YOURS, MINE & OURS is aimed at a very specific reader: someone with a blended or step-family and enough wealth to need an estate plan. But author L. Paul Hood Jr., who has been doing estate planning for thirty-five years, is also an acute observer of human nature. So, while the book is a comprehensive guide to estate planning in general and blended/step families in particular, it also offers compelling insights into what drives people to act as they do. Especially people with money.
For instance, Hood notes that “[p]eople who make their own wealth often identify themselves by their owned property…and are more willing to take estate planning risks.” Meanwhile, on the receiving end of the transaction, “inheritors…often feel a great deal of shame and embarrassment around their lack of acumen with their wealth, and these emotions keep them from seeing and accessing professional training, coaching and advising.” Hood also cites the general and particular statistics that show how crucial estate planning is. Thirty percent of marriages in the US are remarriages. Also, 60 percent of second marriages and 73 percent of third marriages end in divorce, compared to the 50 percent rate for first marriages. Moreover, Hood reveals, in 70 percent of families who have failed estate plans, at least one partner has children from previous relationships. “The purpose of this book,” Hood writes, “is to address in detail the nuances—the mortar—of estate planning and to help you meet your goals, address your concerns, and tackle your particular issues with your estate planner.”
This he does in comprehensive fashion. The book is divided into three parts: the basics of estate planning, planning issues for families, and suggestions for planning techniques. Virtually no question is left unanswered. Hood even addresses the twelve fears most people have that stop them from planning their estate, from contemplating death to hurting others’ feelings to facing reality. And, when they do get down to it, he lists the most common concerns—including choosing between a partner and the children, dealing with problem children, and caring for elderly parents. He advises on how to identify a good or bad estate planner, noting how blended-family couples and partners are the “most challenging clients because of the emotional and legal issues that they face.” In this regard, Hood says his most valuable advice is “keep your separate property separate.” YOURS, MINE & OURS is practical and unsentimental. For that reason, it will not only help people who need to plan how to dispose of their estate, but also how to handle the inevitable problems that accompany having a blended family. Hood also makes a persuasive case for telling the truth, not only in estate planning but in life—since the facts usually come out after death. This is not only a guide on how to die with your affairs organized; it’s also a guide on how to live well.
L. Paul Hood Jr.’s YOURS, MINE & OURS is a comprehensive guide to estate planning for blended and step-families, but readers will also learn a lot about human nature from the author’s insightful observations throughout his three and a half decades in this field.
~Kevin Baldeosingh for IndieReader