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Guarding Your Wealth for Senior Citizens
Soldier's Financial Battle Began At Home With Mother's
Death
Mother never talked about her plans, doesn’t even
know if she had a Will
By Jeffrey D. Voudrie, CFP
 April
2, 2007 - I received a heart-wrenching phone call from a
young soldier. His mother had just died and he was left with the
responsibility of settling her estate. He had no idea the difficulties
he would encounter—not on the battlefield but here in East Tennessee.
The worst part is it could have been completely avoided.
‘Brian’, an Army soldier was on his way to Haiti
when he received a phone call that his mother was in the hospital. Her
outlook wasn’t good. Forced to take emergency leave, he rushed home.
Unfortunately, he was too late. She had already passed away.
His mother never talked with him about her plans so
now he doesn’t even know if she had a Will. In the midst of dealing with
an emotional loss and feeling the pressure to return to his unit as soon
as possible, Brian has to make her funeral arrangements. He also has to
get her estate settled.
During his search, Brian came across one of my
brochures and called me to see if his mother might have been one of my
clients. Turns out she had attended one of my estate planning seminars
where she learned about the importance of planning ahead. She even
scheduled an appointment, but unfortunately, she didn’t keep it.
There are several challenges Brian now faces.
Funeral arrangements will be the first hurdle, but that’s just the tip
of the iceberg. At her death, all of his mother’s financial accounts are
frozen. So how is he going to pay her bills? He can’t use any of the
money in her accounts. That means he or another family member will have
to use their own money to pay for things like utility bills, real estate
taxes, etc.
Worse yet, who’s in charge? Brian is not an only
child. At this point, no one legally has the authority to make any
decisions affecting her estate. Who’s responsible for safeguarding her
assets and securing her home?
When I spoke to Brian, he had already tried calling
several of the local banks to see if his mother had an account there.
Thinking a Will might be in a safety deposit box, he was trying to see
if she had one.
He wasn’t able to make any progress because banks,
credit unions, insurance companies and other financial institutions are
prohibited from even acknowledging the existence of an account due to
privacy laws. Even if his mother had an account with my firm, I wouldn’t
have been able to tell him.
Brian and his siblings will have to hire an
attorney and go before a court so that one of them can be appointed the
executor of her estate and receive the legal authority to get
information on her accounts, pay her bills using her funds and begin the
process of settling her estate. Of course, all that takes time.
If a Will is never found it will be up to the
courts to decide how her estate is divided. Each state has its own laws
regarding what is referred to as intestate succession. Her assets may
end up not going to the people she wanted them to. For instance, if she
was separated from her husband (but not divorced), he could end up
getting 40% of everything, even though she may have wanted it all to go
to her children.
Some assets may never be found. What if his mother
hid money or other valuables in a secret place in the house? In fact,
did you know that it’s estimated that 30% of U. S. Savings Bonds are
never redeemed, largely due to them never being found?
It could be a year or longer before this estate
gets settled. Thousands of dollars will be needlessly spent. And it
could have all been easily avoided.
The moral of Brian’s story is that no matter how
young you are, you need to have your affairs in order. You need Powers
of Attorney, a Will and maybe a Living Trust. You need to let someone
know your wishes and where these documents can be found. It’s not just
the right thing to do, it’s your duty. It’s also an act of love to your
family.
If you have a specific question or would like more
information, give me a call toll-free at 1-877-827-1463 or you can also reach me by email at
jeff@guardingyourwealth.com.
I will answer your financial question FREE.
About Guarding Your Wealth:
“Guarding Your Wealth” is a
nationally syndicated weekly personal finance column written by Jeffrey
D. Voudrie, CFP. Mr. Voudrie is the President of Legacy Planning Group,
a private wealth management firm that employs sophisticated proprietary
strategies designed to protect and grow its clients' investments. Visit his website,
www.guardingyourwealth.com to read past articles under the Guarding
Your Wealth Article Archive that may not have appeared in
SeniorJournal.com.
Guarding Your Wealth for Seniors, on
SeniorJournal.com, is
a collection of columns by Voudrie that deal with issues of particular
interest to senior citizens.
Click here
for all columns.
In addition to being a nationally
syndicated columnist and Certified Financial Planning Practitioner, Mr.
Voudrie provides personal, private money management services to select
private clients
nationwide.
Looking for an energetic expert who
is passionate about financial and wealth management? Mr. Voudrie is an
excellent speaker who will excite and inspire your audience. Mr. Voudrie
is available for a limited number of speaking engagements, television
appearances and radio talk shows. For bookings, email
jeff@guardingyourwealth.com.
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