Solitaire Confinement

We have already traveled this road, but it is worth revisiting.  After the death of her husband in August, a Canadian woman was locked out of her husband's Apple account because she did not know his Apple ID.  She discovered this when her card favorite game would not function and she was unable to reinstall the game. Apple told her she needed  a court order to change the password, or she could create her own Apple ID an repurchase the game.

Three quick points:

1.  I advise all of my clients to write down their on-line passwords and notify their executor of their location so their executor can access their digital assets after death.

2.  My wills authorize the executor to access any digital accounts.

3.  In this woman's case, she would have been far wiser to spend $2.99 to download a new version of the game.

Dead and Bloated

Scott Weiland was formerly the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots. At the time of his death last month, he had been married to his third wife for two years.  Meanwhile, his second wife, Mary Forsberg, filed his 2007 will in LA County probate court because it named her as executor of his $2 million estate.  The will was executed several months before they divorced.

Three brief points:

1.  Ohio law would remove the ex-wife as both a beneficiary of the will and as executor once the divorce is finalized.  It would also remove her as the beneficiary of any IRA or insurance policy.

2.  Even with the protection of a state law treating a divorced spouse as pre-deceased for estate planning purposes, it is best to update estate planning documents and beneficiary designations upon getting divorced.  If there is no such state law, it is imperative to update the documents.

3.  As always, I guess it is asking too much of someone whose divorce and death were both attributable to drug use to be pro-active in updating one's estate planning documents.

The Will In the Front Yard

Antonio and Ann Yzaguirre died when a tornado hit their Tennessee home several days before Christmas. Oddly, several pages of their will were found 55 miles away in the front yard of Sharon Thompson.  In looking for the owner of the will, she connected the will to the Yzagurirres through a Google search.  

Several quick points:

1.  It is best to not keep an original will where it can be destroyed in a natural disaster or fire (or thrown away accidentally with a poor screenplay).

2.  Of pieces of paper to find after a tornado, a will has to rank down there with credit card bills and junk mail.

3.  No word on whether the Yzaguirres lived in a mobile home.

Happy New Year

The Will In the Cupboard

Melissa Mathison, who died last month at the age of 65, was renowned for being the screenwriter of E.T. and The Black Stallion.  She had also been married to Harrison Ford from 1983  until 2004.  She left an estate worth $22 million, most of which is in trust.  However, her original will cannot be located.

Several very quick points because this is the holiday season after all:

1.  A copy of a lost will can be admitted to probate in Ohio if there is proof it was validly executed and that it was not revoked.

2.  I offer to retain original wills for my clients so they cannot be accidentally misplaced.

3.  Mathison's family might wish to search for the will among the presumably multitude of rejected drafts of The Indian in the Cupboard while she tried to make it into an enjoyable movie.

Merry Christmas From My Family To Yours

Are Not All Former Spouses Bums?

After divorcing her husband of 10 years in 2014, Diane Wagner agreed to pay him $186/week in spousal support. When writing the checks to him, she has used the memo section to write “alimony/adult child support,” “bum,” “loser,” and “FOAD.” Her 61 year old ex-husband recently sued her on the grounds that her notations are causing him emotional distress and caused him to suffer a heart attack.

Several quick points:

1. Whenever a couple marries later in life, they should have a pre-nuptial agreement which would allow them to waive spousal support/alimony upon divorce.

2. I suspect that despite most media coverage about the notations on the check, the real source of the lawsuit is the $5,000 the husband’s bank accidentally deposited into a joint account which she quickly withdrew and refused to return.

3. I sheepishly admit I had to use Urban Dictionary to look up FOAD.

4. One person’s spunky fighter for freedom of speech is another man’s crazy ex-wife.