Cornelius Vanderbilt Created an Estate Plan, but Should I?

AJC’s recent article entitled “Why Vanderbilts should inspire you to create an estate plan” explains that when Cornelius Vanderbilt died, his son, William, inherited most of the fortune and nearly doubled it within a decade. However, after that came a drop in the cash, and after just a few decades, the fortune had been spent. Therefore, none of Vanderbilt’s descendants stayed among the wealthiest people in the country.

When 120 Vanderbilt family members recently gathered for a reunion at Vanderbilt University, not one was a millionaire. In a century, the largest estate America has ever known had dwindled to next to nothing.

Let’s look at why this happens and how you can prevent this from happening to your estate.

America is currently in the midst of the greatest transfer of wealth ever. An estimated $59 trillion will be transferred to heirs, charities and taxes between 2007 and 2061. However, roughly 70% of wealth transfers aren’t successful. This means that sometimes heirs get practically nothing. There are three reasons for this failure:

No trust and communication among heirs because they’re all concerned about their share.
Heirs are unprepared to inherit an estate, which may include managing investments or a business. In many cases, other family members don’t know how it works.
Heirs have no clue where the money should go and what purpose it should serve because no one is thinking long term about what is best for the family assets.

It’s common for business owners to believe that an estate plan is enough to keep everything in order, but they don’t consider their business. This is the reason why succession planning is vital. This planning determines what happens to the business itself and lays out the strategy, so it continues to operate smoothly after it’s passed to the heirs.

Let’s look at some tips for dealing with estate planning that should make for a smooth transition:

Create a plan. If you die without a will, state probate law will determine who gets your assets. This may not be what you want. Talk to an experienced estate planning attorney to be certain that everything is drawn up correctly.

Discuss the issues with your heirs. Talk to your family about the financial details. Make sure that your heirs know the details of your estate, so they can start to manage and oversee it once you die.

Get heirs involved in the process. Likewise, heirs can help plan based on their knowledge, future availability and expectations. By planning now, no one will be caught unaware about what to do with the estate.

Ready your heirs. Educate your heirs on how to manage and oversee your assets, especially if you have a succession plan for a business. Discuss the company’s mission and vision, and what you want the company to achieve.

Organize your financial documents. Get all financial documents in a single location and label everything clearly to help out your heirs. Keep this in a safe location, and let your heirs know where it’s located. Your attorney should also have a copy of your will, estate plan and succession plan (if applicable).

Get help from experts. Help forge a relationship between your heirs and your financial team, which may include a financial adviser, an estate planning attorney and an accountant. This will allow your heirs to know who to call, if things get complicated. It’ll also help to prepare them for what they’re supposed to be doing, once they get their inheritance.

Communication is the key. Talking with your experts and your heirs will make certain that everyone understands each other’s roles, regardless of whether it’s a small business or a multimillion-dollar empire.

Reference: AJC (Sep. 25, 2020) “Why Vanderbilts should inspire you to create an estate plan”

Does My Estate Plan Need an Audit?

You should have an estate plan because every state has statutes that describe how your assets are managed, and who benefits if you don’t have a will. Most people want to have more say about who and how their assets are managed, so they draft estate planning documents that match their objectives.

Forbes’ recent article entitled “Auditing Your Estate Plan” says the first question is what are your estate planning objectives? Almost everyone wants to have financial security and the satisfaction of knowing how their assets will be properly managed. Therefore, these are often the most common objectives. However, some people also want to also promote the financial and personal growth of their families, provide for social and cultural objectives by giving to charity and other goals. To help you with deciding on your objectives and priorities, here are some of the most common objectives:

Making sure a surviving spouse or family is financially OK
Providing for others
Providing now for your children and later
Saving now on income taxes
Saving on estate and gift taxes in the future
Donating to charity
Having a trusted agency manage my assets, if I am incapacitated
Having money for my children’s education
Having retirement income; and
Shielding my assets from creditors.

Speak with an experienced estate planning attorney about the way in which you should handle your assets. If your plan doesn’t meet your objectives, your estate plan should be revised. This will include a review of your will, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare proxies, beneficiary designation forms and real property titles.

Note that joint accounts, pay on death (POD) accounts, retirement accounts, life insurance policies, annuities and other assets will transfer to your heirs by the way you designate your beneficiaries on those accounts. Any assets in a trust won’t go through probate. “Irrevocable” trusts may protect assets from the claims of creditors and possibly long-term care costs, if properly drafted and funded.

Another question is what happens in the event you become mentally or physically incapacitated and who will see to your financial and medical affairs. Use a power of attorney to name a person to act as your agent in these situations.

If, after your audit, you find that your plans need to be revised, follow these steps:

Work with an experienced estate planning attorney to create a plan based on your objectives
Draft and execute a will and other estate planning documents customized to your plan
Correctly title your assets and complete your beneficiary designations
Create and fund trusts
Draft and sign powers of attorney, in the event of your incapacity
Draft and sign documents for ownership interest in businesses, intellectual property, artwork and real estate
Discuss the consequences of implementing your plan with an experienced estate planning attorney; and
Review your plan regularly.

Reference: Forbes (Sep. 23, 2020) “Auditing Your Estate Plan”

Which Stars Made the Biggest Estate Planning Blunders?

Mistakes in the estate planning of high-profile celebrities are one very good way to learn the lessons of what not to do.

Forbes’ recent article entitled “Eight Lessons From Celebrity Estates” discussed some late celebrities who made some serious experienced estate planning blunders. Hopefully, we can learn from their errors.

James Gandolfini. The “Sopranos” actor left just 20% of his estate to his wife. If he’d left more of his estate to her, the estate tax on that gift would have been avoided in his estate. But the result of not maximizing the tax savings in his estate was that 55% of his total estate went to pay estate taxes.

James Brown. One of the hardest working men in show business left the copyrights to his music to an educational foundation, his tangible assets to his children and $2 million to educate his grandchildren. Because of ambiguous language in his estate planning documents, his girlfriend and her children sued and, years later and after the payment of millions in estate taxes, his estate was finally settled.

Michael Jackson. Jackson created a trust but never funded the trust during his lifetime. This has led to a long and costly battle in the California Probate Court over control of his estate.

Howard Hughes. Although he wanted to give his $2.5 billion fortune to medical research, there was no valid written will found at his death. His fortune was instead divided among 22 cousins. The Hughes Aircraft Co. was bequeathed to the Hughes Medical Institute before his death and wasn’t included in his estate.

Michael Crichton. The author was survived by his pregnant second wife, so his son was born after his death. However, because his will and trust didn’t address a child being born after his death, his daughter from a previous marriage tried to cut out the baby boy from his estate.

Doris Duke. The heir to a tobacco fortune left her $1.2 billion fortune to her foundation at her death. Her butler was designated as the one in charge of the foundation. This led to a number of lawsuits claiming mismanagement over the next four years, and millions in legal fees.

Casey Kasem. The famous DJ’s wife and the children of his prior marriage fought over his end-of-life care and even the disposition of his body. It was an embarrassing scene that included the kidnapping and theft of his corpse.

Prince and Aretha Franklin. Both music legends died without a will or intestate. This has led to a very public, and in the case of Prince, a very contentious and protracted settlement of their estates.

So, what did we learn? Even the most famous (and the richest) people fail to carefully plan and draft a complete estate plan. They make mistakes with tax savings (Gandolfini), charities (Brown and Hughes), providing for family (Crichton), whom to name as the manager of the estate (Duke) and failing to prevent family disputes, especially in mixed marriages (Kasem).

If you have an estate plan, be sure to review your existing documents to make certain that they still accomplish your wishes. Get the help of an experienced estate planning attorney.

Reference: Forbes (July 16, 2020) “Eight Lessons From Celebrity Estates”

Will James Brown’s Estate Finally Be Settled after 15 Years?

The South Carolina Supreme Court in June finally began sorting out the litigation that has been part of Brown’s estate since his death. The court held that Brown was never legally married to his fourth wife, Tomi Rae Hynie, because she had not annulled a previous marriage.

Wealth Advisor’s recent article entitled “Might The Battle Over James Brown’s Estate Finally Be Coming To A Close After Nearly 15 Years” explains that the court’s decision weakens her claim to the estate. The estate has been valued to be worth between $5 million and $100 million. It’s the first real move forward in years. According to The New York Times, “the Supreme Court instructed the lower court to “promptly proceed with the probate of Brown’s estate in accordance with his estate plan,” which called for the creation of a charitable trust to help educate poor children.”

South Carolina law stipulates that Hynie, as Brown’s widow, would have had the right to a third of his estate’s value, no matter what his will instructed.

Hynie was married in 2001 to Javed Ahmed, a Pakistani man who already had three wives in his native country. Her lawyers argued that since Ahmed was a bigamist, their marriage was void. South Carolina’s lower courts agreed, holding that her marriage to Brown was valid.

However, the South Carolina Supreme Court disagreed. “All marriages contracted while a party has a living spouse are invalid, unless the party’s first marriage has been ‘declared void’ by an order of a competent court,” the Court explained.

Hynie’s counsel will be filing “a petition to reconsider and rehear the decision.”

Hynie is entitled as spouse to a share of Brown’s valuable music copyrights under federal law. She has already settled part of her dispute with the estate, agreeing to give 65% of any proceeds from her so-called termination rights—copyrights that, though once sold, can return to the songwriter or his heirs after several decades—to charity.

Brown’s will had bequeathed $2 million for scholarships for his grandchildren. The will said that his costumes and other household effects were to go to six of his children, and the remainder of the estate was to go to the charitable trust for the poor, called the “I Feel Good Trust.”

The South Carolina Supreme Court ruling is significant, because Brown’s 2000 will said, “Any heirs who challenged it would be disinherited. However, several of his children and grandchildren sued after his death,” notes The New York Times.

Reference: Wealth Advisor (July 20, 2020) “Might The Battle Over James Brown’s Estate Finally Be Coming To A Close After Nearly 15 Years”

Estate Planning Blog Articles

Estate & Business Planning Law Firm Serving the Providence & Cranston, RI Areas

Cornelius Vanderbilt Created an Estate Plan, but Should I?

Does My Estate Plan Need an Audit?

Which Stars Made the Biggest Estate Planning Blunders?

Will James Brown’s Estate Finally Be Settled after 15 Years?

Join Our eNewsletter

Recent Posts

Cornelius Vanderbilt Created an Estate Plan, but Should I?

Does My Estate Plan Need an Audit?

Which Stars Made the Biggest Estate Planning Blunders?

Will James Brown’s Estate Finally Be Settled after 15 Years?

Categories

Email/Social Media

Quick Links