Movie Review: Snowball Express

Here is another inheritance movie. Disney's classic, Snowball Express (1972), is just plain fun. The story is about the crazy adventures a family has when they move to Colorado to try and make an inherited run down hotel a success. Of course, there are the good and bad guys and the ultimate "snowmobile" race to see which side wins.

The movie can be found here.

Movie Review: Scavenger Hunt

Here's an inventive way to give away your estate. Have your relatives participate in a scavenger hunt where the winner inherits all. Scavenger Hunt (1979) is exactly that. In this comic movie, the relatives and even the servants compete for the prize: the $200 million dollar estate.

Check out this review.

Movie Review: Greedy

The movie Greedy (1994, rated pg-13) is about an extremely wealthy uncle (Kirk Douglas) who knows his greedy relatives (Ed Begley, Jr., Phil Hartman, Michael J. Fox) want his money. He puts them through various tests including hiring a beautiful nurse from England. While watching the fun, it is of interest to see all the estate planning issues a family can actually go through.

Book Review: "Philanthropy Heirs & Values"

"Philanthropy Heirs & Values" written by Roy Williams and Vic Preisser discusses how to help heirs learn money principles during their growing up years so that they can wisely handle their inheritance once parents have died. The book is geared towards more wealthy individuals, but I think the principles they talk about could be used by any family to learn sound money skills and the joy of philanthropy.

Briefly, the authors discuss three general skills children need to learn: values, mission, and accountability. The authors further discuss how these three skills should be taught to children during five developmental periods of a child's life. The five developmental periods are:

Age 5-10 Awakening Years, discovering one's personal influence.
Age 11-15 Exploring Years, discovering self in the midst of change.
Age 16-20 Developing Years, understanding accountability.
Age 21-30 Applying Years, maximizing the value of contributions.
Beyond 30 Mentoring Years, unifying the family through Philanthropy.

You can find "Philanthropy Heirs & Values" here.

Movie Review: "Topper Returns"

I have been thinking about about good stories based on inheritance issues. I remember watching "Topper Returns" (1941) as a little girl with my family. It is a mystery/comedy that boils down to murder in order to inherit. I remember laughing so hard it hurt. I would highly recommend watching this movie. Take a look here.

Book Review: "The Parent Care Conversation"

Dan Taylor experienced an emotional five years caring for his father who had developed Alzheimer's. After Mr. Taylor's father's death, Mr. Taylor developed a plan with ways to talk to parents about their financial and health care concerns before the parents actually need help. His book, The Parent Care Conversation: 6 strategies for dealing with the emotional and financial challenges of aging parents is a good book to read before sitting down with loved ones and discussing financial and health care concerns.

Mr. Taylor's plan presents six conversations that need to be made between children and parents. The six conversations are:

• The Big Picture Conversation




• The Money Conversation




• The Property Conversation




• The House Conversation




• The Professional Care Conversation




• The Legacy Conversation

It is not always easy to talk about the future especially when discussing parents financial and health care needs. But it is really crucial for the peace of mind of both the children and parents to be prepared for the inevitable. Therefore, we recommend reading Mr. Taylor's book.

Book Review: "Last Laughs"

A fun cartoon book to look at regarding aging, retirement and death is "Last Laughs" edited by Mort Gerberg. For example, there is a cartoon depicting a grocery story with an old man pushing a shopping cart. Two old women discussing the old man say, "A great catch. He's a widower, still frisky, and has fully paid-up-long-term-care insurance." Take a look here.

Book Review: "Preparing Heirs"

Preparing Heirs by Roy Williams and Vic Preisser gives five steps in transferring family wealth successfully. The fives steps are as follows:

• Assessing Your Wealth Transition Plan


• Taking Action on Plan Deficiencies


• Preparing the Heirs


• The Heir's Self-Preparation Responsibilities


• Continuing Evaluation and Measurement

The book also gives examples of families that have successfully transferring wealth to future generations and those who were not successful. A good read. You can find the book here.

Book Review: "Little Dorrit"

Some of Charles Dicken's greatest works use inheritance to move the stories along. We have mentioned Charles Dicken's "Bleakhouse" in a previous blog. Another of Charles Dicken's great books is "Little Dorrit." Much of the story follows individuals who grapple with the consequences that come with having a lack of money or an over abundance of money. There is the burning of a will and unclaimed inheritance reclaimed by relatives. There are family secrets to protect and the ultimate triumph of love over money. It really is a great book. The BBC production starring Claire Foy, Matthew Macfayden, Tom Courtenay, et al. (2009) brings to life this wonderful book.

Little Dorrit in DVD
Little Dorrit in paperback

Book Review: "Asset Protection"

This book review is more of a book recommendation. When potential clients come to our office and ask us about asset protection strategies, we recommend they read "Asset Protection" by Jay D. Adkisson and Christopher M. Riser. Once they have read the book, we suggest they set up an appointment to meet with us regarding asset protection.

You can review and order the book here on Amazon.com.

Book Review: "The Anatomy of Peace"

When we meet with potential probate litigation clients, we recommend they read "The Anatomy of Peace" by The Arbinger Institute. On the outset, it might seem strange to be recommeding a book that discusses peace with a potential probate litigation client. However, litigation is ugly and can ruin family relationships forever. "The Anatomy of Peace" gives a formula for dealing with conflict while still maintaining a heart at peace towards those individuals on the opposite side of any conflict. I would highly recommend reading this book even if your family will never experience probate litigation.

You can obtain a copy of "The Anatomy of Peace" here.

Book Review: "The Inheritance" by Louisa May Alcott

Literature is full of inheritance stories. A classic theme is that of a poor deprived child receiving an unexpected inheritance that changes his or her life. One of Louisa May Alcott's first novels (1849, unpublished until 1997) is about a little orphan girl who ends up inheriting a large estate.

I remember reading "The Inheritance" because I loved the movie based on Alcott's novel. I was a little disappointed in the book only because the movie had a father character that I really liked and the book did not. That is what I get for watching the movie before reading the book. The book is still a fun read.

Just for curiosity's sake, I searched on Amazon.com to see if there are any recent inheritance novels out there. As of July 7, 2011, "Soul Inheritance" written byHoney A. Hutson is avaiable. I have not read the book, but the reviews say it is about a girl that does not know her past and ends up inheriting something interesting.

Inheritance is a timeless subject to write about.

Check out the DVD of "The Inheritance" or the book on Amazon .
Check out "Soul Inheritance" by Honey A. Hutson (July 7, 2011) on Amazon.

Check out our website here.

Dishonoring Virgil's Death Wish Gave The World "Aeneid"

Virgil (70 BC - 19 BC) was a classical Roman poet. His epic poem Aeneid was unfinished when he became sick and died. Tradition says Virgil indicated that the incomplete Aeneid should be burned upon his death. Tradition also says that Augustus (63 BC - 14 AD), the first Roman emperor, ordered the poem published instead. In dishonoring Virgil's death request, Augustus saved the Aeneid's destruction and provided the world with something beautiful and worth keeping. Since its publication, the Aeneid has became a national epic poem for Rome and was popular from its publication through the present day.

Here are a few websites on the subject:
Wikipedia
Sparknotes
Classics

Visit here for more information regarding estate planning.

What Do You Do When You Inherit Poems?

In 1994, David Broza, an Israeli balladeer, performed once in a small concert with Townes Van Zandt, a Texan singer and songwriter. When Mr. Van Zandt died in 1997, he bequeathed his unpublished poems to Mr. Broza. An unexpected inheritance for Mr. Broza. Eight years after Mr. Van Zandt's death, Mr. Broza, in tribute to Mr. Van Zandt, turned the poems into songs. In 2010, Mr. Broza produced an album "Night Dawn: The Unpublished Poetry of Townes Van Zandt." A nice tribute and great music and lyrics. Check it out http://nightdawn.davidbroza.net/

Dig Utah!

Rock art from Range Creek from the Utah history site.

Utah's Range Creek, one of the most pristine examples of Fremont Indian culture, is the subject of a PBS show in which archaeologists armed with pricey technology parachute into a site for 72 hours.

"I've been in archaeology for 30 years and have never seen anything like it," said Eric Deetz of the site in central Utah, occupied by the Fremont 1,000 years ago and left virtually undisturbed until 2001, when it was purchased by a nonprofit Trust for Public Land. The site is now owned by the state, according to this Salt Lake Tribune article.

Archaeologists are excited because the sites are neither looted nor disturbed.

Differently Abled

The link between savant syndrome and autism is well established. This economists.com article called "Genius locus," points to a recent study that reinforces this conclusion. It says that as many as 30% of autistic people have some kind of savant type capability in areas like math or music. Autism symptoms like poor communication skills, and obsession with detail are also exhibited by creative types in science, engineering, music, and the arts.

The standard diagnosis requires three things: 1) impairment in social interaction, 2) difficulty in communicating with others, and 3) restrictive and repetitive behaviors and interests. May experts believe that it is the third feature that is related to savant syndrome. Obsessional interests and repetitive behaviors give autistic people the edge in developing keen powers of observation and other skills.

I really like they way the article ends:

Nothing comes for nothing, it seems, and genius has its price.

Savant syndrome, then, is a case where the politically correct euphemism “differently abled” has real meaning. The conclusion that should be drawn, perhaps, is not that neurotypicals (neurologically normal) should attempt to ape savants, but that savants—even those who are not geniuses—should be welcomed for what they are, and found a more honored place in society.

From Greg Mankiw's blog a book recommendation:

A Different Kind of Boy by Daniel Mont
and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, which I read and liked a lot. One caveat there is a spoiler alert on for some of the comments on amazon.

Speaking of Art

Last week, two 16th century paintings that hung in William Randolph Heart's castle were confiscated by the Nazis in 1935. Last week Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and California State Parks Director Ruth Coleman handed them over on the second day of Passover.


The three works were acquired by newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst for his 165-room, hilltop castle in 1935; the origins were unknown at the time.

The family struck a deal with the state of California several months ago, after San Simeon curators agreed the paintings were Oppenheimer holdings sold at a Judenauktion, a coerced auction of Jewish possessions.

The paintings were deeded to the State of California with the sale of Heart Castle.

Peter Bloch of Boynton Beach, Florida and Inge Blackshear of Buenos Aires accepted the oil paintings on behalf of their grandparents, Jakob and Rosa Oppenheimer. Inge died at Auschwitz and Jakob died in poverty in Nice France in 1941.

Schwarzenegger's whose father was a member of the Nazi Party, said that the return of the paintings had special meaning for him.

The returned paintings are "Portrait of Alvise Vendramin," attributed to the school of Jacopo Tintoretto, and "Portrait of a Bearded Gentleman," credited to the school of Giovanni Cariani.

Broadway to Dim Its Lights

for one minute at 8:00 pm tonight.

Very sad news. Playwright
Horton Foote passed away yesterday at the age of 92.

He was one of America's best story tellers. His "The Young Man From Atlanta" received the Pulitzer prize in 1995 and he received Academy Awards for his adaptation of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and his original screenplay, "Tender Mercies." He is also known for "The Trip to Bountiful" and his last and wildly acclaimed "Dividing the Estate."

This play is reported to be a comic masterpiece about a small town Texas family.

I'll borrow the starting paragraph of the NY Times Review, Inherit the Windfall

NY Times Slide Show here.
NY Times Obit here

"You probably have one in your family. And the odds are that he or she is making a lot of noise right now. I mean the kind of person who, when the going gets tough, is transformed from a respectable-looking grown-up into a greedy, caterwauling 4-year-old, convinced that everyone else is getting a bigger slice of what’s left of the cake."

Secretary's Daughter finds The Good Earth

Montgomery News out of North Pennsylvania reports that the original hand written manuscript for Pearl Buck's The Good Earth is on display at The Pearl S. Buck House in Hilltown, Pennsylvania.







They had not been seen since Buck reported them missing in the 1950s. In 2007, a daughter of Buck's long-time secretary, found it in a suitcase, along with more than a hundred letters that had been written to the author by such notables as Eleanor Roosevelt and Ezra Pound.

Without knowing it was reported missing, she took it to a Philadelphia auction house to sell. They contacted The Pearl S. Buck Foundation, who contacted the FBI.

"No charges were pressed as all those connected with the manuscript are deceased," PSB House Curator Donna Rhodes said. "We believe it was a former employee who had it, but we don't know why. There's no way of determining whether it was taken, or given to, or what."

At the end of Pearl Buck's life, several conflicting wills were found. One bequeathed her manuscripts to one organization, another to her hometown in West Virginia, and another leaving the Good Earth to Pearl S. Buck International. Several months of litigation between the family and the foundation have prevented earlier display of the manuscript.

The Good Earth" won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932, and was an important factor in Buck's 1938 Nobel Prize. It sold nearly 2 million copies in 1931 and was best seller in 1931 and 1932.

There is a house in New Orleans

Potential home owners might be interested to know that the New Orleans house used in the film Benjamin Button, which was nominated for 13 Oscars, is on the market.

Tthe Garden District mansion is 7,800-square feet, and has a big yard, six bedrooms, six bathrooms, a music room, a library, and a reception hall.

"It's much nicer than what people saw in the movie," said real estate agent Dorian Bennett. "It's more like Tara than a home for old people."

The asking price for the house is $2.85 million, which is being sold to settle the late owner's estate.

According to the Times Picayune, the house was built almost 200 years ago in 1832 It has housed three generations of the William T. Nolan II’s family (Nolan’s daughter, Ashley, plays a doctor in Button). It has survived several hurricanes, including Betsy and Katrina. See the listing and a 30 picutre slide show here.