In this interview, host Speaker A talks with attorney Ledry Jennings of the L. Jennings Law Firm about essential estate‑planning concepts for everyday families. Jennings explains that a will is a court‑filed document that triggers probate, while a trust is a private instrument that bypasses the court system. He emphasizes that probate can be costly—potentially $150,000 on a $2 million estate—and time‑consuming, often taking six months to two years, especially when heirs dispute assets or complex holdings like farms or mineral interests are involved. Beyond probate avoidance, Jennings highlights the importance of planning for incapacity through powers of attorney and healthcare directives, addressing long‑term‑care concerns to protect a home from nursing‑home costs, and structuring inheritances to shield heirs from creditors, divorce, or bankruptcy. He stresses that an estate plan is a “living, breathing” document that should be revisited as families grow, children mature, or circumstances change. The conversation concludes with a brief walkthrough of the post‑death process, noting that a trust enables swift distribution within weeks, whereas a will leaves assets frozen until probate concludes. Jennings promotes his firm’s offices in Little Rock and Magnolia as resources for families seeking these protections.
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Good afternoon. Today we're talking about estate planning. You work so hard your entire life, you want to make sure that those assets are protected and handed down to your children and your grandchildren. And today to give us some great advice on this is Ledly Jennings with the L. Jennings Law Firm. Thank you so much for being here today.
Yeah, thanks for having me.
Let's start off with, when we're talking about estate planning, the basics. Explain the difference between a will and a trust and when someone may need one or the other.
Yeah, it's a great question. I think of a will as basically a letter that you write to the probate judge saying where you want your stuff to go. Now the key word there is judge, so that means you're in court. So a will actually makes you go through probate court, whereas a trust is a private document that's a set of instructions that says where you want your stuff to go outside of the court system.
And it's a great idea to have everything set up before something happens so that you can ensure that those assets you worked so hard for are passed down and they're not paying a fortune in taxes, you know, things that your loved ones could be using. When we're talking about estate planning, people think, oh, this is something that is reserved just for the wealthy. It sounds really expensive. You have to have a lot of money to do this, but that's not necessarily the case.
Correct. It really depends on how crazy your family is.
Kidding. We all have crazy families.
But it is about circumstances. If you have young kids, I always think it's about starting that conversation. And then if you come from a blended family, maybe in a second marriage with each spouse brought kids to the family. And then when you think about assets, it's not about the value of those assets, just more about the type. You know, if you own a house or real estate or investment accounts that are growing in value, then an estate plan makes sense.
And talking about if you have small kids, this is something that you just don't do once. You probably need to revisit this every so often.
Right. Estate plans are a living, breathing document, so you need to update them as your life changes and your kids grow.
Going to court, you mentioned court, cost of probate, for example, potentially costing $150,000 on a $2 million estate. This is a lot of money. Why is this so significant and why do you want to focus on maybe avoiding probate avoidance strategies or coming up with probate avoidance strategies?
Yeah, my whole practice is about avoiding probate for clients because of those fees you mentioned. That's a state law that attorneys can charge. And that fee can be very high, like you said. And this is usually an unexpected fee, so your heirs are not prepared for it. You know, I think about farmers and landowners in Arkansas. A lot of times that fee is due pretty quickly after the death to pay for probate, and that means selling land that they probably don't want to sell just to pay for the probate fees.
And this is something that not only is costly, it can also be timely, sometimes taking up to 6 months to settle an estate. When would it maybe take longer? When— what time frame can you anticipate?
Yeah, that 6 months is the minimum. That is state law that it's going to be a 6-month waiting period. But I've seen probates go up to a year, maybe even 2 years. It just depends if your heirs are fighting or arguing over things. People can't get along. But a lot of times there's court delays on the docket or even complicated assets like a business or farm or mineral interest. They just really delay the process of administering everything.
And it goes back to how crazy your family is too, as you mentioned earlier. Exactly. So probate avoidance strategy, not the only thing you want to focus on though. What are some common things that people overlook when looking at estate planning?
Yeah, the first thing I think about other than probate avoidance is planning for your incapacity. You know, who can make decisions for you if you are in the nursing home or just unable to make them for yourself? That's financially and healthcare decisions. So that's where power of attorneys and healthcare directives come in. But secondly is long-term care. A lot of people come into my office worried about losing their home to the nursing home. And that's something we can easily plan for. And then really the most powerful thing in my view is how you leave something to somebody matters. So you can leave things to your heirs in a way that protects them from creditors, divorce, bankruptcy, all that, and really builds your legacy and lets you have a generational impact.
Well, quickly take us through 30 days after someone passes away. What can you expect if you have a will versus a trust?
Well, if you worked with me, I think it's a quick, easy process, uh, that can be done in a matter of weeks of making distributions. You know, we take pride in making sure our plans are set up to work when tested. So we make it very easy making those distributions. But if you did not plan ahead and you're in probate, as soon as someone passes, that estate is immediately frozen and we are stuck, and you can't do anything until the court process is played out.
All right, always a great idea to plan ahead. Ledly Jennings Law Firm, easy to find. They're in Little Rock and Magnolia. Thanks so much for joining us today. Have a wonderful afternoon. Mm-hmm.
