Jeff Fouts: “Estate planning attorney, Jeff Fouts, here.
As I’ve said many times before, these estate planning issues are not conceptual, abstract or outside the realm of possibility. You are in fact going to die, that’s the first thing. The mortality rate is 100%. The second thing is you stand a 50/50 percent chance of becoming mentally incapacitated.
Let’s just make up a scenario. Let’s imagine you and your wife go out to eat somewhere, and you have a great evening. Then you go home, get in bed, and lay your head down on your pillow. Guys, I’m going to pick on you in this story. While you’re asleep during the night, guess what happens?
A blood vessel breaks and blood starts leaking out. They call that an aneurysm. When you wake up the next morning, you’ll be different. Maybe your facial cheek will hang down, maybe your arm will hang lifeless, or maybe your legs won’t function properly.
Here’s the good news for some guys. If you’re married. Your wife will get you out of bed. She loves you, and she’s loyal, and she will take care of you. As a matter of fact, she’ll nearly kill herself providing care to you. She’ll work herself down to a nub while she is taking care of you.
That’s good – for you guys. She’ll get you up in the morning. She’ll take you to the kitchen to eat your oatmeal. She’ll take you to your incliner and sit you down, so you can watch your sports or news program. She’ll fix your sandwich for lunch and fix you a nice nutritious dinner.
Then in the evening, she’ll take you to the bathroom and let you do your business and swab you down. Then she’ll put you in bed and give you a “good night” kiss. Because of the loyalty of your wife, you men will have a reduced chance, a little bit of a reduced chance, of going into a nursing home.
That’s good, guys. That’s real good. Then you (the husband) dies. Now ladies, you’re alive and you get sick. Ladies, who’s going to take care of you?
I know, the daughter will do it. She doesn’t have a life. She doesn’t have any children, a career or any other commitments. All the daughter has is free time on her hands. She’ll run right over. She’ll give up everything in her life to take care of you, won’t she? That is the reality.
What about your son? I know, he’ll quit his job, his career. He’ll immediately run back home and together, the son and the daughter, they’ll begin helping you. Day in and day out, right? Maybe not. We must have a game plan. If we do not have a game plan, we will have chaos and a mess.
If we can ever help you, if you ever want us to review the estate plan you have in place, just let us know. Thank you.”
