Divas live larger than life, and sometimes they die that way too — at least if they have it their way.
Joan Rivers was an indisputable queen of comedy, and her passing this month came as a surprise to us all. It’s hard to believe that a woman so ubiquitous for so long, and so active even in old age, could suddenly leave the stage for good.
But ever the jokester, she let us all know exactly how she wanted to go. In her 2012 book, I Hate Everyone… Starting with Me, she described the funeral she’d want for herself. Here are a few of the highlights:
- A Valentino designer burial gown
- Paparazzi on the guest list
- “Craft services” catering, just as one would find on a movie set
- Meryl Streep crying “in five different languages”
- A wind machine so her hair could blow “like Beyoncé’s”
Okay, so she might have been joking. But when wasn’t she? As the woman who was known for keeping filing cabinets filled with fifty years’ worth of jokes she’d written by hand, Joan never stopped making us laugh.
Who Says Your Will Can’t Be Creative?
Joan’s actual funeral may not have been as over-the-top as her book had described, but it was still a lavish affair. Had she been serious, though, some of those requests actually could have been arranged for with the help of a lawyer.
A comprehensive estate plan can provide for nearly anything you want it to, so long as it doesn’t violate the law and your estate has the funds for it. (Joan certainly did.) As Phoenix estate planning attorneys, we help to accommodate creative requests all the time.
Even if your wishes for your funeral, burial, or post-death family arrangements are more modest than Joan Rivers’, a Phoenix estate planning attorney can help you ensure that your plans will be carried out exactly the way you wish.
