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Saturday, August 14, 2010

Lesson In Why Not To Put Off Your Estate Planning - MSN Article "46 Days to Live: What's Your Plan"


MSN's financial writer Chuck Jaffe had a recent article on his family's experience with estate planning. See Chuck Jaffe, 46 Days to Live: What's Your Plan?, Market Watch, July 22, 2010. This article is a good reminder of why we should not procrastinate the seemingly tedious task of estate planning.

The article is about how advanced estate planning helped one couple enjoy the last months of life after the husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness and given a short time to live.

Two years before the diagnosis, Chuck Jaffee's brother Rob knew there were health issues in his family and forced his wife Eileen to go with him to get their estate planning done. When Rob was ultimately diagnosed with a terminal illness, Rob asked his brother to write about him after he died, informing people that they shouldn’t wait to take care of the important things in life. Rob only lived 46 days after his terminal diagnosis.

Rob asked the question, “If you had only 46 days to live, what would you not want to do and not want to worry about?” Rob was very thankful that he and his wife took care of their affairs at a time when they were healthy and thinking clearly, and he thought that having to focus on death after being diagnosed would be unimaginable. He was thankful to not have to waste a minute of his life “having to do estate planning or worrying that I live long enough to get documents filed or whatever garbage comes with it.” He wanted his story shared so that others can enjoy their last days as he did his.

Most sophisticated estate planning attorneys, such as our firm, quote a flat fee and there are no products being sold or conflicts of interest in advising you on the best estate plan for you and your family. Refer to my prior post on "What Does Estate Planning Cost?" for information about our firm's flat fees for estate plans.

Posted by Henry (Hank) J. Moravec, III, a partner at Moravec, Varga & Mooney, A Partnership. For a free 30 minute consultation (telephonic or in person), you can e-mail Hank Moravec at hm@moravecslaw.com or call him at (626) 793-3210 or (818) 769-4221.

He focuses his practice on Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Administration, Beneficiary and Trustee Representation, Probate Litigation, Tax Law, and Nonprofit Law. He represents clients throughout Southern California and his offices are conveniently located for clients in the Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

With respect to estate planning and probate, Hank Moravec has over 20 years' experience as one of the best Los Angeles estate attorneys and Los Angeles probate attorneys and is available should you need legal advice regarding your own or a family member's situation. For a consultation, You can e-mail Hank Moravec at hm@moravecslaw.com or call him at (626) 793-3210 or (818) 769-4221 to request a consultation.

The firm website is http://www.moravecslaw.com/. The firm has two offices and consultations and meetings can be held at either office.

The San Gabriel Valley office is located at 2233 Huntington Drive, Suite 17, San Marino, California 91108. There is ample free parking adjacent to the firm's office.

The San Fernando Valley office is located at 4605 Lankershim Boulevard, Suite 718, North Hollywood, California 91602-1878.