Writing Your Tulsa Estate Planning Blog

If you feel overwhelmed about planning your estate, it might be helpful to remember what is at the core of estate planning. It is a way to transfer assets.

Estate planning can be and do many different things. It can provide for the care of minor children. It can be a way to let people know that you love them. It can create a charitable legacy.

In fact, there are so many things estate planning can be and do that may people get overwhelmed thinking about all of them. As a result, they do not create estate plans.

At its core, however, estate planning is not that complicated. Estate planning can be as simple as transferring your assets after death.

As the Times Herald-Record explains in “Transferring assets upon death,” there are four main ways to do that, including:

•Wills – In a will you state who should get your assets and appoint someone to be in charge of making sure that your wishes are carried out. Wills have to be approved by a probate court.

•Joint Ownership – If you have assets in joint ownership with another person, then by law when you pass away the joint owner becomes the sole owner of the asset.

•Beneficiary Designations – For life insurance policies, retirement accounts and savings accounts, you name a specific beneficiary to receive the assets after you pass away. A court does not need to approve the designation.

•Trusts – With a trust, you state how your assets should be handled, appoint someone to handle them and name the people for whose benefit the assets will be handled.

How do you know which approach or approaches are best for your circumstances? Contact an experienced estate planning attorney.

Reference: Times Herald-Record (March 15, 2017) “Transferring assets upon death.”

In most states, to completely disinherit a child in a will, parents have to mention the child and specifically disinherit him or her. Otherwise, it is presumed that the child was left out by mistake. Tennessee has an exception to the rule.

J. Don Brock, the late CEO of Astec Industries, wrote many wills over the years. He executed new wills in 1994, 1998, 2006, 2012 and 2013. His first three wills all did different things with regard to his five adopted children.

They were given various amounts of money or cut out from receiving anything in the different wills. The last two wills did not mention the adopted children at all. They claim that was done by their stepmother, in order to preserve the assets of Astec Industries for herself.

The children filed a lawsuit against the estate, but lost in the lower courts. The Supreme Court of Tennessee has now agreed to hear their case, according to the Times Free Press in “Tennessee Supreme Court agrees to hear J. Don Brock estate challenge.”

The main issue in this case is a 110-year-old decision by the Supreme Court of Tennessee that created what is known as the Cowan Rule. It limits the ability of potential heirs to challenge a will, if they were not mentioned in the previous will.

The adopted children lost in the lower courts because they were not mentioned in the 2012 will. The rule makes some sense.

Why?

Merely having the 2013 will ruled invalid would not create an inheritance for the children, since it would just validate the 2012 will, unless it is also successfully challenged.

However, this is not how other states handle disinherited children.

In other states, it is presumed that if a child is not mentioned in a will at all, it was a mistake and the child can challenge the estate, regardless of what an older will might state.

Reference: Times Free Press (March 21, 2017) “Tennessee Supreme Court agrees to hear J. Don Brock estate challenge.”

There is a common misconception that only certain types of people actually need wills. Nothing could be further from the truth.

You may have heard that not everyone needs a will. It is a common thought considering that the majority of American adults do not have wills. People often assume they do not need wills because they do not have very many assets and just want those assets to pass to their spouse and children. Some people think that wills are only really needed by the very wealthy and the very old.

Recently, the Norman Transcript tried to answer this misconception in “Wills: Who needs them?”

As it turns out, the answer to the question posed in the article’s title is “everyone.”

There is not a single category of adult who cannot benefit from having at least a will, although most people should have more estate planning documents than just a will. If you have minor children, then it is even more important that you have an estate plan to make sure your children are taken care of by someone you would approve of and that there are assets to provide for the children.

However, it is not just parents of minor children who need a will.

Anyone with any property, who wants to have a say in what happens to it after they pass away, needs to get a will.

Since you are most likely in the category of “everyone,” visit an estate planning attorney and get a will, if you do not already have one.

Reference: Norman Transcript (Feb. 24, 2017) “Wills: Who needs them?”

Most Americans do not have wills. They should get one, but they should not stop their estate planning with just a will.
The estate planning news has recently been full of stories about a new survey that showed that 58% of American adults do not have wills. The survey found that it was even worse for parents of minor children. Some 64% of them do not have wills. They have more reasons than anyone else have a will.

This has resulted in many articles about how Americans need to get wills and why their excuses for not getting them are misguided. That is all true.

Americans do need to get wills and they do need to stop making the same excuses, as the AARP points out in “Haven’t Done A Will Yet?”
However, estate planning should not stop with just a will.
A will is only one of the documents you can get by going to an experienced estate planning attorney. For example, you might learn that a trust is a better primary estate planning tool for you to use in your particular situation. Through an attorney, you can also get other important legal documents, including a health care power of attorney, a general durable power of attorney and a living will.
These and other legal documents will make sure that your financial affairs are managed properly, if you ever become unable to handle your own affairs.
Do get a will if you do not already have one. However, do not stop there. Make sure that you have a more thorough estate plan by consulting with a qualified estate planning attorney.
Reference: AARP (Feb. 24, 2017) “Haven’t Done A Will Yet?”

Most older Americans have wills, but most younger Americans do not. It does not matter how old you are, however, you should have a will.

Survey after survey shows that the majority of Americans do not have an estate plan, or even a will. The New York Times recently reported on a new survey that shows only 42% of Americans have a will in “Why You Should Get Around to Drawing Up a Will.”

The good news is that the overwhelming majority of people over the age of 72 have a will. The bad news is that only one in five people between the ages of 18 and 36 have wills.

The problem is that younger adults often have a very big reasons why it is more important for them to have a will than it is for retired people. Younger adults are far more likely to have minor children that need backup parents appointed, if they are orphaned.

It is only through creating an estate plan that parents can give directions about who should care for their children and how that should be done. An estate plan is also the best way to make sure the children’s immediate and long-term financial needs are met.

Even young adults without children should have at least a will, since it is the only way to make sure that their assets go to the people they choose after they pass away.

As the article points out, many people believe you do not need to have an estate planning attorney to create a will. It is possible to create your own will using many do-it-yourself options.

Be advised, though, that the article also points out that both The New York Times and Consumer Reports have looked into do-it-yourself will services and found them lacking for all but the simplest of wills.

No matter how old you are, do yourself and your family a favor and contact an estate planning attorney, if you do not already have a will.

Reference: New York Times (Feb. 8, 2017) “Why You Should Get Around to Drawing Up a Will.”

When creating an estate plan, you will want to consider how to leave assets for the benefit of your spouse. There are several ways to do so.

Unless you and your spouse have a valid legal agreement otherwise, you will not be able to disinherit him or her in all but the most unusual circumstances. In every state, a spouse is entitled to a spousal elective share of a deceased partner’s estate, although the exact amount of the share varies between states.

Consequently, if you make no provisions in your estate plan for your spouse, your spouse can elect to take his or her share and the court will alter your plans. Therefore, when you are creating your estate plan, you need to consider how to leave an inheritance for your spouse, even if you would rather not.

There are several different ways to do so, as The Times Herald discusses in “Options for leaving an inheritance to a spouse.”

The biggest decision is whether to use a will or a trust.

With a will, you can leave assets for your spouse to receive outright as free of any restrictions or control. However, there are disadvantages, especially if you want to avoid probate and ensure that the spouse will leave any remaining assets to heirs of your choice, when the spouse passes away.

With a funded living trust, probate may not be required. There are also ways to make sure that any remaining assets are given to people of your choosing. There are several different types of trusts that can be used to include testamentary trusts under a will, once the estate clears probate.

An estate planning attorney can go over your options and help you to determine the best option for you.

Reference: The Times Herald (Feb. 20, 2017) “Options for leaving an inheritance to a spouse.”

When most people think of trusts, they think of living trusts. That is something that a person creates while they are alive and that has a written trust agreement. There is another type of trust.

Revocable living trusts are now so common that many people assume all trusts are just that – revocable living trusts. However, there are many different types of trusts.

Trusts can also be irrevocable. In addition, not all trusts are living trusts.

A living trust merely refers to any trust agreement that a person makes during his or her lifetime. Another type of trust exists that people can make after death. It is called a testamentary trust. Many people have documents that create one, even if they are not aware of it, as NWI Times discusses in “Wills can create trusts.”

It is very common for a will to create a testamentary trust, when the person making the will has minor children. The language of the will leaves assets to the child as held in trust by a third party. That third party becomes the trustee and assumes all of the normal responsibilities of a trustee.

You might even have these provisions in your will and not know about it, if you have not reviewed your will closely enough.

Whether your estate plan creates a trust for minor children under a revocable living trust or a will, make sure that you understand what it will do (and not do) to protect and manage the inheritance. A qualified estate planning attorney can help you, and even make adjustments as may be needed.

Reference: NWI Times (Feb. 19, 2017) “Wills can create trusts.”

A bizarre case in Arkansas highlights how money can give people the incentive to create fake wills and that they can be caught.

Matthew Seth Jacobs was on an oil rig when the Deepwater Horizon disaster struck. He was caught in an explosion and suffered extensive injuries. After filing a lawsuit, he eventually reached a multimillion dollar settlement with the company.

The story did not end there.

Jacobs used some of that money to purchase a home with the help of Arkansas real estate agent Donna Herring. Herring had plans for the rest of money. She pushed her teenage stepdaughter on Jacobs and eventually the two became engaged. However, the extent of their actual relationship is unknown.

Jacobs was later driving to the home of a different girlfriend, when he was in an accident. He did not recover from his injuries. Herring then produced a will that left all of Jacobs’ assets to her stepdaughter, even though she never actually married Jacobs.

At first the scheme worked, but new evidence was later found that showed Herring may have fraudulently created the will. She now faces multiple charges.

Arkansas Business has more on this case in “Fake Will Scheme Puts Camden Real Estate Agent in Hot Water.”

This case illustrates the lengths that some people will go to when large sums of money are involved. It is particularly tragic in this case, since the victim had previously been the victim of a horrific tragedy and the fraudster involved her teenage stepdaughter.

Reference: Arkansas Business (Jan. 30, 2017) “Fake Will Scheme Puts Camden Real Estate Agent in Hot Water.”

A high-profile case involving the estate of a wealthy Atlanta businesswoman is currently stalled, as other legal battles play out around it.

Diane McIver was a well-known and wealthy businesswoman from Atlanta. In the fall of 2016, she was sitting in the front passenger seat of a vehicle being driven by her friend. What happened next is disputed and has been the subject of considerable media speculation in Georgia.

Her husband Claude McIver was sitting in the vehicle directly behind her. He claims that he had a gun in his lap, because they were driving in a bad neighborhood. According to him, the car hit a bump in the road, which startled him and caused him to accidentally discharge the weapon killing his wife. The driver of the vehicle says the car was stopped, when she heard the gun go off.

Claude McIver has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

If that was not enough to make administering the estate difficult, one of Diane McIver’s companies is suing her estate. The company claims that it loaned $1 million to one of her other companies that she personally guaranteed.

This story is reported by Private Wealth in “Estate in Limbo after Atlanta Man Is Charged with Killing His Rich Wife.”

The exact details of Diane McIver’s will are not known.

Ordinarily, her husband would be entitled to some portion of her estate. However, people who kill someone are not typically allowed to inherit from their victims. That would mean that another heir would need to be found.

Of course, depending on the results of the lawsuit filed against the estate by the company, there might be nothing left for anyone to inherit. This is especially true, if more debts are found to exist.

Regardless, this case will give the media in Georgia something to talk about for a long time.

Reference: Private Wealth (Feb. 2, 2017) “Estate in Limbo after Atlanta Man Is Charged with Killing His Rich Wife.”

Improperly doing the little things in estate planning, often end up costing families the most money.

Talk about estate planning mistakes often focuses on the big picture things that people get wrong. Thousands of articles are written, whenever a celebrity or wealthy person makes a big estate planning mistake, such as failing to update an estate plan or not having one at all.

You can find article after article about complex trust provisions that are improperly drafted.

All of those things are important. We can and should learn from them.

However, it is important to understand, that for most people, small errors are the biggest problems in their estate plans, as the Pauls Valley Daily Democrat points out in “Oversights can cost your heirs money.”

For most people, minor mistakes like not having enough witness signatures on a will or not having the magic legal words in a trust document are what makes estate planning go awry. The law can be extremely formal at times and minding all of the little details matters.

If things are not done precisely right, then all the proper planning in the world can be undone with the stroke of a judge’s pen.

Fortunately, there do not have to be any minor oversights in your estate plan.

You can go to an experienced estate planning attorney who will make sure that every little, formal detail is taken care of.

Reference: Pauls Valley Daily Democrat (Jan. 25, 2017) “Oversights can cost your heirs money.”