Article on Estate Planning Lessons Learned From Former Professional Fighter’s Death

Recently, Evan Guthrie Law Firm released an article about the different estate planning lessons that can be learned from Ken Norton’s death. The article is entitled Estate Planning: Lessons Learned from Ken Norton, JD Supra Law News, September 30, 2013. Below is the introduction:

Ken Norton died in September of 2013 at age 70 of congestive heart failure after enduring several strokes over the years. Norton is most well known as a professional fighter and former world heavyweight champion who broke Muhammad Ali’s jaw while defeating him.

There are several estate planning lessons that can be learned  from Ken Norton.

The key lesson Mr. Norton teaches is the importance of making an estate plan before it is necessary and while one is still able to. Norton had extra motivation to make a plan for assets and health due to the inherent dangers of his prize fighting profession that could kill or incapacitate one on any given match. The increased health risks of a retired fighter that has take many blows to the head and body should also have been a warning to take planning action. The final wakeup call would be a major health event like a stroke and the increased occurrence of subsequent strokes that should warn one of the need to make a plan while one still has capacity to make one.

See Sarah Choi, Lessons in Estate Planning , Wealth Startegies, Oct. 20, 2013.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.