OCR Text |
Show JUST HOW DO YOU INTEND TO BEQUEATH YOUR MONEY? LD Man John Jones was a w shrewd fellow. Everybody knew that. When he retired from the bank he had all his money in farms, and with his retirement he turned his whole attention to managing them. He had a proper little wife, who was his same age of 66, and four , married children ranging in age from 36 to 44. There were those who said his farms were worth $100,000. His world was in good order. But Old Man Jones got to age 69, then three months beyond it, and then he died. Old Man Jim Smith had been his lawyer all these many years, and when the funeral and the weeping were respectfully disposed dis-posed of, Mr. Smith read the will he had hplped Mr. Jones prepare. Mr. Jones allowed, according to the will, that the farms had been good to him and Mrs. Jones and that they would be good to the four children. Whereas, Mr. Jones decreed that the farms would be kept intact, that the income in-come from them would go to Mrs. Jones until she died. Thereafter , the four children would be equal owners and would equally share , the income j Since tlie (arms were found to I j be worth about $130,000 instead of , i the repined $100. (m and had been ' t netting between 4 and 5 per cent, this meant that each child would get about $1500 a year Since there was enough other property to take care of taxes and leave the farms intact, everything was set Mr. Jones, his will said, thought this was nice. But it was in 1957 that Mr. Jones died, and in 1958 that his wife followed him. At that time six of the Jones grandchildren had grown up and married, and of the six one had had the mar-riage mar-riage annulled, a second was suing for divorce, and a third was back borne with mother and I pouting. Nine more grandchildren were in various stages of growing up Then came 1960. A Jones daut;h. ter, with five children of her own. died of cancer. Whereupon five grandchildren became fractional owners of those farms A Jones son, returning from the funeral was killed in an automobile ac cident along with his wife and four more grandchildren got into the pie. With divorces and annulments yet. And some ol them living in community prop srty states. No ... I don't know how it'll come out. But if I am still writ ng this colmun in 20 years, and you're still reading it, I'll make i check of the courts and see how hings are going |