Homewood Nation

Hey y'all -

It's been so long that it's going to take me a minute to get back into practice, to reconnect with the flow. So this is just a practice piece, and I'll keep it short.

Homewood and the rest of the planet suffered a loss last week with the passing of Aretha Franklin, at the age of 76. Just three years ago, she showed that she was still - well, a goddess, basically - when she brought down the house during the Kennedy Center's honoring of Carol King. 

I don't know what anyone else in Homewood did last Thursday. I spent at least a couple of hours YouTubing Aretha videos. In doing so, I learned about her remarkable and unexpected performance at the 1998 Grammys, when she stepped in for an ailing Luciano Pavarotti and OWNED one of the world's most well-known operatic arias.

Now comes the disappointing news that she died without a will or trust. Now the disposition of a reported $80 million will become the focus of a grieving family and the topic of public discussion for who knows how long. This, after the same thing happened with Prince. And with James Brown.

Creating paperwork to guide the disposition of one's estate can feel like playing air guitar - an imaginary act that has no impact. But in fact, it is one of the most impactful things a person can do. Likewise, failing to do so is one of the most impactful things a person can do. The impact can go beyond a family to affect an entire community - one big reason that Homewood looks the way it does is because for decades, homeowners have died without wills. Last week, dozens of pieces of real estate in Homewood were offered at the County Treasurer's sale. My guess is that the majority of them were owned by dead people, or by negligent heirs. 

Shall we top this off with a taste of irony? Okay - August is National Make-A-Will Month.

So I'm going to close with this: if you want to do the right thing by everyone and get a will done, without spending hundreds (or thousands) of $$$, shoot me a text at (412) 508-4088. I can help you make that problem go away.

Thanks for reading! Stay tuned!