This Financial Document is a Matter of Life and Death — and Most of Us Don’t Have One

In some aspects, the American public is still reeling from that fact not only did the great Aretha Franklin die of pancreatic cancer 2 weeks ago, the music great passed away without a will dictating her last wishes. The public outcry seems belated, however, as there was also surprise in 2016 at the passing of Prince without a valid will to divide the artist’s assets.

In 2016 after the death of Prince, a Gallup poll showed that 44% of Americans had wills, down from 51% in 2015. A recently conducted survey by Caring.com revealed that the number has decreased again to 42% of Americans having made wills. “It makes people uncomfortable to think about dying, but I’m sorry — everyone is going to die at some point,” Laura Dixon, the editorial manager of Caring.com, told Moneyish.

A will can contain many things besides money, such as real property, funeral wishes, or guardianship of minor children. “There is this misconception that wills are only for rich, old people, but that is not the case,” said Dixon.

See Nicole Lyn Pesce, This Financial Document is a Matter of Life and Death — and Most of Us Don’t Have One, Moneyish, September 3, 2018.

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