November 2, 2010.

Laura Holden looked at the charred body in front of her. “5’10” height, weight 230 pounds. White man. Dental records match one Sheldon Jones. DNA records confirm it is Sheldon Jones per his physician. Cause of death, plane crash. Probably blunt force trauma to the head since the burned skin appeared to be post-mortem. Clearly, it was Sheldon Jones. Date of death November 1, 2010” She turned off the tape recorder massaged her long neck and called the funeral home, “he’s yours Robbie. I’ll have the death certificates to you in a couple of days”

November 12, 2009

The funeral for Sheldon Jones was other worldly to say the least. It was held at the West Zion Church outside of town. The children didn’t look all that upset for one thing. Some attributed it to their Christian beliefs, others figured they were happy to be rich. There were no eulogies either, other than the minister saying some points of personal privilege. The ashes were kept by the family for a private disposal at sea, so there was no graveside service.

July 15, 2011

Roger Johnson looked at the file in front of him. He had been tasked with preparing the Federal Estate Tax return for one Sheldon Jones. He pulled out the death certificate. “No surprise there, date of death November 1, 2010, plane crash,” he thought. He pulled out he appraisals of the multiple parcels of real property owned by Sheldon Jones. They did the three standard appraisal tests, income, replacement value and comparable sales approaches to get to the Fair Market Value. After adding up all the numbers, it totaled, $735 Million on the date of death, he had debts of $215 Million and a charitable deduction of $100 Million. “Boy, he sure died in the right year”, was the thought that raced through Johnson’s mind. “Wow, what a difference a year makes, $175 Million in savings on Estate Taxes”, he muttered to himself. He carefully filled out all of the pages of the Federal Estate Tax return. After finishing it, he took the return to Christine Jones to sign.

December 23, 2009

“Well Marilyn, Dad’s dead. You know the drill. We put the clothes that we got from the Discountmart two counties over on him.” “I know Daniel, then we put him in the large walk-in freezer and hope no one comes calling on him”. “Daniel, this is really messy and pretty gross.” “I know Marilyn, but do you want to inherit $2 Billion or $1 Billion, if that because we’d have to sell the business?” “Stop shouting, Daniel, I’m just feeling a bit queasy about all of this.” “Marilyn, this is your chance at pure financial freedom, all the partying you could ever want for the rest of your life, security for any children you might have, and keeping the business in our family.” “I know, Daniel and I’m sorry, I’ll help you get Dad ready for the freezer”.

December 24, 2009

“Hello, Marilyn, this is Gladys Johnson in town, does your father want to go to the Midnight Christmas Eve Service at the Church tonight, he hasn’t missed one in years.?”

“Oh Gladys, I’m sorry but he’s really doing quite poorly, I hope he makes it to Christmas, but thanks for asking about him”, Marilyn cooed in her most seriously earnest sounding voice. She feared that Gladys would be a problem for the next few weeks because she was a busy body. Gladys Johnson was a hair dresser at the Hairs Today Gone Tomorrow. She made it her life’s work to know everyone else’s business so that she could dispense gossipy tidbits to ensure her steady stream of blue haired ladies at the salon. Gladys had a voice that sounded like a lawnmower, and her red dyed hair gave her a clown-like quality. Yes, she would be a problem.

December 25, 2009

“Hello, Daniel, thees is Esmerelda, I wanted to call and thank Mr. Frome for the trip to Florida and wish him a Merry Christmas.” “He’s ahh very weak, Esmerelda, he’ll probably only be able to say “Merry Christmas to you”, replied Daniel.

Daniel picked up the tape player and punched the button, “Hello”, Sid’s voice was weak. “Hello Mr. Frome, this is Esmerelda.” She paused hoping for a response, but there was none. She continued, “I just wanted to call and thank you for the trip and wish you a Merry Christmas”.

Daniel had been changing the tape. “Merry Christmas” Sid seemed to reply. At that point, Daniel spoke, “Esmerelda, he seems quite weak today, Thank you for calling and we’ll see you next week. Merry Christmas”.

A few minutes later the doorbell rang, it was that pesky Gladys Johnson, holding a jar with a ribbon on it. Daniel answered the door. “Hi, Ms. Johnson, what brings you out here?” “Well I know how your father likes my apple butter, so I wanted to give this to him. Is he awake?”