The "Fun" in Funeral

Taking another break from newsworthy estate issues, the NYT reported about the beginning of a funeral trend primarily in New Orleans where the deceased is not in a coffin but is posed as if alive.  A 53 year old woman was recently posed at a table holding her cigarette with a can of Busch beer in front of her. In April, a socialite was posed sitting on a bench on a downtown theater greeting guests.

Several points:

1.  Although the Big Easy boasts of putting the fun in funeral, spectacles are not always fun but can be morbid.

2.  I suspect that the beer and cigarette depicted might have contributed to the woman's death at 53.

3. I know they were going for authenticity, but the woman was posed with a Busch beer instead of a nice microbrew as her final beer?

No More Scooby Snacks. Or Water.

The bizarre and emotional battle over the medical care of Casey Kasem is nearing an end.  An LA County judge has authorized his daughter to have doctors withdraw his feeding tubes.  The ruling follows Kasem's wishes as expressed in his 2007 living will.  The ruling also adheres to his health care power of attorney which gave his daughter authority over his medical decisions (and not his wife).  Jean Kasem, an actress known for  playing dumb blonde roles, maintains that the daughter is sentencing him to death because she wants his money.

Several points:

1.  Usually a living will and health care power of attorney will avoid this acrimonious situation.

2.  It is too bad that the public has had to view the reason Kasem trusted his daughter with his medical decisions and not his wife.

3.  Like Kasem, I would not want someone who throws meat at others when angry in charge of my medical decisions.

Our Mortality

Taking a break from newsworthy death related issues, I found this interesting piece on causes of death by state.   If you do not want to read it, I will tell you that the most likely cause of death for Ohioans is heart disease, that we are disproportionately affected by diabetes, and that we have a higher than average rate of deaths from cancer, respiratory and kidney diseases, strokes, and  Alzheimer's.

Several points:

1.   Ohio is a cauldron of death.  It is not for estate tax reasons that people move to Florida.

2.  Bonus points for knowing the meaning of Septicemia (disproportionately represented in Texas and other Southern states).

3.  Casey Kasem is doomed.  His family should not have moved him to Washington which is disproportionately represented by deaths from Alzheimer's disease.

Class of 2014

Congratulations to my daughter, Blair, who graduated from the The Seven Hills School last night.  She will become an Indiana Hoosier in August.

Unfashionable Probate

Fashion designer Oleg Cassini became famous for designing Jackie Kennedy's pillbox hats.  He was also known for marrying actress Gene Tierney, dating Grace Kelly, and dressing Marilyn Monroe.  He died in 2006 survived by a daughter from his marriage to Gene Tierney and by his secret wife of 35 years, Marianne Nestor, who most assumed was his employee.  His will left $1 million to his daughter and the balance of his $52 million estate to his widow.  His daughter was unaware of his marriage to Ms. Nestor until after his death.   His daughter successfully contested the will on the grounds that Cassini's 1952 divorce decree from Tierney promised his daughter 25% of his estate.  Because his widow has not yet paid the sum to her, has spent estate funds without court authorization, and did not have insurance on a $30 million house that burned, the probate court has removed the widow as executrix of the estate.

Several points:

1.  Apparently a provision in a 50+ year old divorce decree where the other party is divorced trumps a will.

2.  When there is a secret marriage and the wife is only 5 years older than a daughter, I advise naming a neutral third party as executor for efficient execution of the will.

3.  When a secret marriage exists, it is doubly damaging for the child to find out about it from a hospital nurse the day her father died.

4.  In the fashion world, I doubt Yves St. Laurent, Christian Dior, and Gianni Versace had estate disputes between their wives and children.  Nor will Karl Lagerfeld.

"Let It Go"

One of India's wealthiest Hindu spiritual leaders died in January from a presumed heart attack.  His followers placed his body in a guarded, commercial freezer on their Ashram and maintain that he has drifted to a deeper form of meditation as a pathway to self realization.  His family has asked an Indian court to order the release of the body for cremation.  The family maintains that the followers are claiming he is alive so they can retain control of his $170 million estate.

Two quick points:

1.  $170 million is nice coin for a religious leader and even more so in a country with per capita income of  $1,200.

2.  The guru's disciples might have solved the riddle of eternal life - simply freeze all dead bodies while waiting for them to return to life.  Commercial freezer manufacturers will be overjoyed, at least during this life.

Tragic Kingdom

Walt Disney's youngest daughter died in 1993 survived by her 3 children.  She left her fortune in trust for them with a provision that they would receive their inheritance in $20+ million installments at the ages of 35, 40, and 45 if they showed "maturity and the financial ability" to manage the money.  Her son, Brad,is embroiled in litigation with the trustees over their refusal to give him his installment on his 40th birthday even though they gave installments to his older sister who was allegedly addicted to heroin and died a year after receiving her first installment and to his twin sister who had suffered a brain aneurysm and never held a job.  Brad does receive $1 million annually but his step-mother allegedly wants him to receive the large distribution so the funds will be available to her children. The attorney who drafted the trust said the provision about maturity was his mother's way to never give Brad control of the funds but to still treat him the same as her daughters.

Several points:

1.   When children have different needs and abilities, parents should treat them differently in their trusts to protect the children.

2.  The trust should have had a no substance abuse clause which would have allowed the trustees to pay for treatment for the oldest daughter and not give her funds to pay for a lifestyle that led to her death.

3.  Any similarity between the step-mother and Maleficent is purely coincidental.