Designating a Guardian

The will of Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys illustrates how not to designate a guardian for minor children.  Apparently, he and his wife could not agree on the guardian for their then 3 year old daughter, Tenzin Losel, when they executed their wills in 2001.  They compromised and designated his parents if he died in an even numbered year and designated her parents if he died in an odd numbered year.

Several points.  Unless the parents of my clients are very young, I do not recommend that the clients designate parents as guardians. Second, clients should re-visit their guardian designation regularly and adjust it accordingly based on life changes, especially if a client has a terminal illness.  Third,  unless the child is a Sherpa, I am not sure that Tenzin is a good name.  

Controlling From the Grave?

The WSJ has an article at the intersection of 2012 gifting opportunities and unique trust provisions.  I will repeat that the $5 million gift tax exemption for 2012 affords some people tremendous planning opportunities.  Whether they want to make those gifts with unique strings attached i.e. attending the donor's alma mater, spelling the family name a certain way, or marrying within the faith, is possible (and too controlling - at least in these examples).  

However, I include a clause in trusts for all of my clients that suspends distributions if a beneficiary has a drinking, drug, or gambling problem.  n.b. fantasy football and a bottle of wine with dinner do not rise to that level.

DIY Wills

Consumer Reports reviewed 3 on-line will preparation services.  Their conclusion?

"Unless your needs are simple—say, you want to leave your entire estate to your spouse—none of the will-writing products is likely to entirely meet your needs. And in some cases, the other documents aren’t specific enough or contain language that could lead to an unintended result."

When a client has an attorney prepare a set of estate planning documents, the client is paying for more than an attorney to correctly insert the names in the document. He is also receiving the attorney's years of wisdom and experience in administering estates, knowledge of state specific laws, and general knowledge of human interactions through the estate process.

My conclusion? The difference between the attorney's fee and the cost of a DIY package is small in comparison to the cost of a mistake or overlooking an issue in a self-prepared will.

The Very Rare Estate

I am back after a few weeks of slow estate planning news and 14+ days in Europe.

The story about the family who found a collection of pristine, old baseball cards valued at $3 million in their aunt's attic is interesting for reasons other than the discovery of unknown  valuable assets.  First, it is very rare that an individual's personal items are worth more than a few cents on the dollar.  Even more rare is the family that is drawn closer together when dividing personal items.

My experience is that distributing personal property, no matter how small the value, can lead to acrimony and hostile feelings between heirs.  To prevent acrimony, individuals should specify which heir is to receive specific items in a memorandum.  Any hostile feelings can then be directed to the deceased and relations among siblings can be preserved. Hopefully.        

Ohio Intestacy Statute

When contemplating the big questions in life, did you ever wonder what would happen to your estate in the absence of a will?  Probably not.  But if you are morbidly curious, this calculator will tell you.

Note that this does not apply to insurance proceeds or retirement benefits unless the estate is designated as the beneficiary.  Note also that the State only receives assets if there are no relatives under any branch of the family tree.      

How Not to Revise a Will - Thomas Kinkade Edition

At the intersection of estate planing, celebrity, and public voyeurism, is the Thomas Kinkade estate litigation.  At the time of his death, Mr. Kinkade was separated from his wife for 2 years and had been living with a girl friend for 18 months.  His girl friend has offered 2 barely legible wills which leave her various sums.  The illegibility is allegedly due to his inebriation while writing.  Generally, a handwritten will is valid as is a will made while drunk (see the full article for some of the conditions and exceptions).   This matter will take years to resolve.

What advice can we glean from Mr. Kinkade's handling (or non-handling) of his affairs:

1.  Once separated from a spouse, change the estate planning documents immediately.

2.  If changing the documents, hire an estate planning attorney rather than DIY.

3.  If eschewing an estate planning attorney in favor of DIY, write the will while sober, not highly inebriated.  

Still unresolved is the effect of his death on the value of his art.  I am betting downward.    

Planning For Re-Marriage

Back after a slow 4th of July news week.   A checklist of items to address when getting re-married:

1.  Consider a pre-nuptial agreement.
2.  Revise will.
3.  Change beneficiaries on retirement plans and insurance policies.
4.  Take an inventory of assets (could be useful in lieu of a pre-nup).
5.  Consider a pre-nuptial agreement.  Repeated for effect.  The other items will take care of themselves in the context of creating a pre-nuptial agreement.