Estate Planning

Estate Planning -- It's No Joke.

By Jennifer Sawday

One of the things about being an estate planning attorney is that when there is a joke circulating involving our practice, it can be both funny and sobering at the same time.

Here is a joke that was sent to me twice last week:

Dan was a single guy living at home with his father and working in the family business.

When he found out he was going to inherit a fortune when his sickly father died, he decided he needed a wife with which to share his fortune.

One evening at an investment meeting he spotted the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her natural beauty took his breath away. "I may look like just an ordinary man," he said to her, "but in just a few years, my father will die, and I'll inherit 20 million dollars."

Impressed, the woman obtained his business card and three days later, she became his stepmother.

Women are just so much better at estate planning than men.

The sobering part -- an estate plan is essential to have your wishes carried out when you die.

Sure, there are will contests, trust contests and all sorts of other things that can come up, but having your wishes known is really important in the larger scheme of things. The courts look to the testator or settlor's intent when ruling on these matters and in the long run, we all like to believe that the good outweigh the evil. And, as it so happens most of the time, people's wishes are dutifully carried out in their estate plans after their passing.

Full post as published by Estate Planning Practice Blog on February 16, 2008 (boomark / email).