Death And Taxes: When The Wealthy Unexpectantly Perish

“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.” ~The Rich Boy, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1926.

If there is one absolute certainty in life, it is one day all of us will have our last day. The unfortunate reality is that death does not just come calling for the aged and infirm. Every day in the United States thousands of people die from causes that are not natural, such as auto accidents, accidental poisoning (mostly drug and alcohol related), falls, drowning, boating and aircraft accidents, and even animal attacks. Some years ago, not far from this author’s home in Southern California a jogger was killed by a mountain lion. Not long after this incident, another runner was killed by an alligator in Florida. In fact, Florida seems to have more than its share of gruesome unnatural deaths. In 2013, Jeffrey Bush, a 37-year-old resident of Hillsborough County, Florida, was at home in bed, and a giant sink hole swallowed the entire house—with him in it. They never found the body.

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