Stinky Cheese Man

Eugene Brown died at the age of 93 in Corning ,California. His body was discovered after the mail carrier reported that he was not sitting outside waiting for her for five consecutive days. He was survived by three nephews and a niece, but was in contact with none of them.

He owned a house purchased in the 1970's, a car purchased in the 1980's with only 74,000 miles on it, and $2.7 million. He did not have a bed and only had two slices of wrapped cheese singles in his fridge at the time of his death. Besides the mailman, the only person who he spoke with regularly was his investment manager. Because he did not have a will, his nephews and niece inherited his estate even though some of them had not seen him in 50 years and some thought he had died years ago.

Several repetitive points:

1. Without a will, state law determines who inherits an estate. The result is the closest living relative(s).

2. 56% of Americans do not have a will.

3. Mr. Brown did not have any friends, but was a somewhat devout Catholic. He could have left his estate to any number of Catholic organizations.

4. Rather than saving his money so that his distant relatives could inherit it, Mr. Brown would have been better off spending at least some of the money on a bed, a more modern vehicle, unprocessed cheese, and attorney fees to prepare a will.

Photo Credit:  Tehama County Public Guardian
License:  Fair Use/Education (in linked article)

Trouble Don't Set Up Like Rain

Marcelle Harrison’s mother and step-father, both of whom were Barbadian immigrants, purchased a house in Boston in 1970 for $23K. Her mom died in 2009. Her step-father died without a will two years later.

Now, Harrison and her multi-generation family are being forced to leave the $1 million home because they are not the legal owners. Because her step-father died without a will, his closest living relatives, nieces and nephews who live in Barbados, will inherit his estate. A state representative who lives across the street said “It shocks the conscience to think that this low-income, Barbadian family could be displaced, really out of the blue.”

A few points, some of which I have made before:

1. The legal outcome is correct - under the statute of intestate succession, which applies when there is no will, Harrison has no claim on her step-father’s estate no matter how long he was married to her mother.

2. Thoughtful estate planning is important for everyone, but even more so for second marriages and blended families.

3. The local politician might find this outcome shocking, but I am not shocked that a Massachusetts politician would use identity politics to describe the problem while being ignorant of the law.

Photo Credit:  Jessica Rinaldi/Boston Globe
License:  Fair Use/Education (from linked article)

(Not) Gentle On His Mind (Part 2)

I previously noted that Glen Campbell’s 3 children from his second marriage were contesting his will which he signed in 2006. The will omitted them, likely due to their supporting their mother during her divorce from Campbell and later suing him over the publishing rights she received in the settlement. His 2001 will also omitted them. The children recently dropped their lawsuit.

A few points:

1. The lawsuit would have been difficult to win because Campbell made both wills long before he went public with his Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

2. Campbell’s estate was recently valued at $1.2 million which is way less than the original estimate of $50 million.

3. If the omitted children were successful in challenging Campbell’s estate plan, they would have inherited $100K each tops.

4. The money for recording artists is in the writing and publishing not the performing. Campbell generally performed songs written by others.

5. Three divorces, 8 children, and years of cocaine use are never conducive to accumulating wealth.

Photo credit:  Larry McCormack/The Tennessean
License:  Fair Use/Education (from linked article)

Gronk Would Not Do This

Aaron Hernandez is the former New England Patriot who committed suicide last month while imprisoned for murdering a friend.  He had only recently been acquitted of the murder of two other individuals and was still appealing his prior murder conviction.  Since his suicide, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has vacated his murder conviction because his appeals were still in process.  Within hours after his arrest in 2013, the Patriots terminated his contract and did not pay the remaining guaranteed money owed to him.  

In his suicide note addressed to his fiancé, Hernandez wrote “you’re rich.” Many reporters have interpreted that to mean that he was thinking not only of what money he still owned but also that she would collect $6 million owed to him by the Patriots under his last contract.  Some think that the Patriots would be on the hook if they terminated Hernandez’s contract because he was convicted of murder but was later exonerated due to this peculiarity of Massachusetts law.  

A few points on the intersection of two of my favorite topics - probate law and the NFL:

1.  Hernandez and the Patriots actually settled his grievance for unpaid guaranteed money under his last contract for $1 million in 2014 likely meaning there is no further money to collect from the Pats.

2.  The victims of Hernandez have filed lawsuits against him.  Any judgments against him would be paid from his estate probably rendering it insolvent.  

3.  Unless Hernandez signed a will, his fiancé will not receive any portion of his estate because fiancés are not statutory heirs.  His daughter would inherit his estate if he did not leave a will.

4.  Drafting a will and thinking about the application of an obscure Massachusetts law involve long term planning and thinking which seem beyond the acuity of a guy seemingly lacking impulse control. 

Photo Credit:  AP/Elise Amendola

License:  Fair Use/Education

Purple Reign?

The Santa Monica Observer, a weekly newspaper, is reporting that a DNA test shows that a Washington man in his 30's is the illegitimate son of Prince. The man's mother reportedly played in the same clubs as Prince in the 1980's. He and his mother are reportedly estranged due to her contacting him after Prince's death by a Facebook message imploring him to call her by saying "Prince might be your, father call me."

Several pithy points:

1. If the story is true, the man would be Prince's closest living relative and in position to inherit his entire estate.

2. However, if the man had been adopted by another man, his right to inherit from Prince would be closed off because Prince would not be considered his father.

3. Odd that this story is reported only by the Santa Monica equivalent of City Beat which is known for concert listings, hating all Republicans and the local and state government, and for classified ads of men seeking men and women seeking women.

4. Perhaps the national media is too busy asking about Hillary's missing e-mails, her health, and her refusal to hold a press conference in 2016 to bother themselves with updating the search for Prince's heirs.

Attacking Camelot

Socialite Alicia Clark died in February. Her will left her $17.5 million estate to the Humane Society. Her estate is in the news because the administrator of her estate has filed a Freedom of Information request to open a file which might shed light on whether Clark was the mother of JFK love child even though she had long denied having a child with the late President. 

She had reportedly planned to blackmail President Kennedy's father in the early 60's related to such rumors. The blackmail attempt only became public after her then attorney went public after she did not pay his $1.2 million bill (in 1961 dollars) for negotiating a will with her soon to die husband which gave her $10 million for 13 days of marriage. Meanwhile, a man in the Bahamas claims the will is fake and that her valid will is a handwritten will she made in the Bahamas in 2001. That alleged will left one million to each of the doormen at her NYC apartment and the caretaker of that apartment, and the rest to the guy in the Bahamas. Got it? 

So many possibilities, so let's try to stay focused on the salient points: 

1. The JFK love child angle seems to be irrelevant. If Clark had a child and raised him, she would have provided for him in her will and would have been seen with him in the past 55 years. If she gave him up for adoption, that child has no rights under law because his rights to her estate would be terminated due to the adoption.  

2. Some (re: me) might think that the estate administrator is grandstanding (successfully because he made the news) or is running up a larger bill than necessary in looking for a love child who likely has nothing to do with the estate, even if he exists. 

3. Clark's former attorney's $1.2 million bill for what is essentially a pre-nuptial agreement seems excessively large by any standards much less those of 1961. Those agreements are not typically handled on a contingent fee basis which must have been the basis on which he billed. 

4. That said, $10 million for 13 days of marriage to a dying man might be worth a $1.2 million fee. 

5. Lastly, the Bahamas guy must be suffering from sunstroke or island fever. Everyone besides the writers of Harold and Maude knows that Manhattan socialites do not create handwritten wills on vacation to leave their estates to their staff and random guys in the islands.

Boxing For Dollars

Samuel Dubose was the Cincinnatian who was shot and killed by a University of Cincinnati police officer after being stopped off campus for not having a front license plate (a "chicken shit" stop in the words of the county prosecutor).  He is survived by his mother, father, and 11 children from various mothers.  The only asset of his intestate estate is the potential wrongful death claim against the University of Cincinnati and its police officer.  A local personal injury attorney, known for his ads shown with him wearing boxing gloves, applied to be the administrator of his estate so he could represent the estate in the forthcoming wrongful death lawsuit.  After legal wrangling, the 18 year old daughter of the decedent, Raegan Brooks, was appointed as administrator of the estate today.

Several pithy points:

1.  Ohio law provides that if an individual dies without a will, his spouse or his children will be appointed the administrator of the estate.

2.   Nowhere in the Ohio statute is a personal injury attorney, no matter how pugilistic, listed as a possible administrator of an estate.

3.  I am somewhat surprised that that the decedent had a daughter named after a Republican president.  I am not surprised the name was misspelled.

Greg Plitt's Final Run

Greg Plitt, the "star" of Bravo's "Work Out" show, was struck and killed by a train last month while allegedly filming a commercial for an energy drink which involved him trying to outrun a train.  Sources indicate that his will was not witnessed so TMZ has reported that his father has applied to be the administrator of his $800K estate.

Three quick points:

1.  TMZ is not the bastion of legal accuracy so they are incorrect in stating that Plitt's father will determine which creditors get paid and "how the remaining money gets divvied up."  The intestacy statute of California requires that his parents will share his estate.

2.  Any 37 year old should have a will.  It is part of being a grown up even if adolescence is delayed while being a fitness model.

3. While we know that Plitt fatefully disregarded his parents' advice about not playing on train tracks, it remains uncertain if he disregarded his parents' admonitions about not running with sharp objects in his hand, playing with matches, and looking both ways before crossing the street.

"If I Die Young"

When Cory Monteith, of "Glee" fame, died in 2013 he did not leave a will. By law, his $810,000 estate is to be distributed to his divorced parents as his closest living relatives. However, because his father did not pay child support to his mother nor see Cory for almost 20 years, he is prohibited from inheriting from his son, which leaves all of the estate to his mother. 

Two small points: 

1. When one dies without a will, state law dictates who will receive one's assets. In Ohio, spouses are first in line, followed by children, then parents. 

2. It is unusual for young, single people to have wills, but those with $800K estates and a history of substance abuse should definitely have one.

"What Is Per Stirpes?"

After I ask clients if they have reviewed drafts of their wills, the question they most often ask me is "what does per stirpes mean?"  It helps that the term is underlined. In short, it means by representation.  If a beneficiary dies before the decedent, that beneficiary's heirs will divide his or her share.  

A recent Nebraska case, Estate of Evans, recently interpreted per stirpes in the context of an individual who died without a will and was survived by a nephew from a pre-deceased brother and 2 nieces from another pre-deceased brother. The court held that the 3 individuals would share equally because the division into shares began at the generation with living heirs.  

Several points:

1.  In Ohio, the division would be made at the level of the pre-deceased brothers so the nephew would receive half and the nieces would each receive one quarter.

2.  A common fallacy among non-attorneys is that if an individual does not have a will, the assets will escheat to the state.  States have statutes that provide who will inherit assets if there is no will.  Only if there is no one somewhat directly related to the decedent will the assets escheat to the estate.  

3.  It is always better to prepare a will to determine who inherits assets rather than leave the distribution to a state statute.

4.  It is rare to be able to use the term escheat twice in the same post.                      

Double Indemnity Fail

A SC woman murdered both of her 20 something sons, her ex-husband who lived next door, and her step-mother.  She tried to blame the crime on her oldest, murdered son.   She was the beneficiary of insurance policies on the victims in the amount of $680K.  She had previously killed an alleged intruder and kept 3 guns in the house.  She recently plead guilty but mentally ill and was sentenced to life in prison.

What are the estate planning and other issues in this crime?

1.  The killer is precluded from inheriting under the state slayer statute which prevents a murderer from benefiting financially from her crime.

2.  Without valid wills, the sons' policies will benefit their grandparents, or aunts and uncles if the grandparents are deceased.

3.   If a mother takes out a large life insurance policy on a child, the child should sleep with one eye open.

4.  It is never a good idea to live next door to a mentally ill ex-wife, much less one who has already killed a man and who has a life insurance policy on one's life.

Even Rappers Need Wills Part 2

Rapper Heavy D died in late 2011 survived by a now 13 year old daughter, parents, and siblings.   His brother, Floyd, recently filed a copy of  1999 will which unsurprisingly left the entire estate to Floyd.  The original was allegedly lost years ago.

Several points:

1.  Missing and lost wills are presumed to have been destroyed.

2.  Always tell your executor where the original will (and copy) are located.  I keep the originals for my clients and provide them copies with instructions to notify their executor of the location of the copy (which is stamped with my name).

3.  Without a will, Heavy's daughter would inherit the entire estate.

4.  Birth of children should be the primary reason for executing a will

5.  One report said the rapper died before he could revise his will to include his daughter.  It stinks when 11 years sneak up on you.

Selling the House From Under Her Feet

An LA woman might lose the house she shared with her common law husband of 27 years.  He allegedly hand wrote a will leaving the house to her.  Nonetheless, the Los Angeles County Public Administrator is proceeding with a sale of the house for non-payment of debts and potential buyers traipse through the house while she is present.

Several points:

1.  Even with a handwritten will, the will must be probated.  Leaving it in a drawer does not transfer any assets.

2.  The common law husband could have added her to the deed as a joint tenant to immediately transfer the house to her upon his death.

3.  Some like to decry notions of traditional marriage, but spouses have more rights and protections under law than non-spouses including the right to inherit when there is no will and the right to remain in a house.

4.  Even people of modest means and limited assets need estate planning.

5.  Newton's First Law applies to government - a government procedure in motion stays in motion. Someone should pause the bureaucratic machine until the woman's rights can be ascertained.  If banks were behaving this way, there would be an outcry, protests, Congressional hearings, and a class action suit.  Because it is a governmental agency, people shrug and figure "that is government."

Agatha Christie Revisited

Urooj Khan is the Chicago man who died of cyanide poisoning after winning $1 million in the lottery.   He had dinner with his wife, father in law, and his teen daughter from a previous marriage the night before he died although his wife and father in law did not allegedly eat the meal.  He did not have a will.  The Cook County Probate Court has frozen his dry cleaning businesses while it determines whether they are part of his estate or were transferred to his widow via other agreements.

Several points:

1.  A document disposing of assets at death would have to comply with the requirements for executing a will.

2.  Exceptions to the will requirement would be a buy sell agreement or provisions within an LLC operating agreement.  However, in this case that would suppose that Mr. Khan's wife was a business partner with him.

3.  It has been more than six months and no arrests have been made in the death by cyanide where the wife and father in law did not eat the same meal and stood to benefit from the new windfall?  Agatha Christie novels are not this obvious.

Smart Man "Dies Like An Idiot"

A Holocaust survivor who created a $40 million fortune in real estate died without a will last year.  Because a world wide search for relatives has turned up none, New York state will receive his fortune.   

Several points:

1.  Escheating to the state is incredibly rare because the laws of intestacy look for any living relative including cousins and their descendants and any one who falls under the nebulous term "next of kin."

2.  A 97 year old man who is in failing health should not procrastinate in his will preparation.

3.  His fellow Holocaust survivor who said  “He was a very smart man but he died like an idiot” is accurate.