Blog

Aug 16, 2009

Where there is a will there is a family

Planning for our eventual departure is never easy, but it is necessary. My partner, as it turns out, had not revised his will since the late 1980’s. At that time he was married and had 3 small children. Now in 2009, he was divorced, had a significant other that he had been with for 12 years and three grown children. You can imagine the ball of spaghetti this has created.

As complicated as this is, imagine the battle over Y.C. Wang’s fortune. Wang died intestate with 9 children. “Where there is a will there is a family,” the saying goes. The best of families seem to come apart at the seams when it comes to divvying up an estate. Imagine how it goes when the estate is estimated at $5.5 billion and the deceased has no will. http://tinyurl.com/pjfvub

Why does a man (or woman) do this to the people they leave behind? Although the heirs will probably fight anyway, leaving behind a will, instructions for disposing of the remains and other thought out written documents make it easier to sort things out. Did you know that in most US states only next of kin or an order in a probated will can order a cremation? An executer cannot order it, even if they know that is the departed’s wishes.

More to come on the plans you should make and the chaos left behind when you don’t.