You may have heard of some of these people who died in 2016: David Bowie (69) – Glenn Frey (67) – Harper Lee (89) – Nancy Reagan (94) – Prince (57) – Muhammad Ali (74) – Anton Yelchin (27) – Gene Wilder (83) – Jose Fernandez (24) – Arnold Palmer (87) – Janet Reno (78) – Florence Henderson (82) – John Glenn (95) – Alan Thicke (69) – George Michael (53) – Carrie Fisher (60) – And her mom, Debbie Reynolds (84), only one day later. And the list goes on and on…
In 2016, it seems that we couldn’t turn on the news without hearing about another celebrity death – some of whom were older and led a full life, and others who were at their prime of their lives and careers, or simply just way too young to go.
Makes us think–if it can happen to them, it can certainly happen to us. You just don’t know what the future holds. Consider Star Trek actor, Anton Yelchin, who was run over by his own car in a freak accident at the age of 27. While you may have no control over your own health and mortality, what you do have control over is how you plan for it. Who knows what 2017 will bring…we hope that it brings happiness, good health and prosperity for everyone, but we really don’t know. So be prepared.
At the very basic level, you should think about who will make important decisions for you, including financial and health care, if you ever become too sick to do so for yourself. And who do you want to get your assets at your death? If you have young children, who will take care of them? There are certainly more issues than these that should be considered as part of a comprehensive estate plan, including asset protection, estate and income taxes, and business succession planning, just to name a few. Even if you don’t think you have to worry about any of these additional issues, you must think about the basics mentioned above. There is absolutely no reason to leave these things to chance when you can take steps now to prepare documents that will provide for your specific wishes.
In our blog last month, we talked about the uncertainty that we are all facing with the upcoming Trump presidency. While the future of the tax laws and our economy are definitely uncertain, death is a certainty. We just don’t know when. If something happens to you, your family will be devastated. What would be even more devastating, however, is if you did not take simple steps to care for them and provide for their future without you.
There is no time like now to review and update your existing estate planning documents–or to finally get around to doing them, if you don’t have anything in place!
The estate planning attorneys at Waltz, Palmer & Dawson, LLC would be happy to sit down and talk with you to see how we can help you plan for yourself and your loved ones. We have decades of experience in planning clients’ estates and in administering the estates and trusts for deceased individuals, and would welcome the opportunity to discuss your specific situation and concerns. Please call our office at (847) 253-8800 to schedule a no-charge initial consultation.
Waltz, Palmer & Dawson, LLC is a full-service law firm with various areas of service to assist your business, including: Employment Law, Intellectual Property, Commercial Real Estate, Business Immigration, Litigation and general Business Law services. Individual services include Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts, Probate, Guardianship, Divorce and Family Law.
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