Essentials of Personal Financial Planning

CHAPTER 16 APPLICATIONS IN ESTATE PLANNING

CASE STUDY

Cecil and Clara Wallace met almost 40 years ago in college, where Clara was studying accounting and Cecil was studying business. They married shortly after graduation and have been happily married for the last 35 years. They have four grown children and 11 grandchildren with whom they are very close.

Upon graduation, Clara was immediately recruited and hired by a newly opened local company, which quickly opened a second store, then soon became a small franchise. As the franchise grew, so did Clara’s role in it. Today she is the CEO and president of a national company with franchises throughout the United States. She has just begun negotiating with a hedge fund that wants to buy the company; if the deal goes through, the Wallaces’ net worth will triple overnight.

Unfortunately, Cecil’s career has been notably less successful than Clara’s. Like Clara, he secured employment immediately after college, but after three years he left to start a business of his own. It was modestly successful for a few years before failing. What followed was a series of business ventures that followed the same pattern: initial success followed by failure, some more quickly than others. After his most recent venture failed rather spectacularly, Cecil slipped into a deep depression and developed severe stress-related heart disease. Making matters worse, ...