Three Estate Planning Stories

•A very successful businessman died suddenly. He had no Will or Trust. Devastated by his sudden, accidental death, his grieving widow had no end-of-life instructions from the deceased and was on her own to  create plans for her and the three children. Her emotional pain would have been eased some if an Estate Plan had been executed, but - in his 40s and healthy - the businessman was waiting until he was older to worry about an Estate Plan.

•A lady with few assets had a debilitating stroke, lingering several weeks before passing. Without a Medical Power of Attorney/Advanced Directive or General Power of Attorney during her illness, her survivors got through the process, but would have been grateful to have those directives in place.

•An elderly man in the hospital had an old Will and Powers of Attorney in place that were not relevant to his late life needs. He contacted an Attorney and got everything updated. Ten days later he passed away.

Are you putting off late life planning? Was your Estate Plan done several years ago and may be in need of an update?

Here’s a New Year’s Resolution that I can help you achieve: Create a late-life/estate plan. 

If you have nothing in place - yes - you defer to state law for resolving your estate or late-life powers of attorney, but the greater shortcoming is that you provide no direction for your family, thereby creating greater burden for them during their period of grief.

On the other hand, you can relieve this pressure on your next-of-kin by proving clear guidance on your wishes.

Here’s where I come in; Estate Planning has become a critical part of my law practice. I can come to you…it becomes a type of ministry to my clients.

Call me; I can help.

Andy Richardson

andyrichardsonwv@gmail.com

304.549.5597