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donald s. orkand
In this instance, the author was afforded the dubious pleasure of
listening to an estate planning presentation that began with “If, God
forbid, you should die…”. Two things are wrong about that opening:
First, “God forbid” implies some link between estate planning and
the religious belief in the possibility of life after death. at belief is
shared by many and should be respected. e tax code and estate law
admit to no such possibility; however, the legal and tax clocks start
ticking when you are pronounced dead. Second, the phrase “if you
should die” implies that there is a question about whether that event
will occur. In fact, the only question is when it will occur.
e only formulation that is useful as a guide to decisio ...