You Can't Take It With You Occasionally you read a true story like the one that recently appeared in a newspaper. A man who was not married, had no children and apparently no heirs passed away. Some months later his house burned down and the fire department rushed to the scene. When they finished digging through the ashes, they found over $500,000 in cash buried among the ashes. It turned out the stash in the attic was just a small portion of his wealth. The gentleman had a portfolio of publicly traded stocks worth over $6 million according to the probate court records. In addition, he owned numerous rental properties in the city where he resided. He did not leave a will. The newspaper account went on to tell about the way he lived. His lifestyle was so typical of the frugality that represented his generation. Friends and neighbors said he would buy discount "go-anywhere" bus tickets on Greyhound and pass up the opportunity to stay in a hotel by sleeping on the bus. He had many other habits that characterized his generation by saving and never spending. After he died a friend said, "I guess he thought he was going to live forever and maybe take it with him when he went." When a person dies without a will, there's always one relative standing by with open arms. His name is Uncle Sam. He benefits the most from the estates of those who leave no will and no plan for the asset distribution to family or extended family or the community in which they live. There is a never-ending stream of stories about loved ones left behind in despair. Eighty percent of the married women in America today will become widows and many, if not most, will suffer this same despair as a result of a lack of foresight on the part of the deceased. It has been said that a person will work more than forty years to accumulate assets, will spend ten years conserving what has been accumulated, but will not take over two hours to carefully plan for its distribution. Being a widow differs drastically from being a wife. It's a move from togetherness to aloneness, at least for awhile. It usually means a change in management roles. The wife who may have been a manager of family income becomes, as a widow, a manager of both income and principal. That management role is greatly enhanced by the presence of a well planned document called a will. No, you can't take it with you, but you can carefully plan for its distribution to those you love and leave behind.