TALK 94.5 Liz And Nick
TALK 94.5 Liz And Nick
LEGAL TALK WITH LACEY HIGINNBOTHAM (GSLG) 8/19/26
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Time to drop the gavel. It's legal talk with Auntie Knight from the Grand Strand Law Group on the Liz Callaway Show. Next summer, talk to the entire Grand Strand.
SPEAKER_01And joining us live from the Grand Strand Law Group is Lacey Higginbotham. Hey y'all.
SPEAKER_00We gotta get to your own walk-up song because that's anti-I know, right?
SPEAKER_01What is your walk-up song?
SPEAKER_02I don't know. I don't know that I've ever thought about it.
SPEAKER_01We'll have to think of one.
SPEAKER_00What is like one song that comes to your mind? Ooh, that is me.
SPEAKER_01You know, get your psych to like really like go into the courtroom or something.
SPEAKER_02Oh gosh. Um, I'd have to say Eminem lose yourself. Truly, though.
SPEAKER_00Does he swear?
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Absolutely. So yeah, I'll have to think of a PG one. Please.
SPEAKER_00The FCC would appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01Right. So Lacey Higabotham is here, and uh Angie Knight is globe trotting. She is once again. Yeah. And that's good. Is she in Alaska or something?
SPEAKER_02Yes. So she went up to Canada and then she's gonna be going from Canada to Alaska.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, to see uh all the beautiful sites up there. So that's gonna be amazing. All right, so Lacey, uh you and I were just uh, I was saying, like, what what's your uh your area that you focus on a lot? And you said you do a lot of prenuptial and cohabitation agreements. We we we always touch upon that. I I talk about it, but I'd like to talk about what it really means because it could be cohabitation, prenuptial, antinuptial, it could be you know between business partners.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01It's basically, you know, you kind of don't want to think about what happens when we split up when you're just getting started. Right. So how do you broach that subject?
SPEAKER_02I mean, it's one of those things that I actually got into the practice of prenuptial agreements and cohabitation agreements because of real estate and because of my practice in the area of business. So I would have um different business partners, whether it be family members or just true business partners, come to us. And Angie and I would be working on their succession plan, but maybe one of them was going to be getting married, and we were like, okay, that changes the game because now not only are you in partnership with your business partner, but you're also gonna be in partnership with their future spouse. Maybe that's something you didn't agree to. When they pass away, we know from the estate planning side that their share of the business then goes to the spouse. Oh, yeah. So you may not want to do business with your brother-in-law in the event, you know, something happens. Um, and you may not want to do business with your partner's spouse, you know. So how do we protect that? And the way that we do that in the business sense is a prenuptial if they've not been married yet, or an anti-nuptial that says that they don't have an interest in the business. There's also creative ways on the business side that we can um structure a buyout for the spouse. So maybe we say they're not entitled to this percentage, but we're gonna set up a whole life life insurance policy for the business partner. That way, when they pass away, the money pours into the business and the money's there to be able to buy the spouse out at a set price. But again, these are all terms that we'll all agree upon before, you know, doing business or getting married so that everybody's on the same page.
SPEAKER_01And then everybody feels safe and they're not sitting there wondering.
SPEAKER_02Right, exactly. And I mean, Green Strand Law Group, you know, we always say that we provide comfort and confidence for life's most important decisions. That's part of that comfort, not having to wonder what if my business partner were to pass away? Do we have a plan? What if my spouse passes away? You know, will his business partner continue to operate the business? Do am I entitled to any distributions from it? How am I gonna then care for me, kids, that sort of thing? So it just provides clarity.
SPEAKER_01Okay. And when it comes to buying something, whether you're investing in something, a commercial building or people invest in Airbnbs together. Yeah. People um may, you know, decide, hey, we're living together, let's stop renting, let's buy a home. What are some of the things or conversations that people should have prior to walking into that initial meeting?
SPEAKER_02Absolutely. So before you look at purchasing a home with somebody that you are not married to, um, this could be a parent. I see a lot of those situations. I see a boyfriend, girlfriend, um, life partners. I don't see a ton of marriage in my generation. So that seems to be the norm is people are, you know, purchasing real estate without being married. So the way that, you know, you should approach this is honestly um having a clear conversation. Who's putting what down as far as money? Um, who's gonna contribute to the mortgage each month? Is this gonna be a thing that one person's paying monthly and then the other person picks up taxes and insurance? Or are you guys gonna split it 50-50? Are we gonna split it equitably based on the percentage of income that each person's bringing into the household? So these are all things that you want to talk about before purchasing the property. Um, and those are all terms too that we can agree upon in a cohabitation agreement. Best thing about a cohabitation agreement is that in the event things don't work out, you guys split. Both of you are not tied to the mortgage where one can't then go purchase another house because their debt to income ratio is messed up. We can put in terms that say, hey, you know, within 90 days, we're either going to sell it, split the equity, we're going to refinance if this person wants to keep the home. Um, we can put, you know, if you put in 20,000 that you get your 20,000 back, or we can also put that you get what now your equity for that 20,000 would have been. Um so there's all kinds of terms. And for me, whether it's a cohabitation agreement or a prenuptial agreement, it's better to have the conversation sooner. We know that finances are the number one cause for divorce and for relationships ending. So why not have those conversations before we buy the asset?
SPEAKER_01And it's like one of the most major assets people buy. A hundred percent. And uh, you know, and especially with um the cost of renting now, sometimes it it seems like it's again, once again, better to buy than to rent, even though the interest is a little higher. And your rent is so high.
SPEAKER_02It is, and your main street millionaires, right? The people that are millionaires for the first time, first generation millionaires, a lot, a lot of the times it comes from 401k and real estate. So this is the largest asset. You know, we um speak with our financial advisor all the time, Yulitza, she's great. Um, but she always says pay yourself first. And, you know, when it comes to taxes, we pay our taxes right out of our paycheck. So you've got to be as systematic with your investments and what you're building. The easiest way to do that is a mortgage because it's automatic. You're already needing somewhere to live, you're paying and investing into that. So if that's the biggest asset that you've poured money into, and maybe sweat equity, you know, if you're fixing up the place, all these different things, who do you want that to go to? And so if you get married, you know, it it can go to them. Do you have children? You know, for me, I've got two nephews that I absolutely adore. So my estate plan has always been planned to go to those two. If I get married, that changes the rules of the game. Yeah. But having an agreement beforehand, you know, sets those expectations. It also sets the clarity so that your future spouse isn't one day fighting in probate court with your family. You know?
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And the uh that's another thing. Uh people aren't or you mentioned not getting married, uh-huh, but they're not having kids either. Right. Right. And so that's creating like, well, how am I gonna do this? And usually it goes up to your parents first. Uh-huh. Uh automatically, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So intestate, they look to the heirs at law, that's gonna be your parents. If you don't have any surviving parents, then they look to siblings. If not siblings, nieces and nephews, then cousins. Okay.
SPEAKER_01Okay. So if you want to control that, it just you can not have it go up to your parents or whomever. Um, and if if someone is on social security disability, you certainly don't want it going to them automatically.
SPEAKER_02Because then what happens is a large inheritance looks like income and so it would throw off potential benefits that they might may be able to receive if they're receiving an inheritance. And we don't want to put mom and dad in the situation where they either have to, you know, choose to receive benefits or denounce their inheritance from you.
SPEAKER_01And a lot of people don't realize that because if you especially if you have a child that's on social security disability, that you need a special needs trust set up. Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02Um, you know, and to just paying attention to who do you want to care for the person versus who do you want to care for the finances. I mean, nine times out of ten, those are not gonna be the same two people. In my family, I have more of a finance brain, more of a paperwork brain. So I'm over all of that. But when it comes to health care and those sorts of things, my sister's over it. She just has more empathy when it comes to that. So, I mean, looking at who's gonna be the best fit for each situation, and those are things that we can talk you through too at your consultation. If you're like, I really don't know if this person would be a good fit, you know, because there's different things to take into consideration. Where do they live? Are they in state or out of state? Do you really want somebody that's out of state being, you know, your durable power of attorney? Then you need bills paid, they're not here, they've got mail checks, you know. So there's a bunch of questions we can ask to help provide clarity as to who you ultimately trust to be each other.
SPEAKER_01And what if you don't have anybody you can rely on or trust? Um, who can handle your estate for you if you say, Well, I don't have anybody, so I'm just not gonna do it.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01But then you end up incapacitated. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And then what? So um certain clients, depending on the estate planning side of it, will take on as the attorney and say that we'll be their trustee or their personal representative in the event they pass away. Um, others, some opt to go the bank route. Certain banks have trustee departments where there's somebody that is, you know, that's their sole job is to serve as a trustee and a representative of the bank. Um, so a couple different options there if you don't have anybody that you trust to be over it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01It is um it's very seems like it's very complicated, but I guess you have to do as much as you can so you can sleep at night.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's really I mean, you could keep going on and cutting different layers and say, but what if this happens? What if that happens? Right, right. You could be there forever.
SPEAKER_02I tell you the the funniest way that I train our new associates is I tell them to tell me their favorite TV show. And then I say, Okay, so say it's Yellowstone, right? All right, John Dutton walks in, he's got this business that is the Yellowstone. Who does he want to leave it to? Who are his heirs? And I mean, I have them list this out because to them it helps to connect to a real concept, you know, of the estate plan or I mean the prenuptial agreement. Right now, we're really big on um McBee Dynasty on Bravo. I don't know if you've watched it, but it's a show about a ranch and you know, three boys that are running the ranch and their dad's gone to prison. Um, and so there's all these different conversations. It's like reality TV. Um, but all these different conversations about prenuptial agreements, and it's so funny the questions that I get about this, and I'm like, oh, she's just being dramatic. She doesn't realize that this prenup is not that big of a deal. Um, but it's funny the way that this, you know, plays out in pop culture. I think that a lot of these agreements have a negative connotation that comes with them, whether it's a power of attorney, an estate plan, a prenup, a cohabitation agreement. And in reality, what all of these documents aim to do is to provide clarity. And we're firm believers that clarity is kindness. You know, there's nothing better that you can leave your loved ones than clarity.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. I agree with that. Uh, it just that, you know, you both have to be in agreement because I'm sure you've come across where one person in the deal is being dragged in there. Absolutely. I don't know why you're being so negative thinking we need a prenuptial. Right. And that's really together forever, happy forever. Right.
SPEAKER_02And I'm primarily it's never um the other party that's like, I think we're gonna be together forever. What I always hear present itself is my mom and dad said people that love each other don't get prenupts. Or my mom and dad are worried about this. You know, it's typically coming from an outside source. Okay. And I that's where I'm like, well, your mom and dad aren't walking down the aisle, so we're gonna sit in here and talk. Yeah. Um, you know, and I always give them the analogy about uh bears, right? If you were walking to the mailbox and you heard on the news that there's been bears in the area, and that's the number one cause of death in your area right now is bear attacks. You would do everything to prevent getting attacked by a bear. So we know the number one cause for divorce is finances. Let's just go ahead and have that difficult, icky conversation now and make sure everybody's on the same page.
SPEAKER_01It's like premarital counseling, really. In a way it is. Because you're getting out the problems that might come up. Absolutely. And everybody has to lay things on the table because you know what? Some people are marrying people with a really bad credit score and they don't know it.
SPEAKER_02Well, and that's for a prenuptial to be effective, you have to disclose all of your assets and all of your debts. So, again, what better way to start a marriage or a partnership than to know exactly what you're getting into? You don't want to marry a bad credit score. No. That is bad. If they don't pay their bills, they're not gonna help you pay yours.
SPEAKER_01It's not gonna be good. It's not gonna be good. All right. Well, thank you so much. Did we have any questions on the budget blinds text line?
SPEAKER_00No, just some comments agreeing with you. Situation. Uh, the her this lady's son married. They paid everything 50-50, but because her name was on the title, they got divorced, he got nothing.
SPEAKER_01Yep. Nothing.
SPEAKER_00Because her name's on everything.
SPEAKER_01That might be by design. Yeah. There you go. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. All right. Lacey Higginboffin. If someone wants to get in touch with you at the Grand Strand Law Group, what's the best way to do that?
SPEAKER_02They can reach out to our office, 843 492 5422.
SPEAKER_01All right. Thank you so much, Lacey.
SPEAKER_02Thank you guys. We'll be back in a moment.