Huguette Clark = Howard Hughes?

As part of her $300 million fortune, Huguette Clark owned Bellosguardo, a 23 acre estate on the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara valued at $85 million.  She inherited it in 1963 upon the death of mother but never visited it because she did not want to diminish her memory of her mother there.  In a matter mirroring that of Howard Hughes' Mormon Will, a pro se Santa Barbara woman filed a lawsuit against the estate claiming that after an hour conversation in 1985, Ms. Clark gave her the mansion by writing "Cabrillo Mansion yours" on a piece of paper.    A court dismissed the lawsuit because the statute of limitations had expired in 1989.

Several points:

1.  To convey property, a deed must contain the grantor's name, the grantee's name, a description of the property, and must be appropriately witnessed and/or notarized.  Real estate cannot be conveyed via the equivalent of a bearer bond.

2.  It is heartening to see that no attorney wanted to touch this obviously fraudulent case.

3.  Perhaps if the note had also provided that the Church of Latter Day Saints would also receive Bellosguardo, she would at least have been able to sell the movie rights to "Lori and Huguette."

Semper Fi

A former Marine signed onto Facebook last week and announced he was going to take his own life.  He documented the process with graphic photos including a final post that said "Im leakinging good now."   While he lay dying in an unoccupied building, his Marine Corps. buddies were frantically trying to locate him and plead with him to not kill himself.  After his death, Facebook did not remove the graphic photos of his final moments because "they did not violate the terms of community service."  Eventually, Facebook temporarily removed the account pending a ruling from his family.  In a nutshell, if a person dies, the options for his Facebook account are to memorialize the account or for the family to remove it.  Meanwhile, the former Marines used Facebook to reach out to their comrades who might be struggling and offered to drop everything they were doing to assist one another.

Several points:

1.  People should address their digital assets in their wills and give their executor the authority to dispose of or transfer the digital assets.

2.  One can always count on Facebook to do the wrong thing.

3.  The brotherhood of the Marines is awesome beyond description.

Halitosis, Ponzi Schemers, and Politicians

Rachel "Bunny" Mellon was the heir to the Listerine fortune and also the widow of philanthropist, Paul Mellon, who in turn was the only son of industrialist and Secretary of Treasury, Andrew Mellon.  Although she tried to remain out of the public eye, Mrs. Mellon gained some notoriety during the 2008 election for contributing to John Edwards' campaign to help him support Rielle Hunter and her baby fathered by Edwards.  Her 37 page will and 9 codicils comprising another 40 pages were recently admitted to probate in Virginia.  The will addressed a multitude of personal items, created life interests in various real properties for different individuals, gave $20 million to her 75 year old son, and made many charitable bequests.

Several points:

1.  An estate of this magnitude is generally suited for the privacy offered by a funded trust.  This is doubly so when the individual does not like publicity.

2.  An estate of this magnitude can also be well served by having the entire estate pass through the probate process so any potential will contest must be brought quickly (within 4 months of probate starting in Ohio) and creditors' claims filed against the estate (six months from the date of death in Ohio).

3.  She was smart to change her will as circumstances changed for her, including the death of her daughter and the conviction of her initial co-executor for operating a Ponzi scheme.

4.  Unsurprisingly, she did not leave any funds to John Edwards for haircuts, child support, or otherwise.

DIY Wills - Pay Me Now or Pay Me Later

A Florida woman saved money on will preparation by using a DIY service titled E-Z Legal Form.  Her will left all of her listed property to her brother.  The will did not have a residuary clause which states who receives all non-listed assets.   Inevitably, she later opened a new account that was not addressed by the will.  She left a handwritten note in which she tried to  to bequeath the account and all of her "worldly possessions" to her brother except for several accounts she wanted to leave to his daughter.  The note was only witnessed by her brother's  daughter.  Other nieces claimed that they were entitled to a share of the unlisted account because it was not addressed in the will.  The Florida Supreme Court ruled that they were entitled to a share of the unaddressed account under Florida intestacy laws.

Several points:

1.  All wills need a residuary clause to provide who inherits assets not specifically listed.  In fact, in every will I draft the residuary clause is the most important section.

2.  The decedent would have been better served simply by skipping the listing of specific assets and merely having a residuary clause leaving all of her assets to her brother.

3.  A handwritten note with only one witness who is also a potential beneficiary is invalid on its face and is a worse idea than using a poorly drafted form found on the Internet or purchased at Staples.

4.  As the weary mechanic in the Fram oil filter commercials said after performing an expensive engine repair instead of simply replacing an oil filter, "Pay me now or pay me later."   This decedent would have been better served spending some money on an attorney ($600 is my standard will and power of attorney fee) instead of trying to save a few dollars while incurring thousands of dollars in legal fees in a futile attempt to have her wishes followed.   Plus, I am much more fun to work with than following, perhaps incorrectly, a few prompts in a software program.

The Morning Line Again

Paul Daugherty of the Cincinnati Enquirer has once again graciously allowed me to guest write his The Morning Line blog.  I hope you enjoy it.  

Even Rappers' Estates Need to Pay Their Debts

I have previously blogged about rapper Nate Dogg and the financial issues surrounding his estate.  He died in 2011 without a will but with 6 children of unascertainable ages and different mothers and unpaid child support and medical bills of $290K.  His primary asset was a house with $200K of equity.  The administrator of his estate has a contract to sell the house for $340,000 but his children are opposing the sale because it will not leave them enough money.

Several points:

1.  A decedent's debts must be paid before estate beneficiaries receive any proceeds of the estate. It is unfortunate for his children that there will likely be no assets left for them after the payment of debts, but an administrator cannot magically make a house worth more than the market is willing to pay nor make the debts less.

2.  If Mr. Dogg had wanted to provide for his children and not worry about his debts, he could have purchased a life insurance policy to benefit them.

3.  His house was worth $340K?  I doubt it was featured on MTV's "Cribs."

 

Last Will and Embezzlement

Diminutive actor Mickey Rooney died this week at age 93. In recent years, he was in the news for his allegations of elder abuse against his step-son and step-daughter-in-law and for his Congressional testimony about the abuse. Last Fall, he symbolically settled the case against his step-son and his step-daughter-in-law for a $2.8 million judgment that will not be paid by them. He re-wrote his will last month to exclude his wife of 35 years, from whom he had separated a year ago after allegations of physical abuse, and his 11 natural children. He left his entire $18,000 estate to his other step-son who has been his care giver for the past 3 years.

Several points:

1. Elder abuse is more common than realized. Although it is rare when a spouse of 36 years is somewhat complicit in the abuse, mothers will go to great lengths to "protect" and enable their children's bad habits.

2. Under Ohio law, his estranged wife would receive the entire $18,000 despite what the will states because a spouse is entitled to at least the first $20,000 of assets.

3. Eight wives? Someone should have told him he did not need to marry every woman he dated.