Have you ever stopped to wonder what will happen when “Big Ma Ma” dies? Let’s face it. She is 99 years old. Have you asked her if she has an Estate Plan? She should, after all “Big Ma Ma” owns 75 rental houses, 12 luxury cars, a motor home, three condos in Gulf Shores and one in Hawaii. She owns 3599 acres of timber land in Lowndes County and 2 jet aircraft. She has stock in every bank in Montgomery, Alabama. She just deposited over a million dollars that she won at the track. Who will get her property? Oh yeah I failed to mention that both of her parents are still alive. “Big Pa” is still driving at the age of 114 and his wife “Little Ma Ma” is still teaching a dance class at the age of 113. “Big Ma Ma” has 33 biological children and 16 step children one by each of her 16 husbands. If she dies without a will there will be a major mess. 

If “Big Ma Ma” would like to ensure that her assets are distributed as she would like them to be distributed when she dies, estate planning is the answer. If she plans it correctly an effective estate plan can help transfer her assets to her beneficiaries efficiently and with minimal tax consequences. The first advice any competent attorney would give to “Big Ma Ma” would be to inventory her assets; talk with her family members about important decisions; and most of all make a will. In “Big Ma MA’s” case she may need to establish a Trust. 

It appears that “Big Ma MA” is pretty well off. However estate planning is not just a good idea for the wealthy. Everyone with assets should have an estate plan. You may have china that your great grand ma left you that is dear to your heart. If you want to have a say in what happens to your assets when you die then have an estate plan. 

While “Big Ma MA” in this article is a fictitious person, she is a real person in many households throughout this country. Sit down with your love ones and talk with them about their estates. I still know people in their late nineties talking about “if I die”. Convince them to be more realistic in their thinking and say “when I die”. Don’t let another day go by without discussing an estate plan with your love ones.

In the words of my dad, “If these gas prices get any higher I am going to buy me a horse!”