Case Study #1
How Tragedy and Human Weakness Can Endanger Your Life's Work
Richard was a fairly wealthy man you can. He had three
beautiful adult children, all of whom were married to great partners. He
himself had been married to the same women for 35 years. At the age of 57,
Jacque, his still young and beautiful wife, had a car accident that disfigured
her face so badly that even plastic surgery did very little to restore her once
beautiful countenance.
Richard and Jacque were accustomed to a life that included
socializing with what I call "the beautiful people." Some of Jacque's
friends were starlets and quite notable individuals. With the disfigurement
resulting from the accident, she never seemed to feel comfortable in the same
circles. Jacque went into a deep depression over this and her Dr. put her on
prescription medications for anxiety.
Unfortunately, her withdrawal from the social circles left
her home with her feelings and she started turning to alcohol and eventually
cocaine as an escape from all her unfamiliar life. She started herself in a
cycle of being up and down, depending on how much of what substance she had in
her. The only time she ventured out of the home was to make a trip to the
drive-thru liquor store or to see her "dealer." This was devastating
to Richard. He couldn't comfort her and she was spinning out of control.
Soon came another car
accident - Jacque was inebriated, at fault, and she caused injuries to the
other parties. With a DUI charge under her belt, Richard, fearing that the
worst was yet to come, set up an asset protection plan making their three
children equal beneficiaries.
About eight months
passed, Jacque had sought help for her substance abuse and was attending depression
class , AA meetings and had been sober for almost six months. Even though her
license had been suspended due to accident number two, she still drove to her
meetings occasionally, whenever Richard or a friend couldn't drive her.
She still struggled
with depression but was making what "seemed" like progress. Until one
night on her way to a meeting, she decided instead to stop and get a single
wine cooler. Tragically, this led to a four-hour relapse and ended in a third
automobile accident and the bills soared, as well as the legal fees for her
defense and the lawsuits from the victims and their insurance companies.
This story doesn't
get any better.
Three months later,
Richard left town on a business trip and Jacque, so deep in her guilt, shame,
depression and loneliness, spent the next four days on a cocaine binge which
ended in a cardiac arrest. Richard returned from his trip to find his once
lovely wife sprawled out on the floor, drugs and paraphernalia scattered about
their home.
Suspecting foul play,
Richard immediately called the paramedics…but it was far too late. Once they
pronounced Jacque dead, Richard called his oldest son to break the news. The
next five hours or so must have been very difficult with the police swarming
his home gathering evidence.Sixteen hours later,
when the first of his three children arrived at the estate, Richard was also
dead…his son found him in his study…with an empty bottle of his wife's
prescription Klonopin, a half bottle of Kelt Petra "Tour du Monde" on
the table in front of him and in his lap…a picture of him and Jacque on their
25th wedding anniversary trip.This story made the local news and the media had a heyday
with it… but none of the judgment creditors were able to access any of
Richard's wealth, nobody except his children, because he had set up an ironclad
asset protection plan.
BOTTOM LINE:
This is a story that
is so tragic that it's hard to say there were any winners. This story does show
the frailty and unpredictability of life. The ONLY positive thing here is that
the children weren't further tortured by a long and arduous probate period or
watching their parents estate be gobbled up by greedy litigants. The painful
loss of both parents was excruciating enough for them.
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