Getting A Windfall Late In Life Can Expose You To All Kinds Of Risks

Young people, having been encouraged to dream big, tend to aspire to great riches in the future. Some of them settle into a pattern of contentment; if they have a job that enables them to pay their bills, they fill the rest of their thoughts with non-materialistic matters. They are happy to document their family history or entertain themselves by indulging their delusions of glamor with supermarket makeup and phone camera filters. Others start to be bitter about the fact that they are not yet wealthy and start chasing increasingly implausible paths to prosperity. These are the multilevel marketing brand ambassadors and wannabe travel vloggers of the world; stepping into their inner world is somehow even more exhausting than trying to explain to a two-year-old that the moon is not a cookie, and furthermore, it is so far away that, even though you might have reached your adult height, you cannot pluck it from the sky so that the two-year-old can examine its entirely un-cookie-like texture for himself or herself. Both groups understand that few people experience a major uptick in wealth late in life. When they do, it is as jarring as it would be if a sudden job loss derailed your financial plans. If you have experienced a financial windfall after becoming comfortable with your financially modest future, contact an Orlando estate planning lawyer.

If Your Financial Situation Improves, Update Your Estate Plan

In the days of long form journalism, two stories of elderly lottery winners stood out. One told of a Midwestern couple who implemented a complex strategy to win millions at the state lottery, by buying numerous lottery tickets at the most opportune times. The end of the article quoted the wife as saying that, at age 80, she was too young to retire. The other was a grandfather from Appalachia who, once wealthy, felt that he was now free to be an absolute jerk. By the end of the article, his granddaughter was dead from a drug overdose, and the article quoted his wife as saying that she wished she had torn up the winning ticket.

If you get a financial windfall, the first thing you need is a reality check. The money might not make you miserable when you are alive, but it will make your family miserable after you die. It is imperative to meet with an estate planning lawyer to update your will and perhaps establish a trust to prevent your newfound riches from wreaking havoc on your family.

It Is Expensive to Be Poor, but It Is Also Expensive to Be Rich

One of the biggest unpleasant surprises is how much it costs to possess large sums of money. You will also need to plan for how to pay taxes and other fees associated with your windfall.

Contact Gierach and Gierach About Coping With Third Act Surprises

An estate planning lawyer can help you adjust your estate plan to account for an unexpected improvement to your financial situation.  Contact Gierach and Gierach, P.A. in Orlando, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0736/Sections/0736.1106.html