Obiorah Fields, LLC - October 2019

ESTATE PLANNING MEETS SCOOBY-DOO WHAT ‘A NIGHT OF FRIGHT IS NO DELIGHT’ GOT WRONG

Estate planning is serious business in the real world, but that’s not always the case when it pops up on TV. With Halloween just around the corner, we thought this would be the perfect time to dive into what one famous cartoon case — the classic Scooby-Doo episode “A Night of Fright is No Delight” — got wrong when it came to divvying up assets after death. In the episode, Scooby and the gang are summoned to the haunted mansion of the late eccentric millionaire, Colonel Beauregard Sanders. As luck would have it, Scooby had saved the Colonel’s life years earlier, so he had a chance to inherit his fortune. When the gang arrives, lawyer Cosgood Creeps plays a recording Sanders left behind for Scooby and the other heirs. The recording stipulates that in order to win the fortune, the heirs have to spend a night in the mansion and survive to tell the tale. There are plenty of reasons not to model your own final wishes after Colonel Beauregard Sanders’, but here are three things he got wrong off the bat. HE LEFT A RECORDING INSTEAD OF A WRITTEN WILL. Unlike properly written, notarized wills, recordings don’t stand up well in court. If any of Sanders’ family had tried to

challenge the process, they probably could have overruled his wishes. HE DIDN’T DISCUSS HIS ARRANGEMENTS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS. In “A Night of Fright is No Delight,” Sanders’ relatives are as surprised as Scooby by his wacky request. To divvy up your own estate without a hitch, discuss your plans with your family beforehand so they’re on board with the process. Scooby and the gang unmask the ghosts in the episode, winning Scooby a pile of money — $1 million in now-worthless Confederate currency. The rest of the Colonel’s assets, like his mansion, aren’t mentioned, suggesting a cartoon court battle on the horizon! To avoid a real-life confrontation, lay out plans for all of your assets in your will. If you want to ensure your estate planning is done the smart way, without any of the cartoon pitfalls, call Obiorah Fields today. HE DIDN’T GIVE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL OF HIS PROPERTY.

At Obiorah Fields LLC, we’re not your standard, run-of-the-mill law office. We don’t just do what’s required of us — we go the extra mile to make sure that justice is served in every case we take on. If you’ve worked with us before, and you know somebody who could benefit from taking us on as their legal team, please don’t hesitate to give them this newsletter and show them who we are! We want to help as many people as we can. We’re just one phone call away from new potential clients. If they contact us through our website and give us their name, contact info, and a brief description of their situation, we will give them a free case evaluation and report. Don’t hesitate to refer us! DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO NEEDS OUR HELP? GIVE THEM THIS NEWSLETTER!

NEED A SPEAKER? If you are interested in having Teri Fields speak to your organization about estate planning, please contact us at 404-994-6218.

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