Fun Facts

I know estate planning doesn't seem like the most fun thing in the world to do or think about.  I know my kids definitely make fun of my work.  However, if you are a history buff there can be some fun things to learn.  In preparing for a presentation I have to give to my BNI group next week, I pulled up some fun items and provided a link on my home page to even more.  Here are a few:  

*  The longest will known to have been filed in probate court is that of Frederica Evelyn Stilwell Cook. On November 2, 1925, this 1066-page document bounded into 4 leather-bound books filled with gilt-edged paper was filed at the Principal Probate Registry in London. Two of the books had 702 pages, and two books had 406 pages. This monstrous document had an inventory of all Ms. Cook's belongings, including jewelry, laces, furs, dressing bags, embroideries, and art. The majority of her belongings went to her children. The document also stated that her two executors were to bury her wedding ring with her in a grave with a tombstone that did not have her age inscribed on it. She also instructed her executors to burn her diaries.

* A few rich and famous people have died without having a valid will, and that has made things a little messy with their family members:

• Kurt Cobain
• Howard Hughes
• Sonny Bono
• John Denver
• Chris Farley
• Martin Luther King, Jr.
• You can now add Prince to this list!!

*If you live in Alberta, Canada, then when you get married your will becomes invalid. But if you get divorced, it will be valid again.