10 Celebrity Estate Planning Mistakes

To finish Estate Planning Awareness Week, Forbes has linked an oft repeated story of celebrity estate planning mistakes of varying degrees.  There are some lessons to be gleaned, but I take exception to the Chief Justice Burger inclusion.   Every version of this link I have seen repeats ad nauseam that he made a mistake by drafting his own will and not creating a trust.  What no one explains is that the Chief Justice drafted his will after his wife had died.  Once she was gone, a trust would not have provided any estate tax benefits.  Just as one  should not rely on the "fact checkers" during this election season, one should not trust writers who endlessly cycle the same point of view on a story without objectively thinking about it.  They might be as credible as Candy Crawley.

Six Things to Do Before Dying

It is Estate Planning Awareness Week although every week is estate planning awareness week on this blog.  As part of that week, Forbes listed 6 things everyone should do before she dies.

1.  Make a will and/or trust.

2.  Make a living will and power of attorney.

3.  Review beneficiary designations for insurance policies and retirement plans.

4.  Make a bucket list,

5.  Find something good in every day.

6.  Tell friends and family you love them.

Of course, from my professional point of view, 1 and 2 are the most important.  When clients do that, my  list in 4 becomes attainable and 5 and 6 become easier.      

Estate Planning Myths

Forbes discusses 10 common estate planning myths, all of which I have heard.  The most egregious myths are that without a will the state will inherit one's estate and that having a will allows one to avoid probate.  Of course, neither is true which is why they are myths. 

Personally, the myth I am most vested in is that people need an attorney to draft a will. For reasons stated previously on this page, the cost of retaining an attorney far outweighs the downside of an error or not addressing an issue.  Just ask the illegitimate child who inadvertently inherited a share of an estate or the children from the first marriage who were disinherited entirely in favor of the second, late in life spouse.