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Pop idol Michael Jackson shocked the world with his untimely death on June 25 at age 50. Since that time it has been unclear who would be guardian of his children and who would manage his assets and ongoing business commitments.

His mother had to file an action to be named temporary guardian of his children, and there is wild speculation whether or not Michael would have wanted his father to manage his financial affairs.

At first the family reported there was no will; now it is reported a will has been filed. I’m sure it will be contested (is it the latest will? Is there another one? Which one is valid? Was he competent when he signed it?) and fought over for years to come. This is so sad and so unnecessary.

Unfortunately, many families find themselves scrambling when someone dies unexpectedly.

Having a will in place is not just for rich people. It provides order and certainty to your family, and allows you, rather than the state, to decide who gets what. It provides a list of your assets and where they are located.

Most importantly in my mind, though, is that it lets you select the guardian for your children. Again, this is not a decision that should be left to your (possibly) feuding relatives and a judge to sort out.

Of course, if you have assets of more than $3.5 million, you will want to make plans to minimize the estate tax your heirs will pay.

Tags: death, guardian, intestate, Joe Jackson, Kathryn Jackson, Michael Jackson, will

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 at 11:11 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.