With all estate planning stories focused on the looming fiscal cliff, and President Obama wanting to gouge the wealthy for the sake of gouging the wealthy, this Will Rogers quote seems appropriate:
“The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.”
Among fun facts about wills (yes, there are some) are that the longest will ever probated was over 1,000 pages long, the shortest wills were 3 words, and among famous Americans who died without a will were Sonny Bono, John Denver, and Chris Farley. I find the last fact interesting because all sexagenarians should have a will (much less sexagenarians who ski alone in trees) as should anyone engaged in high risk activities like flying experimental aircraft or heavy cocaine usage while being overweight. Perhaps lapses of judgments with respect to mortality cross over into lapses of judgment about tending to personal affairs.
Some good and some silly advice for dealing with pets after death. The good is to think about a pet trust to provide financially for a pet after death. The silly is to name the pet in a will, which I have never done in 25 years of drafting wills. The sillier is to carry a “pet card” in a wallet so if one is struck by a car or has a heart attack, authorities will know that there is a pet at home that needs care. No word on whether one should leave the Best Buy Rewards Zone card, Staples Rewards card, or airline frequent flyer card out of the wallet to make room for the “pet card.”
A quick Sherman Hemsley update. If you remember, the body of the Jefferson’s star has been in an El Paso funeral home while his girlfriend and a man alleging to be his brother argue over the disposition of it. A DNA test revealed the man to be his brother, but that fact does not give the man control of the body and has been excluded from evidence. A trial to determine who has the authority to bury the body is set for tomorrow. It is a toss up on whether this case or the Florida election results will be resolved first.