In the story of Alice in Wonderland, Alice arrives at a fork in the road and wonders aloud which road to take. A smiling Cheshire Cat appears and asks her what her destination is, to which she replies, “I don’t know.” The toothy cat then proffers the only possible response, “Well, then it doesn’t matter.”
Most people think estate planning is only for wealthy people. Certainly, the 55% of Americans who died without a will thought so, even though all of their estates ended up in probate court subject to the laws of the state. Sadly, the surviving families were thrust into a situation that resulted in unnecessary distress, expense and, for many of them, devastating financial consequence
It’s something most Americans don’t think about until it hits the headlines, such as last year when major retailer, Target, revealed that its data base of shopper credit and debit card numbers had been breached. Yet, nearly 15 percent of the population - more than 34 million adults - has reported some form of identity theft, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.
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