The Importance of Completing Your Estate Planning!

A true story of a potentially large estate gift that did not happen!

There was a man who lived alone in the northern part of California. For many years he lived an extremely simple and solitary life. He never married or had children, and very little was known about him or the life he had lived.

Each day he saw his mailman when the delivery was made, and occasionally greeted a neighbor. But other than that, he had no known friends or relatives.

What was not known to others about this man was that each week he would make a phone call to his stockbroker in Manhattan. The two of them enjoyed each other’s company during these calls and the man enjoyed knowing about how his investments were doing. He had made some money at different jobs over his lifetime, and enjoyed investing what he had made. He owned an old truck, and the house he lived in, and spent almost nothing other than for food and other necessities.

And then one day he didn’t appear to receive his mail. When it began piling up in the mailbox, a neighbor called the police to come and see if he was alright. He had in fact died in his home of natural causes.

When a situation like this happens, the state of California has a department that deals with it. No known relatives, no recent job, no close friends and no will or other planning – none of this could be found out about this man.

In addition, the stockbroker in Manhattan became concerned when he didn’t hear from his friend and client. When the state investigators finally contacted him, he let them know that the account of this man was now valued at over $3 million!

In addition, when the state investigators began trying to contact his relatives, there were none to be found. Eventually they did find some very distant relatives, who were not even aware of this man’s existence! These are the people who inherited this very large estate.

The sad part was, the man who died thought fondly of his church. The form to include the church in his planning was found on a table in his home. He had, unfortunately, not gotten around to filling it out.

Although this is an unusual story, it does apply to each one of us who have thought about doing our planning, but haven’t yet gotten around to actually doing it!

When the thought comes to mind “I need to do my will,” that is the time to act in making that thought a reality. There is never a better time to do this than in the moment when that thought finally comes to mind! Do it now!, as the saying goes. It will put your mind at ease knowing that you have finally provided for those close to you and the causes you have supported during your lifetime.