith in the Lord and where Jesus puts us in our life and we truly believe that and I think every family has to deal with that.
Speaker 1:No, I don't want to answer that. I want to know what's your cherished possession In the house.
Speaker 2:Here the house, tangible, which was your chairs position that you're not gonna. Let me get off on the easy.
Speaker 2:No, this is what's gonna be important to me, but that is important all right, no, god's family so if I had to say something that you, you hit a nail on the head when you say something. What is in your house that the kids can't right? And so, uh, I've got a pretty large collection of military coins and, uh, if you're not familiar, a lot of times different units will have a coin made. It's either got a unit symbol or Marine Corps symbol on it. And so, traveling to these different places, I've had the opportunity to receive a lot of coins and give a lot of coins from the units that I've been in.
Speaker 2:And so the military coin collection, I would say, would be the one because it's really irreplaceable as well. These coins date back. I got chemical ones from the Army because of smoke operations as part of the chemical corps, and then certainly more Marine Corps ones from traveling around. Be it, you know from places where I was at, in Africa and even Germany and Jordan, a lot of the Middle Eastern units that had those coins selected. So the coin collection would be the big thing.
Speaker 1:It's interesting that you say that I just had the opportunity to travel with my wife to a problem is pronouncing the name Eglin, South Carolina, with her great aunt and the first time I meet him. But wonderful hospitality they showed us. But you know, this was like a historic, I don't know tour you took us on like our tour of his home and he had the coins and the different because he was in the military as well. So I understand that.
Speaker 1:Now you know, being that you stated that right, absolutely so going back to just learning about how you grew up and and the things that, uh, you would develop.
Speaker 2:But if you just describe the neighborhood, how you grew up, yeah, father was from Ohio, so I was born in Ohio and really raised in Ohio. My mother's family's from Polk County, so we spent a lot of time in Polk County, florida, which is kind of our connection down here. But I graduated from high school in Ohio and that was a small, small industrial town.
Speaker 2:They had a lot of factories at one point when I was young, I'm sorry Siblings, yes, I got three, and so we all grew up there in varying points. I'm the oldest, so my next youngest brother is a year and a half younger than me. But my youngest brother is 10 years younger from me, so he joined the military when I was 17, so he was only 7. So our overlap in life great at that time.
Speaker 1:My younger brother is what? Nine years younger than me. So he is yeah.
Speaker 2:Unfortunately my father has passed, so I really don't have any relatives up north anymore. Everybody's down here in Florida.
Speaker 1:Everybody's down here in Florida, ok, all right. Who is, you would say, the most influential person in your early life?
Speaker 2:Yeah, influential person in your early life.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know these things, your parents.
Speaker 2:Of course right, because the parents are there.
Speaker 2:Your parents are raising you, you know, but you had a lot of. You think about being from a small town, you get a lot of great friends. You know I was really active in probably the uh Boy Scouts at the time. So I think you know friends I had there. You really had good uh bonds formed and you know friends and their parents. You're not going to at the time you think, hey, people are just jerks or your parents don't want to listen to you. You're a teenager but you're not going to. Now that great advice. You know my parents and their parents as well, to help me in some of my decision making.
Speaker 1:What kind of kid was you? Were you hard-headed? Did you listen? Were you an example for your younger siblings? What did you say about yourself?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was definitely not an example. I was probably just an average kid. I was kind of lazy in high school, so I didn't do a lot of work, a lot of effort. But now, on the other hand, my father, at this time when I was in high school, owned a pizza shop-restaurant combination. Oh, wow and so.
Speaker 1:I worked in a pizza shop restaurant combination. Oh wow, and so I worked in a pizza shop.
Speaker 2:All the time you say you don't make good pizzas. Now what's that? You don't make good pizzas. I can make good homemade pizzas. I can make it from the crust all the way up, Like we did everything handmade back in the day.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right, it was an experience.
Speaker 2:But I put in a lot of work because I wanted to make the money. So I worked a lot in the pizza shop, a lot of pizza delivery. So it was a fun job for me. I enjoyed being out delivering pizzas to people and meeting everybody.
Speaker 1:I have one of your pizzas, man, one day. We got to set that up. We're going to do a little one day. But as you grew older, going to the military, I have to connect back to the individual in which I saw you, which is your wife, miss Tina. Tina speaks, so I want to go to. How do you all met and how you all formed this power couple right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know she likes to downplay it, but to me it was a complete miracle because I met her after I'd already done a ton of traveling in the military. I had even came back from Africa at the time. So I'm back at MacDill, right, working. We are in Clearwater or Pinellas County, kind of Northern Clearwater, and we're there at two separate events. Right, she's there with some work event, I believe, and I'm with some other people at this restaurant and we meet each other just in their overlap of people, because some people from one event, some people were from the other. We set up a date of court, a let's get together one-on-one. You know change numbers and I'm just getting over that.
Speaker 1:You holler down. Yes, you holler yeah at the event. Yes, that's what you met. You saw what intrigued you about her to go over there and introduce yourself, mr Spinks. Well she's very beautiful. You met her so naturally, her beauty is the first thing. I wasn't going to let you skate over there like this and ran into her. Y'all was like, oh, here you go.
Speaker 2:No, of course her natural beauty is the first thing. But then, as we talked on the phone, you had a background of herself. She had a master's degree in public health administration and she's traveled all over the country as well. She went to school in Texas and worked in New Mexico. She's originally from Wisconsin, a graduate from the University of Wisconsin. She worked in Jacksonville and at the time lived in Clearwater. So she had a great diverse background and we really kind of started off just being very similar, similar backgrounds and she had a lot in common.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, a lot in common. And she works in that business, where she's working in the healthcare fields, in various agencies, and so you know a lot of that overlap too, where you know, like you and I were attracted naturally. I think there is some attraction to that. People that are in these fields where they help other people are attracted to each other and so they kind of stand and they have a natural connection there and you think that's an important connection that we develop. You know people that work in our industry. A lot of times people not in our industry don't understand because they're not in the people helping business, you know, really help people. So, yeah, they started having some one-on-one conversations.
Speaker 2:But I'll digress on this just short story, if you allow me to, because you know the military at the time, right Station at MacDill. Okay, I had just came back, and when I say just probably five years ago, at that time I came back from Hawaii and so they said they needed somebody to go out and work in Hawaii. Now, one thing we didn't talk about I also did similar work in Hawaii for the military, where I did legal assistance, providing estate planning and that type of stuff for members of the military and their families. So doing that, I found it advantageous to get admitted to the Hawaii Bar. So I took the Hawaii Bar exam when I was out there and got admitted to Hawaii. So I'm admitted to both states Florida first and then Hawaii second and so, being admitted to Hawaii, I got contacted by the Marines out in Hawaii and said, hey, we need somebody out here to come back out, and so I told him. I said, ok, you know, hey, great fit, I'm licensed in Hawaii. You know, I'm really wrapping up my time at MacDill this is before I started the practice or anything and I'd be happy to come back out there. Who can't not go to Hawaii? Right, it's a beautiful place as well.
Speaker 2:During this time is when I met Tina, though, and so I told her. I said, hey, I may have to move to Hawaii, because I've already basically told him I would. And now one thing the way you move in the military is you get orders to someplace. They send you a piece of paper. It's called an order. You're ordered to report in Hawaii on such and such a date. You know that means, hey, you got to go and you got to be there, but that's what really does it. I never got orders for Hawaii. Never got them, you know, and because I met Tina, tina, I didn't really like call and like, hey, where are my orders?
Speaker 2:were more. I was just like, okay, they didn't send them, they must not need me. Yeah, I just stayed at MacDill. But after I retired, you know one thing I saw in my paperwork when they were looking at my administration file those orders were in my paperwork, sitting in my paper. I just never received them. Wow, amazing, I mean it is amazing, that's fate man Meant to be right there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, me too, Absolutely.
Speaker 2:That's a good story. Hey, I think Tina doesn't believe that story to this day. But if you go back and look at my Marine Corps records, you'll see orders to Hawaii that were never given to me in whatever year. It was 2005 or before. It must have been later than that. It must have been like 07 when I met Tina.
Speaker 1:Right, we were all at that same time. I mean amazing, I mean congratulations to you both. So what do you say is the best gift you've given your wife Other than yourself? Besides the children maybe? Yeah, aside from the children, what do you say is the best gift you've given?
Speaker 2:Oh, you know, we've given each other a lot of gifts over the years, but this, I'll tell you the gift that she loves the most, yeah, so we, that's what matters. We were married in in february and so our anniversary is every february, but we, we try to follow the traditional. You know, you go online, you can look there's like a traditional gift, like the first one might be paper, the second year is wood or something right, and so one year was, uh, glass I believe, and so it might have been year seven, year six in that time frame. So it's been a little while right. And so I, going online, I'm like, hey, I'm gonna be creative and I got this glass rose made with this beautiful vase and this base for it All glass, great idea. So I thought, hey, I'm going to even step it up and I'll get it engraved Tina and Ed, you know, eighth wedding anniversary or whatever it is and then put the year down below it, you know what I?
Speaker 1:got the year wrong. Got the year wrong, that's not the right year. Yeah, and you know they're going to point out the one negative. Oh, this is beautiful.
Speaker 2:Nope, they're going to see instantly she still has it up in our bedroom today.
Speaker 1:I said let me send it back.
Speaker 2:Let me send it. She said no, no, no, I'm going to keep that one because that way we can tell the story. Yeah, we still have this in our bedroom today.
Speaker 1:Oh man hey my boy.
Speaker 2:that's the one that we talk about the most. We talk about gifts to each other.
Speaker 1:That's good, it's only off one year, mind you. Right, they can't, you know, they need their time away. I like that you just explained to me because this is actually a benefit as well to the community to have a family-oriented practice. Right, that have that connection and dynamics of someone of yourself that's engaging your community, but also place value on family as well. Right, you're not just all about self and promoting yourself, so just explain to listeners just the working dynamics of you. Know how yourself and Tina, how you all operate.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and we're really fortunate to be able to work together because, like I said, tina's worked in a variety of healthcare environments, be it a big hospital environment, home healthcare, hospice outreach. She's been in a wide range of fields and, like I said, she's got a great background in that area. And really it was around the COVID time. It was unfortunate on one hand, but a blessing on the other, that she needed a surgery and so she was going to have to be off work for six weeks for recovery after the surgery. But I had talked to her before It'd be great if we could work together, and during that time we made the decision, since she was out of work and taking a step away. Anyway, we're like, hey, what about doing something the following year, putting the plan together for real, and it works out great. I'm not saying that we couldn't spend all our time in an office together, 24 hours a day, with my lovely wife but we all have that.
Speaker 2:Anybody you work with if you're in close quarters all the time. But what we really focus on is I focus more on the inner office type stuff People that have the ability to come in meet with me face to face and get estate planning done. But there's so many of our people that need help in assisted living. They're in nursing homes, they can't get out of their home, they're bed bound. The Tina fills that gap and she's able to go out there and meet with them and bring back their needs and talk to me about hey, this person needs this kind of planning or that kind of planning, and then I'm able to do the planning and make it work for them. And then she's able to fill that gap of being out there seeing them face to face in their assisted living, in their nursing home, in their home. And she is phenomenal at seeing that, being able to identify their needs and help connect them with resources. If it's not us helping them connect with that hospice, that home care, there's other agencies.
Speaker 1:That's going to lift them up good, thank you, that definitely works. That's a good piece there and sort of makes you all just prepped for to being the go-to for estate planning. But let me ask you this so why is it so important for individuals to have estate planning in place? Why is there as a key and what are the key components of that?
Speaker 2:Sure, and estate planning is essential in the day-to-day lives because it's like having a plan for everything in your life. If you don't have a plan, if you fail to plan, somebody else is going to make that decision. Tina loves to say everyone has an estate plan. If you do nothing, that's your plan. You're going to make that decision. Tina loves to say everyone has an estate plan. If you do nothing, that's your plan. You're going to let the judge or the state of Florida come in and dictate how your life's going to go. They're going to dictate who's going to make financial decisions, healthcare decisions and manage your assets for you. Somebody's going to do that. It's either going to be the judge in a guardianship or probate hearing or it's going to be you, if you get out in front of it and build a plan that's in your best interest and in your family's best interest.
Speaker 1:So everybody has a plan.
Speaker 2:It's just is it going to be your plan or is it going to be the government's?
Speaker 1:plan. So I'm in this process now. Actually, I was speaking to Tina about, even with my parents, setting up an introductory call, virtual call, with you all as well. So, with the trust, all right, how can trust be utilized in estate planning and what?
Speaker 2:are their benefits and so when we talk about trust in estate planning, we're taking a little bit more of a deep dive into who would be getting that. So somebody looking for long-term planning what a trust does? It protects your assets in the event that you're incapacitated and also helps avoid probate for those beneficiaries of your trust. So during your lifetime, you would control the assets that are held in trust for your own benefit, or for your spouse's benefit if it's a joint trust, or for your spouse's benefit if it's a joint truck. Now, if you become incapacitated, you can name a successor trustee, somebody to step in and manage that, which is a great idea, because you don't want the government or somebody third-party to plan for that. So it gives you these advantages as well as helps avoid the probate process, which you can take anywhere typically from six months to a year to wrap up your estate. It allows your loved ones to have access to those assets that they inherit much quicker than it typically would.
Speaker 1:Is there any misconceptions around estate planning at all? Any stigmas?
Speaker 2:The biggest misconception I see right now in estate planning is online documentation or non-attorney planning.
Speaker 2:Because there's a difference between estate planning and having a will or having a power of attorney. Estate planning what we do encompasses everything. We make the estate plan specific to you because your needs are going to be different than my needs. Your parents' needs are going to be different than my parents' needs. Everybody needs individualized, but the advertising and things you'll see on the Internet today will tend to believe hey, download this will document, fill it in yourself. You have a will in place. While it's true, you may be able to do that, but the part of the planning aspect is what's that going to do for you? Why have that? How is it going to help you reach your goal? You know, how is it going to leave your legacy, and that's what estate planning attorneys can do for you that you don't get from these document automation sources Got it.
Speaker 1:So, based on your experience and you've been in the industry for quite some time now are people prepared for their most vulnerable state, Meaning when they're in that state where they're no longer able, is there a challenge to care for themselves and they need assistance from any health care provider or a loved one, or even placement in an assisted living facility? What do you say? What's your opinion on that?
Speaker 2:I'll just tell you what the statistics are, because you do research on this and the senior care statistic right now says that if over 65, 70% of people are going to need some level of long-term care be it rehabilitation, assisted living or skilled living, nursing home care and yet they say that less than 70% of them have a plan in place to document that. And that's what I'm talking about getting that plan in place early. How are you going to pay for these things during your life? Who's going to be able to make these decisions for you? That's where these powers of attorney come in. Long-term care insurance is important component, life insurance. All these things work together. We can do one aspect of it, but there's many aspects that need to be considered and those all things overlap and work in conjunction.
Speaker 1:So you're saying 70% of individuals over the age of 65?.
Speaker 2:Do not have the proper plan. So only 30% of the people over 65 have the necessary planning in place.
Speaker 1:Wow, and that's why we do what we do, bringing that awareness to those things. Because, one, I want to be prepared as I age as well, but I look at generation from experience in my family immediate family also of not being prepared as well. So I want to change that. But obviously I'm in that 70% too and my family is, but that's why we're bringing awareness to that as well. So thank you for sharing that.
Speaker 2:That's one of the great statistics to share as well, and that's one thing we try to do. We're constantly out there educating, and so, tina and I, we try to do a large education ceremony or session once a month to a mass group, but also be out there giving even short talks on, hey, what is a power of attorney? I think we got one called the power of attorney so letting everybody know, hey, this is what a power of attorney is designed to do. This is a situation when you may need it. It's my opinion that everybody should have these powers of attorney put in place. This is a situation when you may need it. It's my opinion that everybody should have these powers of attorney put in place. But it's an educational piece. You got to know why. What difference does that make? And so spreading that educational venue is something really important to us that we try to do.
Speaker 1:Right. So, with the statistic of being 70% of people being unprepared, does those individuals sort of and I know every case is different, but a lot of those family members or individuals have to find out about Medicaid planning then Is that a result of sometimes in some form of not being prepared?
Speaker 2:Yes, in Medicaid qualification we do a large amount of it because it can be the result of being not prepared, or it can be the result of being prepared and knowing that that's a benefit available. So many people I talk to have a loved one going into a long-term nursing home and they don't realize Medicare doesn't just pay that 100%. It starts out because it's security. It starts out paying 100%, but then it diminishes down to 80%, and then, by the time you reach 90 days, it's paying zero. So you better have a way to pay, and that cost right now is about $10,000 a month. Yes, sir. So we can help them a lot of times, though, and explain hey, there's a supplemental program for Medicaid that helps cover that, so it can help them. And if they don't have a plan in place, fortunately that's a stop gap, but you have to have some minimum plan in place, because you still got to apply and you got to qualify. So that's where these other things come importance. You got to have that stuff in place, where you can't even qualify.
Speaker 1:But even knowing those options and having those conversations sooner, yes, right Is the good thing, is the key that we want to trigger in individuals as they listen to us just speaking on it. Regarding now, yes, right, make the phone call right the time that you're laying in bed on your phone on Facebook or looking at talk on your lunch break. Give a call to Sweeney's Law Firm. Give a call just to the law attorney. Just say, hey, I'd like to set up just an info call right, just to consult. I have my mom. She's 75 years old. I just want to be able to provide information to her.
Speaker 2:And that's why we always offer complimentary consultations, because I feel that's so important to get that initial call in and just hear about hey, what's the options out there, so you're aware of them and we're spreading that education to folks and their families.
Speaker 1:Yes, sir, education to folks and their families. Yes, sir, so in regards to being prepared, how can individuals or when you have a family member coming into you and see you, for instance, speak to about the conversation you have with them about protecting their assets right for?
Speaker 2:long-term care costs, and so the first question I always ask every family is what is your goal? Why are we here, what's the goal? Because 90% of the time, I can get them to the goal, but I need to know what the goal is, and they need to know what the goal is. Sometimes they don't really know, they're not clear on what the goal is, and so I think that's a good place to start any conversation when you're talking about long-term planning. What is your goal? Is it to take the stress off your kids of going through probate? Is it to prevent fighting and make it clearly defined who's going to inherit? What Is it to take care of that child with special needs and make sure, when you're no longer there to do it, there's a plan in place to take care of him or her? If we get to that goal first and then work backwards, we can create a great plan to reach the goal. So I think it's important to know what your goal is, and then we can develop a plan to get there.
Speaker 1:So I do want to focus on a topic that, based on just my history, where I come from and the education that I had, the one thing that I always used to hear for some of my elder adults or loved ones, family members, was well, I have a living will. So if you just tell, explain to listeners what's an established living will but what results from having the living will once that loved one passes away. And then they say I want you to be the beneficiary of my assets, what's that process like when they're trying to find out more about that? The probate process.
Speaker 2:And that's exactly it. And we do probate a pretty large share of our business as well, and so it really takes having that conversation with families. You know probate to wrap up an estate is going to be six months to a year. The standard rates for probate in Florida now this is statutory rates is $3,000 plus 3% of the assets. So it can be very costly to go into probate.
Speaker 1:I want to catch that point there. So if I have a loved one, let's say they pass away and they say I want to leave all of my property, assets, financial funds to Norman, right, what would be Norman's process? Because I'm in the living will, right? That's the only thing they have. They don't have a trust established anything, they just have a will.
Speaker 2:Yes, and so one thing that, Norman, let's make sure we clear up the language, because there's a misconception in Florida particularly. We got living wills and we got last will and testament Two different things. Fortunately they're very similar in names. We often confuse those words. The living will is limited to your last wishes. Do you want to be kept alive on life support if you're in a permanent vegetative state with no chance of recovery, or do you want to be allowed to die naturally? That's usually the living rule.
Speaker 2:The last will and testament is that plan that says when I pass, I want Norman to be in charge of gathering all my assets and distributing all my assets to him, and so that last will and testament can clearly say that. But one misconception in Florida is they don't realize wills have to go through probate court. So if there's a will and I want to leave everything to you, I can put that in there and I can make you in charge. But there's still the court process. You've got to file the original will in court and then you normally need to hire an attorney because of the process to get through that procedure to get the judge to sign off and say you are the personal representative and you may distribute the assets, Of course, after you pay the attorneys and the court and other people along the way.
Speaker 2:So that sometimes we're trying to avoid that process and some people are fine with it. But it's getting that put in place. As long as their loved ones will be taken care of, even if there's some court involved, they don't have a problem with it. So it's individualized how they want it to go Right right, right.
Speaker 1:My next question to you is if you could explain how families can navigate the complexity of end-of-life planning and just including in living wills and an advanced directives process, just your advice. I know there's no perfect situation, but if you were just advising me, just normal, I'm 36 now, just turned 36 years old what would be if I come into your office? What would you advise me? One I know you have to know what I want, right? Obviously I want to have money and I want to be broke and I want to be able to have care being provided to me. Those are the two essential things, for sure.
Speaker 2:And that's a lot of times exactly it.
Speaker 2:We talk about the goals and then we talk about different options to get there and there's a number of ways to do that.
Speaker 2:Now most people like I talked to before we talk about a living estate plan, and so it is a triangle to describe the living estate plan and that's somebody, if you're incapacitated, to make financial decisions, somebody to make medical decisions and somebody to maintain your life or have that living will in place that says under the conditions you would want to be allowed to die naturally and not kept alive on life support, because all these things impact you during your life if you're incapacitated during a period of time.
Speaker 2:Covid was a great example because you got many individuals who are younger but they would be in the hospital on a respirator could be 30, 60, 90 days. So they're going to live, they're going to make it, but can you imagine not paying your bills for 30, 60, or 90 days or not taking care of the things that you do every day for that time period? So having that loved one designated to be able to do that on your behalf, so when you do recover, you come right back to. Your house isn't foreclosed on, your electricity is still on. Everything's been going in the regular course of events because you did this pre-planning, so that living planning can be just as important as the end-of-life planning.
Speaker 1:That is true. That's very good information. What resources and tools do you recommend for families beginning the estate planning or elder law process, so they're going through the process? What resources and tools they should start reading or following just to learn more information about it? Of course they can always contact you all, but what are some things before they can that, if they don't want to take that step of setting up a meetings or something? Exactly that's my number one thing.
Speaker 2:Hey, call me, I think it happens.
Speaker 2:No, just being familiar with the terms of art, understanding, when we're talking about estate planning, what that consists of. Why is a trust different from a will? At least in the big picture, I think those are things that are very helpful for everybody to know. But one thing I want to share is we've got a problem nowadays with the internet Because law is very state-specific, especially when we're talking about elder law, very state-specific, and particularly when we're talking about real estate.
Speaker 2:Homestead laws in Florida are unique from any other state. So, understanding how the homestead Law applies because it's normally everyone's largest asset I hear many, many times that, well, I don't want to get Medicaid coverage for long-term care because we don't want to lean on the House. We don't want the government to take the House when the claimant dies, but in Florida that's not a problem. Homestead's going to protect that person. But in New York, connecticut, some of these up north states they will get a claim or a lien on their house, and so it makes sense to be concerned about. So, while they're looking at information, it's good to know, I think, general areas of information, but make sure you talk to your attorney about how that works for you in your particular state, because that's the one thing I see misinformation bleeding in from people who well-meaningly do research, but they're getting it from other states. It does not apply the same in Florida.
Speaker 1:So if you were to say, just if you're in the elevator and you were just speaking to someone and they found out what you do, they say, oh, I can't hear about you, You're a law attorney. You would just say encourage them, or to actually give you a call. What would you say to them right now?
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I always explain that as hey, we're in the business of helping people with three things right Estate planning, elder law and special needs. And, just like I said when we first came on, those are the three things we do. We do the estate planning, the early on planning for people, be it for their loved ones, involving wills, trust, anything like that. We do the elder law, which typically encompasses those over 65. You know the same wills and trust, but now we've got a mindset of looking out for long-term care needs as well. And, of course, those kids with special needs are near and dear to us. We're talking about guardianship, special needs, trust, able Act accounts, all those things they need to help them throughout their life. Thank you, sir.
Speaker 1:So beautiful, Ed. Now, before we wrap up, I always have to end each show with a game, so let the games begin. All right, this game here, and I played this with every guest that we're going to have on the show. It's called seven versions of me and you get seven seconds to provide your response. All right, so first version it as a husband, good but not great.
Speaker 2:You heard my story about the anniversary gift. Yes, sir, okay. As a father, also good, but not great. No, I try to do the best I can for the kids, but I love them. And as a sibling, hey, probably not even good. There I'll apologize now to my brothers. Probably wasn't the nicest brother in the world, but hey, I made them a lot tougher, so they got through that and as a son, again, probably pretty decent, though, because I worked hard at the restaurant, probably the hardest working guy at the restaurant.
Speaker 1:I worked hard at the restaurant and as an entrepreneur.
Speaker 2:Probably good, but not great. I think we've really found the niche. I know we didn't talk about too much how we went from just helping anybody to focusing on the elder law, but it's really my passion, genuinely concerned about helping people and giving them the best quality of life, thank you. And as a friend, he wants to be a good friend, right. So we hope we can help our friends as much as we possibly can, and I do the same. I do keep in touch with guys. I wish I could talk to them more from the old days, early military days, but I do stay in touch, stay busy and add impact on his community.
Speaker 2:And that's where one thing I do the best that I can do, and that's all I think anybody can ask on impact in the community, you know, in the civic organizations, just in churches, anything we can do, especially with the kids. It's so easy. Every place needs volunteers. So I mean I think everybody should be out there as much as they can or as much as their talents allow them to.
Speaker 1:Okay, Thank you for that. So that's the complete, the seven versions of Ed. So second game here is that's my Answer, this game, particular game. You get five seconds to respond. It's a little weird, just like those questionnaires that I sent you those questions there. So what's your favorite genre of music?
Speaker 2:Oh's a tough one everything I'm gonna say. How would you say like rock, okay, rockish type stuff, all right. Favorite song oh man, what have we been listening to all the time? I listen to one song every day. It's like a strange song you remember who it's? By it's, by somebody who I was surprised was still alive, even it's like Conway Twitty or somebody like that. My son's been playing it every day Honky. Tonk Bar is what it's called.
Speaker 1:Okay, gotcha, he's been playing this thing all the time it's kind of a crazy song we normally wouldn't listen to.
Speaker 2:I don't even know how he found it. He plays this thing over and over.
Speaker 1:It's kind of a funny song. Chicken or seafood, all right, justin Timberlake or Usher.
Speaker 2:That's a tough one for me.
Speaker 1:Justin Timberlake Favorite football player.
Speaker 2:That's a tough one too, I'd have to say.
Speaker 1:Bradley, bradley. Okay, the five shots of whiskey, or three Long Island.
Speaker 2:Ooh enough, one man.
Speaker 1:Good story. If I have more than five seconds, I can tell you the story about both of those things. I would have to go with the whiskey, though. The whiskey all right. Dancing or singing, that was a tough one.
Speaker 2:It all depends on if it's before or after five shots of whiskey.
Speaker 1:I wouldn't say dancing. Who's the better actress, Sandra Bullock or Julia Roberts? No, Sandra. Bullock? Me too, I was going to say that too. Alright, get offended here. Now, who would you date? Meg Ryan or Sandra Bullock?
Speaker 2:That's a tough one too. I'm going to go with Sandra Bullock again.
Speaker 1:What's the most hilarious movie that you secretly love? Hilarious movie that you secretly love Hilarious movie that you secretly love.
Speaker 2:Yes, I watch a lot of stupid movies, me too. I'll help you out Mine is Step Brothers.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's a good one, that's a good movie. Man, I love Step Brothers.
Speaker 2:That's a good one. I'm trying to think of just what I've seen. I did watch the Meg the other day, which was kind of not really.
Speaker 1:Oh, you know what I?
Speaker 2:like it's funny, I watch all the top central.
Speaker 1:It's got the rock in it and I've seen it. I've seen that.
Speaker 2:All right one food or dish you would eat every day. Kill that one. Wow, okay, from the box, I will eat it at the restaurant.
Speaker 1:High-end Italian place, I will make my own. Okay, you could snoop through one person's private life. Who would it be?
Speaker 2:Good question too. They're dead Anybody. Oh, you know, I found it interesting Now this is kind of like stoic, but Norman Schwarzkopf To see how the development of the Gulf War was the first time that would be like 91, how he developed in that Because he was a key figure in that war.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's probably like. I think three years ago I got a couple years on me All right, greatest fear that you're ashamed of.
Speaker 2:Greatest fear that I'm ashamed of man. I've got a lot of fears that I'm ashamed of.
Speaker 1:I've got a lot of fears of Ashamedo. I'm kidding, I've got a lot of.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's probably just the greatest thing. I don't know if you'd be ashamed of it, but it's just the fear of failure and not being able to accomplish whatever that objective is being able to do that, or being there for your kids, or something that you can't do it for.
Speaker 1:So you're not scared like a giraffe, or what about? Pretty good with giraffes? Yeah, I said your app hippopotamus. Is that you some? Yes, apparently I'm just a scared the last one.
Speaker 2:This is a movie Saving Private.
Speaker 1:Ryan or Braveheart, it's all Saving Private Ryan. Braveheart for me, mel Gibson and Braveheart you gotta be kidding me.
Speaker 2:I like them both, but we're no altruistic. I get you, I get a little bit more.
Speaker 1:Mr Spinks. Sir, so happy you joined the let's Get Comfort podcast Comfort listeners. I hope you enjoyed this wonderful conversation with Mr Ed Sping sharing his life story from the military, his family being a power couple, what he provides to the community and his dedication to serving serving for many years and it didn't start just now. It started back just as a youth. So I'm glad that he gave me the opportunity to have the conversation today, on a Sunday, here with my family. So thank you for watching let's get comfy podcast like coming in. Subscribe to the next episode Peace.
