David Cassidy’s Will: Lessons About the Importance of Updates

People don’t really like thinking about wills in the first place. Doing so is often painful and requires asking yourself a lot of difficult questions.

However, it’s terribly important that even if you hate dealing with your will, you still set some time aside in order to review your will and other end-of-life documents once a year.

Otherwise, you may end up with a situation like that currently facing the survivors of 70s pop icon, David Cassidy. Cassidy died at age 67 from organ failure.

What shocked fans the most, however, was that the actor’s will — written around a decade earlier — specifically excluded his daughter, Katie.

Cassidy left the majority of his estate’s value to his son and his music memorabilia to his half-siblings.

It’s far from clear, however, that Cassidy would have wanted things to go that way. In the years since the will had been written, he’d reunited with his estranged daughter. She was actually by his side when he passed away.

Even the singer’s last words hinted that he regretted the lost time that had been wasted between himself and his daughter.

While this is a high-profile case, it really isn’t unusual. Human relationships are complicated and families can have deep rifts that seemingly heal overnight. Other times, once-close relatives can develop hostile relationships over a single incident.

If wills, powers of attorney and insurance policies aren’t reviewed regularly — or at least kept in mind — someone could be left out even though the emotional rift had long healed. Or, someone who has been cut off from the family may suddenly inherit — to everyone else’s dismay.

If it has been a while since you’ve reviewed your own will and other end-of-life documents, take the time to make certain that they still reflect your desires.

Source: foxnews.com, “David Cassidy’s will leaves out daughter Katie: report,” Dec. 7, 2017