Personal Financial Planning, Fourth Edition

17. Estate Planning

Introduction

Ms. Ramaswamy was heading for the office as usual yesterday morning when she suddenly collapsed in the car park and died of a heart attack. Still relatively young, Ms. Ramaswamy never expected any mishap to occur to her. After all, throughout her life, she enjoyed a healthy lifestyle with lots of exercise, a careful diet and adequate sleep each day. Ms. Ramaswamy did not write a will nor indicate how her assets should be distributed.

Then there was Mr. Lim, a successful businessman. He died yesterday from a stroke. He had lived a full life, having celebrated his 96th birthday just last week. At his wake, several ...