Topical Juice

I happened across this story on E!News posted by Josh Grossberg, about the families of the late Chris Benoit and his (also late) wife, who are now battling in court over the assets left behind. A very sad situation indeed. The reason that the court is involved is not that Chris died without a Last Will and Testament - he had one - but that his wife Nancy did not. Which is what I’ve been pondering. Why would a woman who has both a family (husband and a child) and some valuable assets (surely some of them must have been in her name) not have a Will?

So I conducted an unofficial, informal poll amongst a number of my friends, neighbors, work collegues, and a few random strangers. I was surprised by what I found. A fair number of people that I asked said that they do not have a Will, even though they have both assets and persons in their life that they would like to leave those assets to. Excuses generally ran along the lines of “there’s plenty of time for that - I’m young and healthy”. So was Nancy Benoit.

Some of them assumed that their spouse or children would automatically get everything. That may not be the case, depending upon the State in which you live. Some of the wives I spoke to did not have any life insurance, even though their husbands did, simply because they assumed they’d outlive their husbands.

No I’m not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV. But if you haven’t made legal preparations for your demise, you owe it to your loved ones to call an attorney experienced in estate planning. Preparing beforehand will help your loved ones avoid the messy struggle the Benoit’s relatives now find themselves in.

When a person becomes independent from their parents, moves out and begins acquiring assets (even if it’s just that used VW Jetta you bought because it had low miles and good tires), then it’s a good time to start making those preparations. But it becomes highly important when one marries - dependents dramatically alter the landscape of our responsiblities.

So the next time someone you know sends you a Wedding Announcement, why don’t you suggest to them that instead of setting up a wedding registry for some kitchen gadgets, they might consider a one for a good attorney? It’s a gift that will prove invaluable over time.

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Facebook is all over the news these days, thanks to the steadily increasing growth of its membership following their decision to allow anyone to join, and a good number of media outlets, including Blogs, have written pieces comparing Facebook and its big brother MySpace - several very well written. In my current issue of Newsweek was this in-depth, balanced article, Facebook Grows Up, covering the pros and cons of Facebook in particular and online social networking in general.

But one thing I didn’t see in the article was any mention of the potential for offline negative repercussions, particularly when it comes to employment. The only single mention of any concession to possible “unprofessionalism” was in the sidebar box “…And Why I Hate It” by Sarah Kliff, who wrote that after graduating she was “….Looking to present a more professional image [she] stripped her profile of many of her collegiate interests” (and one would hope those drunken frat party photos). Hey Sarah, ever heard of the Wayback Machine? Internet Archiving? Once it’s out there, it’s out there for good.

I’m not making judgments about whether or not anyone should participate in online social networks, or even what they should, or should not, post about themselves. But I am wondering how likely it is that something you post could come back to haunt you, or worse. And how aware of that possibility are many of the members of those networks?

I know several colleagues who have checked both MySpace and Facebook to see what potential employees have to say about themselves, and yes, it has definitely effected their hiring decisions (resulting in declinations of the applicants). In fact, I’ve done it myself recently, but didn’t find anything objectionable about the person I was hiring. And I know we’re not alone in this practice - I’ve read a couple of articles in well-respected print publications alluding to the same, but I don’t have a good feel for really how widespread it is.

So I’d like to hear from both sides - if you’re an employer, do you check Facebook and MySpace, and how heavily does it weigh in your decision making? If you’re a member of a social network, do you care that someone who could hire you (or not) might see it? Does that have any bearing on what you decide to post or not post?

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