Estate Planning - Overview

We're all going to die, we just don't know when. If we did know, we could plan very well. Being prepared helps those we leave behind.

Discussing  death is the last taboo in American society. That's why most individuals put off doing anything about estate planning. "Why, estate planning is too expensive," they tell me. "Why, it's only for the wealthy or for very old people or maybe if you're sick. Why, it's only for married folks, and I am single." Did you hear yourself in that? These are just a few of the excuses I have heard. Some of the excuses have been quite creative!

Dealing with your own mortality does take a certain amount of fortitude. Statistically, I know that 30 percent of you have dealt with it, but the other 70 percent have your heads in the sand. Elderly parents find it easier to talk to their adult children about sex than about death, dying, and estate planning. But by not doing proper estate planning, the burden of financial and legal confusion is added to a time already fraught with emotional turmoil.

What do J.P.Morgan and Elvis Presley have in common? Gotcha there, don't I? They did not do proper estate planning. J.P.Morgan, who had enough money to bail out the banking crisis at the turn of the twentieth century, lost almost $12 million of his $17 million estate to taxes. Elvis, well, his heirs lost $7 million of his $10 million estate to taxes. Okay, so you're not J.P or Elvis, but you do have an estate, and you do need to protect it. Uncle Sam has his hand right there in your pocket just waiting.