Where there’s a will, it’s easier on everybody

Attorney Kenneth Feinberg — the special master of the Sept. 11 compensation fund and author of the resulting memoir, “What Is Life Worth?” — notes that a startling 80 percent of the victims of Sept. 11 did not have wills. That complicated his job of distributing more than $7 billion to 5,560 survivors and relatives. His message is well-taken: If you don’t have a will, get one. If you have an old one, update it. Wills aren’t just for the old or the rich.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

One Comment

  1. Kay
    Posted June 27, 2005 at 9:34 pm | Permalink

    I’m single, female and forty. I have a will, a living will and durable powers of attorney for health care and for business decisions (paying personal bills, etc.). It cost me $125 to have a lawyer draw up the paperwork.

    Why did I get these legal papers? It’s pretty simple. In Kansas, the property of unmarried persons is given to the parents or surviving parent. If the parents are deceased then the property goes to the siblings. For good reason, I don’t want my siblings to have my property or proceeds from the estate. It’s all marked for charities, and I needed a will for that to happen.

    The living will and POA for health care decisions are to prevent me from being in situation such as the one trapping Terri Schaivo.