Roger died without a Will.
I heard an unfortunate story the other day about the untimely death of an individual I will refer to as, Roger.
Roger passed away during the Christmas Holidays due to a heart attack. He was 50 years old. Roger had no other family other then an elderly father in his eighties who did not live with him. However, it was his elderly father who ultimately went over to find his son, still laying in bed with his clothes on, cold to the touch and turning greyish – blackish. Roger might have been dead for two or three days.
During his life, Roger operated a successful paving company that earned him a very healthy living. Roger was very likely making a few million a year from his company. However, if you met Roger he didn’t look like it. He wore, ripped t-shirts, jeans and sneakers. He was a steak and beer guy.
Since Roger had never been married, had no common law spouse or girlfriend or children his elderly father was the only one left with cleaning up his apartment. As a result, Roger’s friend, who I will refer to as Mark stepped in to help.
On cleaning his friends apartment, Mark noticed that Roger had a wardrobe perhaps in the amount of $20,000 or more. Roger’s closet was lined with expensive Italian suits that Mark estimated could have been $1500 to $3000 dollars. Roger also had about two hundred pairs of expensive custom designer shoes and boots made from snake skin and alligator skin. Mark estimated these to be in the range of $1000 to $2000.
As Mark looked through his deceased friend’s clothes whom he had just chatted with earlier during the week, Roger’s father walked in, “I am gonna donate all these clothes to the Salvation Army, unless you want them.”
Not only did Roger leave behind an expensive wardrobe that was now to be donated, but also some valuable properties. Roger was also a car and bike enthusiast and his garage was outfitted with classic muscle cars and Harley Davidsons.
There was no one left to succeed or inherit his lucrative business or any direction for his employees. In the interim, Mark stepped in to assist to ensure that existing agreements between Rogers company and his clients were honored. All of Rogers assets and investments are unknown at this time.
The moral of the story is, that Roger spent a lifetime building a successful business from scratch, and purchasing lavish material possessions as so many of us do. In the end, he did not properly plan for his estate. His elderly father will not have the mental and physical stamina to make inquiries with respect to Roger’s estate.
Roger could have avoided all this by simply drafting a Will. Where he could have disposed of estate adequately.
I am a Wills Lawyer in Burlington.
My address is 901 Guelph Line, Burlington.
You can also call or text at 416-505-4901 OR call Toll Free: 1 (800) 939-9211