Tag Archives: death

Do you have a will?

cynyjagxuaa5ewcIt’s never too soon to write a will.

Reginald “Jake” Gutierrez, a Washington state police officer, was fatally shot while responding to a domestic violence call in early December.  He had been with the Tacoma police department since 1999 and was highly respected and experienced.

Although he had a career in a dangerous field, he had not taken the steps necessary to protect his family if he was killed.  He lived with his fiancé, Rebecca Humphrey, and had talked about writing a will before they were married… but had not done it before his death.

Gutierrez was the breadwinner in their family, supporting Rebecca as she started a small business.  Now he is gone and Rebecca cannot access any of his money.  His estate will have to go through the probate process before she will possibly have access to any money.

Meanwhile, bills are piling up.  The Tacoma Police Department gave her $2,000 to cover her immediate needs and also set up a fund for the family.  But she will burn thru the $2,000 very quickly and doesn’t know how or when the fund will be distributed.

Rebecca is hopeful that everything will be worked out.  She says that Jake’s family hasn’t been fighting over money.  However, she wants others to hear her story and prepare for the worst.  She says “If you love your kids or fiancé or spouse, please think about that now for them so they don’t have to when they are grieving.”

If Gutierrez had written a will before his death, a lot of anguish and difficulty could have been avoided.

Even though you may not have a career in a dangerous field, you cannot plan when you will die.  You should prepare now and make decisions on how to take care of your family when you’re gone.  See an estate planning attorney or, if you have a simple estate, find a form on the internet.  But, whatever, you do, write your will today.

For more information about wills and estate planning, check out our website http://www.diesmart.com.

Facebook declared people prematurely dead.  Were you one of them?

mark-zuckberberg-1On Thursday, 11/11, Facebook had a bug.  It was one that managed to modify user profiles and declare those users dead.  Even Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, appeared dead on the site.

Despite being very much alive, users found their accounts switched to a “memorialized account,” reserved for the deceased, with the word “remembering” posted beside their name.

A statement reading: “We hope people who love Mark will find comfort in the things others share to remember and celebrate his life,” appeared on Mark Zuckerberg’s profile before being corrected.

Facebook provides a form to request the memorialization of accounts of the deceased. It requires documentation of a death, presumably to prevent people from triggering errant notices.  If this option is selected, their profile will continue to exist, but only as a memorial.  A logon is no longer available but people can post memorial messages to the deceased.

Many people woke up Thursday to find that their accounts had been memorialized and Facebook thought they were dead.  I imagine that could be very scary for someone who’s still alive.  The bug has now been fixed

To learn more about memorialization and what to do about other online accounts when someone dies, go to www.diesmart.com.

Do celebrities make money after they die?

michael jackson

In one word “yes”.  Following is the article recently released by Forbes that lists the highest paid celebrities who died this year.

While the Pearly Gates seemed to welcome an unusual amount of celebrities in the past year (David Bowie, Prince and Arnold Palmer, to name just three), the long-departed King of Pop had the time of his afterlife.

The March sale of Michael Jackson’s half of the Sony/ATV music publishing catalog, famous for its library of Beatles tunes, for $750 million puts him at the top of our annual ranking of the top-earning dead celebrities, an ironic finish given that many critics and even advisors once derided the catalog as a badly overpriced investment. Jackson’s total pretax payday of $825 million ranks as the biggest annual haul by any celeb dead or alive.

“He was always doing stuff that was the best, the greatest, the biggest,” says Jeff Jampol, who manages the estates of Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison and others. “That was a big fight when he wanted to buy that catalog … it turned out to be one of the greatest investments ever.”

In 1985, Jackson paid $47.5 million ($140 million in 2016 dollars) to buy the Beatles-packed ATV publishing catalog. Ten years later, Sony paid him $115 million to form a 50/50 joint venture, then purchased his remaining half in March. In all, the sales (and accompanying distributions) gave Jackson’s estate, which is overseen by lawyer John Branca and music exec John McClain, a 30% annualized return on investment.

Peanuts creator Charles Schulz claims the second spot with $48 million. The cartoonist died of colon cancer 16 years ago, but lives on through the franchise—and its licensing revenue, boosted by last year’s well-received 3-D Peanuts movie. Golf legend Arnold Palmer rounds out the top three with earnings of $40 million, most of which was accumulated in the mortal realm, as he passed away just days before our cutoff.

Our set of 13 Halloween-spooky estimates are for pretax income from October 1, 2015, through October 1, 2016, before deducting expenses for agents, managers and lawyers. Sources include Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen BookScan, PollstarPro, IMDB and interviews with estate experts.

Michael Jackson: The King Of Pop–and celeb earnings–dead or alive (Photo: Mike Powell /Allsport).

Recently deceased superstars Prince and David Bowie also rank high on the list. The Purple One passed away while still at the top of his touring game (grossing nearly $2 million per show) and sold more than 2.5 million albums over the past year, more than any other dead musician. Bowie, meanwhile, released his final album, Blackstar, just two days before his death; the ensuing sales spike helped him outsell Jackson and Elvis Presley (No. 4, $27 million) in the last year.

Presley’s total represents a 50% drop from last year’s figure (a change in how we accounted for Graceland ticket sales, not plummeting demand, accounts for the change). The King of Rock n’ Roll still moved more than 1 million albums on the year—most of them physical, not digital—remarkable for someone who’s been gone for nearly 40 years.

As for Jackson, the Sony/ATV payday gives him the last laugh over doubters. But a decade ago, he already knew what a good deal he’d made, as detailed in my book Michael Jackson, Inc. On a 2007 conference call, the King of Pop reminded Sony/ATV chief Marty Bandier of the acumen that had earned him a nine-figure return on paper by that point.

“See,” he told Bandier. “I told you I knew the music publishing business.”

13. Elizabeth Taylor ($8 million)
12. Steve McQueen ($9 million)
11. David Bowie ($10.5 million)
10. Bettie Page ($11 million)
9. Albert Einstein ($11.5 million)
8. John Lennon ($12 million)
7. Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel ($20 million)
6. Bob Marley ($21 million)
5. Prince ($25 million)
4. Elvis Presley ($27 million)
3. Arnold Palmer ($40 million)
2. Charles Schulz ($48 million)
1. Michael Jackson ($825 million)

You may not be a celebrity and you may not have an estate worth millions of dollars but you still need to do some planning for what you want to have happen to the assets you do have.  For more information about this topic, check our our website www.diesmart.com.

6 ways to foil hackers, phishers and pushy marketers

phishingI’ve written a lot in the past about identity theft and the importance of protecting your online accounts.  These six points were contained in an email from my mortgage broker and I think they definitely are worth repeating.

1. Update software. The latest computer, smartphone and apps software is the most secure. Update now and choose ‘Update Automatically’ in Settings. Update your WiFi router on its app or Web setup page.

2. Strengthen passwords. Make them long strings of random upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. Use a different one for every site. Turn on two-factor authentication for Apple ID, Google, Facebook (‘login approvals’), Microsoft, Twitter (‘login verification’) and banks. Use a password manager to sync devices.

3. Encrypt data. Makes it hard for someone to access information if they get your device. Encrypt with a password or fingerprint screen lock, or turn on ‘encryption’ in Settings. Use Disk Utility on external drives.

4. Privatize browsers. Select ‘clear browsing data.’ (This deletes passwords which shouldn’t be saved on sites anyway.) Activate ‘Do Not Track’ in Settings. Block trackers with an extension (Ghostery, Disconnect, EFF’s Privacy Badger). Opt out of ad tracking at http://www.aboutads.info/choices/

5. Check apps. Find out which ones access locations and data and turn off if not used. Check Settings for Privacy permissions. Check Google and Facebook security. Delete Facebook apps you don’t want.

6. Think! Don’t click on email links or attachments you don’t expect. Make online payments only on secure “https” sites. Double-check public hotspot names, or use a VPN—HotSpot Shield (Windows, Android), Cloak (iPhone, Mac). Use PayPal on unfamiliar sites. Don’t pay online with debit cards or put account info in emails.

For more information about protecting your digital assets, go to www.diesmart.com.

Seven towns want their residents to become immortal!

cemeteryBet you never thought that there would be places where death is a crime.  Well, there are.  Seven cities in Italy, France, Brazil, Spain and Norway urge their citizens not to die.

 

  1. Sellia, Italy – The town has only 537 residents, the majority over 65.  The mayor decreed that getting sick was not an option.  If the residents died, it might kill the town as well.  Even though the ban is not enforceable, the town government encourages its residents to stay healthy.  Anyone who doesn’t get a yearly checkup will be fined.
  2.   Cugnaux, France – Because there were only 17 plots left in the town cemeteries, in 2007 the mayor decreed dying illegal for anyone who didn’t already have a crypt to be buried in.  The only available land for a new cemetery was on a nearby military air base.  However, the defense ministry did not want the town to bury its dead there.  Luckily, the defense ministry finally gave in and agreed to allow burials.
  3. Sarpourenx, France – In 2008, because of overcrowded cemetery conditions, the mayor forbid residents from passing on.  “Offender shall be severely punished.”
  4. Biritiba Mirim, Brazil – In 2005, there was such a shortage of space in the local cemetery that the mayor banned death.  Luckily, a new cemetery opened in 2010 so people are allowed to go on dying.
  5. Lanjaron, Spain – In 1999, this town faced a grave shortage.  So the mayor forbid his citizens to die until municipal officials could find space for a new cemetery.
  6. Falciano Del Massico, Italy – In 2012, this town decided to outlaw death as a way of prodding a neighboring town into letting it share cemetery space.  (The neighboring town had been charging non-residents more for a plot.)  As of 2014, the town was still fighting to get a new cemetery.
  7. Longyearbyen, Norway – It’s the world’s northernmost settlement and mostly a mining town.  In 1950, realizing that bodies in the local cemetery were not decomposing, the town stopped allowing new burials.  If you get sick and think you’re going to die, you’d better go elsewhere.

If you know of another town anywhere in the world that doesn’t allow death, we’d love to know about it.

For information about end of life planning, check out our website www.diesmart.com.