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Estate Planners Needed in North Dakota

By Gerry W. Beyer

North_dakotaIt is possible that a new millionaire is being created each day in North Dakota and each of them will need an estate plan to handle the new wealth.

According to James MacPherson, Oil is making millionaires in North Dakota, Yahoo!News, June 30, 2008, there are oil riches beyond imagination underlying North Dakota prairie land — the Bakken shale formation which the U.S. Geological Survey claims is the largest continuous oil accumulation it has ever evaluated.

The article describes the story of Oscar and Lorene Stohler who become millionaires is less than one year from the production received from just one oil well.  In one county, approximately one-third of the population are expected to be millionaires within the next five years.

Maybe it is time for network TV to come up with a modern version of the Beverly Hillbillies.

Special thanks to Joel Dobris (Professor of Law, UC Davis School of Law) for bringing this article to my attention.

Posted in:
Current Events and Estate Planning - Generally