Learn from the Barber family tragedy
July 18, 2007 – 10:32 pmIf you aren’t a parent (or you are a client of mine and already know all this), please send this to any parents you know who would benefit from knowing how important (and easy) it is to make sure this doesn’t happen to their family.
The facts below are taken from public court documents.
Last July, the Barber family of San Diego was in a car accident. Melanie and Casey, the loving parents of three little boys, ages 3, 6 and 9, died.
They had nothing in place to name guardians for their boys or take care of their assets, though family members and friends say they had talked about doing it.
On July 31, it will be one year since the terrible accident. And, because I know that Melanie and Casey Barber would have wanted some blessing to come from their tragic experience, I’m sharing what happened to their family with you now and I hope you will share it with others.
They appeared to be the all American family.
I had heard about the many loving family members of Melanie and Casey and felt confident they would have been able to work out who would care for the boys and their money, with love and grace.
That’s not what happened.
After the accident, the boys were in the foster care system for a short time until family members could be located.
Since then, over 1,000 pages of court records have been filed, there have been 9 lawyers involved, tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of dollars spent, and many, many tears shed.
Now, one year later, the family has been ordered to mediate their disagreements and it appears an agreement has been reached.
The boys’ money will be managed by a professional financial guardian who charges $100/hour. A lawyer was appointed on behalf of the boys to the tune of nearly $25,000 so far and much more to come. Whatever’s left will be distributed to the kids when they turn 18. Until then, after hideous allegations made on both sides, Nick, Cullen and Albert will live in Hermosa Beach, with their Aunt Janine.
Is that what Melanie and Casey would have wanted?
We’ll never know what they would have wanted, but we can be sure they would have done everything they could to avoid what’s happened, if only they knew how easy it would have been.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
I’m hosting a workshop this Saturday, July 21 at the AdventurePlex in Manhattan Beach on Marine.
I’m revealing,
“7 Steps Smart Parents MUST Take,
To Protect Their Minor Children
In Today’s Crazy World”
You’ll discover:
* How to GUARANTEE your kids never, ever spend even one moment in the hands of strangers, if something happens to you!
* How to completely AVOID the lengthy, complex and costly (5% of the total value of your assets) process of probate court, and make SURE your children get supervised access to any funds you have left them, immediately! And, don’t get anything at 18, unless that’s what YOU want.
* And how about this one: Most families have at least one relative, you absolutely do NOT want looking after your kids no matter what, right? You’ll discover exactly how to prevent this from happening, while avoiding any embarrassing or uncomfortable confrontations. Your kids will always be raised by the people YOU want in the way YOU want.
* What to do if my spouse and I can’t agree on who should raise our kids if we can’t.
* And, much, much more …
We have 7 seats left. If you want two (one for you and one for your parenting partner) go to www.helpmealexis.com and get registered.
The workshop is FREE, but we do require a credit card to reserve your spot. You get charged $47 (which is donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital) only if you register and don’t attend.
It’s important to me that only parents who are serious about their family’s well-being register for this event.
If that’s not you, no worries. Please forward this email to another parent you know who might be.
Thank you for your kindness,
Alexis
PS - We’ve only got 7 seats left and your family will thank you for being in one of them.
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