I always enjoyed watching Andy Rooney’s closing commentary
on the television show, “60 Minutes”.
That little touch of humor with a dash of sarcasm was a nice recipe for
a lighter take on things. Whether
talking about such things as “wash and wear shirts that you can wash, but
cannot wear”, or observing that “if dogs could talk, it would take a lot of the
fun out of owning one”, for 33 years Mr. Rooney entertained audiences with his
satire. He died November 4, 2011, at the
age of 92, just one month after delivering his last show.
I remember his frequent opening
line, “What’s all this talk anyway about . . . . ” Paying homage to Andy Rooney, this week I’d
like to ask, What’s all this talk about estate planning?
There’s nothing new about estate
planning, per se. It’s just that people eventually reach a point
in time when they need it, so it’s an evergreen topic that comes up for every
family. For decades, only the wealthy
elite used estate planning tools such as trusts and family partnerships as a
way to accomplish tax goals and transfer wealth to later generations. Less fortunate people had a simple will, if they
had anything at all. Over the past 25 to
30 years, however, not so wealthy individuals are also using trusts and estate
plans as well to make disposition of their assets upon death and to plan for
their own care during their lifetimes in the event an illness left them unable
to care for themselves.
But even with a topic as common as
this, a surprising number of people either still haven’t done any form of
estate planning, or what they have prepared isn’t standing up well in
court. Recent celebrity examples are Amy
Winehouse and Michael Jackson. Probate
records show that Amy Winehouse died without a will and she amassed a fortune
having an estimated worth of $6.7 million.
It is rumored that Winehouse still loved her ex-husband, despite his
lengthy prison sentence for burglary related to his drug addiction. But without a will, he gets nothing. The same is true for her brother. By law, the estate goes to Amy’s parents. Michael Jackson, on the other hand, did
prepare a will. But he died $500 million
in debt. The executors now claim to have
earned $475 million for the estate over the past 3 years and by law they are
allowed to keep 10% of that as a fee.
The Jackson family is up in arms, filing claims against the executors
and promising more claims to come. So
even with a will, there’s no apparent end to this estate battle in the
foreseeable future. A carefully drafted
trust could have avoided all of that.
So when you are ready to take the plunge
regarding your own estate plan, just know that there is no “one size fits all”
and many documents are involved, including a trust, will, advance health care
directive, and durable power of attorney, to mention a few, and each client’s unique
circumstances should be reflected in their plan. Beware of lawyers who try to fit every
client’s estate plan into the same template. While some clients have very
similar needs, estate planning just doesn’t work that way. In more than one instance, I had clients who
were charged terribly high fees by other lawyers only to receive nothing more
than 75 pages of fairly useless boilerplate form language that had absolutely
nothing to do with that particular client’s needs. If you already have an estate plan, don’t
forget to have it reviewed now and then, especially if you moved to Texas from
another state. Laws and document
requirements vary from state to state.
Andy Rooney, by the way, died with assets
worth $9 million, and because he didn’t prepare a trust his will is being
probated in the New York courts. His
estate will be divided among his four children after the court completes the
probate and the lawyers take their nice big fee. That’s one more thing about which I’m sure
Andy would have had a few choice words.
For more
information on estate planning and other legal needs, or if you have a legal question
you would like for me to address, please visit my website at www.leflerlegal.com, email me at slefler@leflerlegal.com, or call me at 512-863-5658 or 512-677-5LAW
(-5529). My office is located in
Georgetown, Texas.
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