RIP James Van Der Beek

[ronandannette]

RIP

I guess there's allot of online pushback on the go fund me that' now topped over 1.8 million dollars b/c he did'nt die 'broke' he died with considerable real estate holdings including-

a multimillion dollar house in CA that they rent out for $144k a year and his 40 acre multimillion dollar Texas ranch where the family currently lives. I believe the 'battle cry' that's being used by those questioning the situation is 'sell the mansion'.

Maybe it should be “mind your own business”. I’d imagine a lot of the donations are coming from contacts in the entertainment world and they’re certainly entitled to do what they want with their money. As is everyone else, including not contributing to any cause one doesn’t find worthy.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I'm guessing people think it's just a bit tone deaf when most people who start GFMs have very little income/assets and it's basically a last resort option.

If the donations are from people he knew, I'm sure they wouldn't need a GFM to give the money to help out. But maybe there are tax reasons? I don't know much about GFM.

 

[barkley]

I'm guessing people think it's just a bit tone deaf when most people who start GFMs have very little income/assets and it's basically a last resort option.

I think that's exactly the point though i've seen some created for private individuals where I was personally aware that the perceived/portrayed circumstances were not entirely accurate. I recall one in particular for an individual w/ thankfully very treatable cancer. I mentally questioned the amounts the go fund me had as a goal given that I knew for a fact that she owned a paid in full 3/4 of a million dollar home w/ only about $3000 per year in property taxes and qualified for a wealth of no share of cost health care and financial assistance through public programs. I don't believe it was an intentional mis-depiction of the person's financial state on the creator's part but I also didn't see any rush on the recipient's part to correct the wording from 'help to pay the mortgage, pay for insurance, replace lost income...' (it was in a State with EXTREEMLY generous State operated disability insurance that likely netted her more than her post tax earnings). but just like anyone else-it was my choice to donate or not.

If the donations are from people he knew, I'm sure they wouldn't need a GFM to give the money to help out. But maybe there are tax reasons? I don't know much about GFM.

I don't know much about it either. just learned today that people can sign up for monthly reoccuring contributions. in the case of Mr. Vanderbeek there have been 39 THOUSAND individual donors and while there are some large individual donations the majority are in the double digit range (and lots of much lower-including really low monthly repeating).

 

[Gracedis1]

This is so sad. My favorite performance of his was in Criminal Minds.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Cancer is a horrible disease which no one should go through.

However when people get a cancer diagnosis, they have a choice about the what next, and how do we treat this.

Peoples personal opinion about science, chemo, and mainstream medical care influence their choices about the what next, and how do we treat this.

While it is devastating for his family and friends to loose him, there has to be an understanding about the behind the scenes personal responsibility. Sometimes the treatment path that people choose may not give a successful journey to remission. Cancer is evil, and sometimes no matter what treatment path that people choose, they will never have successful journey to remission.

 

[AnnaS]

RIP

 

[Mizzoufan]

RIP

I guess there's allot of online pushback on the go fund me that' now topped over 1.8 million dollars b/c he did'nt die 'broke' he died with considerable real estate holdings including-

a multimillion dollar house in CA that they rent out for $144k a year and his 40 acre multimillion dollar Texas ranch where the family currently lives. I believe the 'battle cry' that's being used by those questioning the situation is 'sell the mansion'.

Interesting
I thought I read he was broke. Was selling off his personal items to raise money.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Interesting
I thought I read he was broke. Was selling off his personal items to raise money.

Yes he was. He was asset rich but cash poor, meaning their money is in property and investments and he didnt have available cash to pay for medical bills. He didnt have health insurance as due to his ill health, he couldnt work and lost eligibility for SAG-AFTRA health insurance.

 

[barkley]

Interesting
I thought I read he was broke. Was selling off his personal items to raise money.

Yes he was. He was asset rich but cash poor, meaning their money is in property and investments and he didnt have available cash to pay for medical bills. He didnt have health insurance as due to his ill health, he couldnt work and lost eligibility for SAG-AFTRA health insurance.

and now more comes to light-he and his wife were leasing the Texas property up until just one month prior to his death at which time they chose to purchase it for $4.76 million dollars. he either had some means of liquid assets to pay in cash or some significant income stream to qualify for a mortgage of that magnitude.

again-his/his widow's personal choice to make the purchase but it's questionable to have done something of this financial impact in the last weeks of your life, knowing you have (reportedly) 'exhausted' all of your savings/funds when your wife is for the most part a SAHM who is now left alone with 6 minor children to support.

 

[NotUrsula]

I think it might be possible that the choice to purchase the home shortly before his death was meant to protect his family from the possibility of homelessness. Texas has a very generous bankruptcy homestead exemption, so I think that even if she had to declare bankruptcy, the house and most of the ordinary contents (furniture, appliances, etc.) might be exempted assets if they bought it outright (mortgage debt is not exempted.) The property is rural and is 36 acres; the limit is 100 acres for rural properties. If you sell it, you have 6 months to re-invest the money in a new residence before you lose the exemption. Also, I *think* that if she leases out the extra land for agriculture she'll be allowed to keep the proceeds. The property also has guest cabins and a "party barn", so she may be planning to turn those into a function venue.

While I do normally think that it is an individual's choice how to treat an illness, in a situation like this one I feel there is a bit of a grey area that applies in the US. If he had gone for conventional treatment, his insurance would have paid for the bulk of it and he probably would have been able to work a lot more (at least early on) than he managed with the holistic/experimental treatments. Had his children been adults I wouldn't judge, but when you have 6 minor children and a disease with a high mortality rate, I think that it is your responsibility as a parent to not make choices that push the cost of treatment far higher than it normally would be.

And yes, I understand that he was hoping for a cure that would have returned him to full health, but given his prognosis when they found it, that was a VERY long shot. If it were me and I had that diagnosis and that family situation, I would have done my best with good-quality conventional treatment that insurance would cover, and I would have divorced, so that his debt would not legally affect the rest of his family.

 

[barkley]

I think it might be possible that the choice to purchase the home shortly before his death was meant to protect his family from the possibility of homelessness. Texas has a very generous bankruptcy homestead exemption, so I think that even if she had to declare bankruptcy, the house and most of the ordinary contents (furniture, appliances, etc.) might be exempted assets if they bought it outright (mortgage debt is not exempted.) The property is rural and is 36 acres; the limit is 100 acres for rural properties. If you sell it, you have 6 months to re-invest the money in a new residence before you lose the exemption. Also, I *think* that if she leases out the extra land for agriculture she'll be allowed to keep the proceeds. The property also has guest cabins and a "party barn", so she may be planning to turn those into a function venue.

I kind of wondered if that might be the case. I think it is even more so now that I see that they put the home under an LLC which I guess in Texas shields it against any kind of lawsuits and debts.