Is This the Year You’ll Make Your Last Will and Testament?

You’ve heard that artist Prince died without a will leaving his loved ones to inherit his estate problems.

Yes, he is the Prince famous with hits like Purple Rain who died April 2016. He left an estate that’s still open. His loved ones have spent millions in fees with no end in sight.

You don’t have to be a millionaire to need a will.

Let me tell you about the day I met another multimillionaire.

Let’s call him Jonathan. Jonathan had his business listed on the stock exchange. He and his spouse also had new baby.

Jonathan’s financial advisor was shocked that this multimillionaire, like Prince, had no will. Jonathan asked me to visit him in his office as a favour to his financial planner.

After all, he said, “I have nothing to worry about.”

Why bother with estate planning?

“Without a will,” I said, “You CREATE all kinds of problems. First, there is a problem if you pay too much in income taxes. Without a will you can’t do any tax planning.

The government’s tax plan takes as much as they can if you don’t prepare a will. You could end up paying too much in taxes. Instead, you can use the tax rules to support your family. At the same time, a plan can save taxes.”

Jonathan reminded me that his business shares were worth $330 million that day.

“Why would I worry about having a will? I don’t care what the government takes after I am gone.”

The Multi-Millionaire’s Failed Approach to Estate Planning

This is often the approach of many people with money. They think they have enough not to have any problems.

How much is enough?

Do you need $2 million in investments? Is $10 million safer?

Celebrities like Prince make money but never get around to do any estate planning.

Why?

Perhaps they did not know where to begin. They may think there is no problem that $330 million cannot solve.

But reality is something different and death is cruel.

Dead People Don’t Have Problems

It is the people who they leave behind who have problems.

Their loved ones come to my office full of grief and stress. They need help with estate problems. Yes, these estates could be valued at less than a million dollars. But if there is no will they need expert advice to choose from many options.

Problems include how to sell property to pay income taxes.

Some of the mistakes Jonathan and others make can destroy what they created. Survivor’s dreams of financial comfort and independence are ruined.

What happens when there is no last will?

Some children left behind are minors. Their inheritance money is paid into court because there was no will or trustee for the children’s inheritance. Some spouses need to sue their children to share in the estate.

Jonathan’s Takeaway

People spend a lifetime earning, saving, and struggling to keep their money. But, for some reason, they never make time to prepare a will.

Whether you leave a fortune or not, you leave problems. Your relatives come to see me for estate help always asking the same thing:

“Why didn’t {insert a name of an uncle, dad or mom} find the time to plan their affairs and save me all this trouble?”

I offer an initial low-cost meeting to get started. My office is open during the lockdown as an essential service. Contact me now for an initial meeting.

Ed Olkovich

P.S. I will give you more of the conversation I had with Jonathan in future emails. If you have a topic you want me to cover in an upcoming post, send me a note.