Chapter 5-1 Introduction

• Jurisdiction: United States

5-1 Introduction

Consider this:

Walter is 68. He is apparently healthy and in high spirits. One day, his close friend, Mortimer, dies. Just like that. No illness, no accident, no warning. Mortimer went to sleep one night and the following morning his wife woke up to discover she had spent part of the night sleeping next to a dead man. As simple as that.

Now Walter is concerned that he, too, might die suddenly. Or worse, he might become disabled. He ponders which of the two would be the better option—sudden death, or living with a disability. He cannot make up his mind. So, he considers his options: if he dies, who will come into ownership of his property? That does not matter much to him. He'll be dead, and he remembers reading in the Book that he reads five times a day that the dead do not know anything. But what if he becomes disabled? Who will take over his...