Posts Tagged ‘Personal Reflections’

The Cost of Michigan Estate Planning Part II

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on August 5, 2008 – 1:22 pm -

The other day after paying $4+ dollars for gas I was surfing the internet pricing out a new hyrbid car. Not that I am buying a car right now, but I was fed up with the price of gas. Well, I like leather seats in my car. So I was also looking at the price of upgrading from a standard package to a package that included leather seats. Around this same time I had a potential client balk at the price of an estate planning package that would meet all of their goals and protect their children.

Then it struck me, to upgrade from a cloth package to a leather package in a car was actually less than an estate plan for this family that would protect their children from creditors, predators, bankruptcy, the children themselves while also putting the affairs of the parents in order, avoiding the 3%-5% cost of probate, and many other benefits. All for less cost then the 7 years you will be driving a new car to experience leather seats. Mind boggling when you think about it.

It’s odd what people value and what people say they value.

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“Last Lecture” & Leaving A Legacy

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 25, 2008 – 5:28 pm -

Randy Pausch

Randy Pausch, the professor/scientist who gave the famed “Last Lecture”, has succumbed to the terminal cancer he was diagnosed with back in 2006. His lecture leaves something more valuable than assets or items, it is values and a legacy. Too often estate planners and their clients focus on the money and ignore family, faith, and value issues, especially when planning for families with young children.

Here is his video on YouTube, it is the full lecture and over an hour long, but well worth watching if you have not.

Last Lecture

Here is the CNN story reporting his passing.

The WSJ wrote a quality article about his situation, read it here. From the article

Early on, he had vowed to do the logistical things necessary to ease his family’s path into a life without him. His minister helped him think beyond estate planning and funeral arrangements. “You have life insurance, right?” the minister asked.

“Yes, it’s all in place,” Randy told him.

“Well, you also need emotional insurance,” the minister explained. The premiums for that insurance would be paid for with Randy’s time, not his money. The minister suggested that Randy spend hours making videotapes of himself with the kids. Years from now, they will be able to see how easily they touched each other and laughed together.

Knowing his kids’ memories of him could be fuzzy, Randy has been doing things with them that he hopes they’ll find unforgettable. For instance, he and Dylan, 6, went on a minivacation to swim with dolphins. “A kid swims with dolphins, he doesn’t easily forget it,” Randy said. “We took lots of photos.” Randy took Logan, 3, to Disney World to meet his hero, Mickey Mouse. “I’d met him, so I could make the introduction.”

Randy also made a point of talking to people who lost parents when they were very young. They told him they found it consoling to learn about how much their mothers and fathers loved them. The more they knew, the more they could still feel that love. To that end, Randy built separate lists of his memories of each child. He also has written down his advice for them, things like: “If I could only give three words of advice, they would be, ‘Tell the truth.’ If I got three more words, I’d add, ‘All the time.’ “

You can also view the Last Lecture in written form by reading the transcript here.

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More Doom & Gloom

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 25, 2008 – 12:05 pm -

CNN is reporting that foreclosures nationwide are up 121% from this time last year. As bad as people say the Metro-Detroit area is, the worst areas is the Sun Belt area in California, though they report that outside of the Sub Belt, Detroit is the next hardest hit foreclosure location.

Detroit continued to suffer more than any other non-Sun Belt area, with one filing for every 66 households. And several Ohio cities were also hard hit, led by Toledo (one in 92 households), Akron (one in 93) and Cleveland (one in 108).

You can read the article at CNN here.

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Michigan Supreme Court, huh?

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 23, 2008 – 8:06 pm -

While not having to do with estate planning, I do keep any eye on the Michigan Supreme Court.

Today they had a ruling I find a bit activist and odd. They struck down precedent and ruled that criminals can be sentenced as habitual offenders if their felonies stem from the same criminal act.

The argument of the dissent seems to make sense, which is that the lawmakers intended for harsher penalties for persistent criminals versus multiple crimes in one event.

Read more here.

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Who is Watching The Child Care that is Watching Your Children

Written by Christopher J. Berry, Esq. on July 23, 2008 – 1:04 pm -

In a frightening report, according to a Michigan auditor general’s office audit as reported by the Detroit News, state oversight of child care providers was so poor that 1,900 people who were not qualified to provide the care, including sex offenders and child abusers, were not identified, nor prevented from doing so.

This is a frighting for any young families looking for child care. DHS has provided a good guide for what to look for in your child care provider. Their guide can be read here. Included in the guide are questions to ask, what to look for, how to check references, and how to stay involved.

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