Recently, Natina Reed, noted for her role as Jenelope in the movie “Bring It On” and a member of the girl group “Blaque,” passed away when a car struck her as a pedestrian. She died rather young at the age of 32. Like most people, Reed did not have any formal estate planning documents in place at her death. The lesson that can be learned here is that it is never too early to begin planning for a person’s death, which includes the traditional estate planning documents. This is especially the case when a person has a minor child, which is what happened here in Natina Reed’s case. The reason that a will is so important is because it is one of the few documents that a person can use to appoint a guardian for a minor. In fact, it “is the only way to appoint a potential successor guardian for a minor in many jurisdictions.”
See Evan Guthrie Law Firm, Estate Planning: Lessons Learned From Natina Reed, JDSupra, Oct. 29, 2012.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.
