Book Review #20- Thy Will be Done by Atty. Angelo M. Cabrera

  Estate Planning 101 PH Edition

Book: Thy Will Be Done

Author: Atty. Angelo M. Cabrera

Publisher: Elyon Publishing House

Date Published: 2008

Reading Chair Rating: 5 out of 5

Plot/ Summary:
"How important succession planning?"

"Why would anybody postpone preparing their estate plan/ succession plan which is consider as important?"



This book was originally written by Hermenegildo Cabrera, the father of the author, after his dad passed away he gathered all the manuscripts written by his dad to make it into a book that it is now.

The book was created to give light to all things related to preparing estate plan up to tiny details in creating a will or preparing for the real estate plan. The author also included what he and his dad called as "Horror Stories" of true to life situations of their clients regarding estate planning, that would make you realize the importance of preparing a good and efficient succession plan to avoid future conflicts.

Some later part of the book also includes templates of notarial will, holographic will, living will and even sample of taxable estate computation. Also discussion on basic law requirements in creating one's will- the requirements, property basis, types of successors and types of wills. These are just some of the things that are covered by the book with regards to estate planning.


Blogger Review:

This book is suggested to me by my aunt, also I just borrowed her copy to be able to read this book. The problem with having my own copy of this book is that, it is not readily available in the market. Also recently the author would exclusively sell this book in his seminars. But hopefully I may be able to purchase a copy, because this is the most easy to read and practical book out there regarding estate planning in Philippine setting.

[Book Purchase Update as of July 30, 2016: The author and publisher recently released a paperback version of the book and it is now readily available in all leading bookstores: National Bookstore, Fully book, Powerbooks and etc. I also bought my own copy for future reference.]

I was actually hooked by this book, even before I started reading it. My aunt would often discuss some details about the book, whenever we talk about the properties of our families, thus she recommended the book to me. For me to fully grasped the idea of estate planning. Like what the author have said, only a few would consider this as important, some even have misconception saying that estate planning is for the rich people and would not be applicable for most of the people. Most people would think that way because they lack of fundamental knowledge and understanding of the process behind succession planning.

Now I even consider myself fortunate to even just read to this book, it had open my mind with the concept and importance of estate planning, preparing for it to avoid future conflict in the family. As the author would always say in the book "Money is thicker than blood". You wouldn't really know the situation once you die, but the main point is that it is better to prepare than risking your family ties. Which is why I really recommend this book to anyone who would want to protect their families and properties in the future.

Reading Chair Art:

Hand drawn using pencil and rendered in watercolor

"Money is thicker than blood" is a phrase that the author wanted to partake to his readers. When the time comes and you didn't prepare the necessary things after you passed away, it is 100% sure that your family would fight for their rights in whatever it takes, even the family relationships won't matter. So it is better to prepare than take all the risk in the end.