As a society driven by youth, and surrounded by ‘the rich and the famous,’ anti-aging miracle creams, and the ‘selfie’ phenomena, growing old has innately become a topic to be avoided. Quite simply, the prospect of death, wrinkles, and nursing homes is enough to keep just about anyone from planning for their last stages of life. However as psychological research regarding the deterioration of the human mind mounts, it becomes more and more vital that planning for the future begins before it’s too late. While it is well known that an aging brain puts us at a disadvantage, few people connect this with the decline in their ability to maintain their personal finances. The catch being that by the time this issue is brought to light, it is more often than not met with already developing problems.
Why does it seem like so many celebrities have issues with their Estate Planning?
The latest is B.B. King. The Estate of the late great blue’s legend is going to be paying some attorney’s fees. Obviously, when that happens, the beneficiaries of the Estate receive less. King was the father to 15 children both natural and adopted. Eleven adult children survive. A group of them are alleging among other things that he had a more recent will than the one that has been tendered. They also allege that his business agent for 39 years should not be the executor of King’s Estate. The children allege that the business manager moved more than one million dollars around; did not allow the family to see King during his final days; and caused him to have improper medical care. As one would expect, through his attorney all of these claims are denied! In Tuesday, June 2, 2015’s Los Angeles Times, there was an article about the dispute between Robin Williams’ widow and his children. Mr. Williams passed on August 11, 2014. In reading the article by Veronica Rocha, it appears that his real estate and monies have been distributed, in accordance with the Estate Plan he had in place.
The dispute appears to center over personal items. Undoubtedly, some of the personal items are worth a lot of money. However, some probably are not worth all that much, but have sentimental value. So, you are reading this for a reason. Something has made you to start thinking about estate planning or you would not have found your way to this Blog Post.
Here are some of the more common Estate Planning mistakes: Bobby Kristina, as she is known, is the only child of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown and is the granddaughter of Cicely Houston. As many know she is in a long term care facility and from what I have read, her long term prospects are not very good.
Recently an Atlanta judge ruled that Bobby Brown and Pat Houston are to be co-guardians of Bobbi Kristina and that an Atlanta based attorney was to be the conservator of her estate. I just concluded reading the Chicago Tribune Article by Annie Sweeney concerning March 30, 2015’s hearing in Cook County, Illinois regarding the validity of Ernie Banks’ Will.
For those that do not know who he was – almost impossible for someone who lived in Chicago in the 1950s, 1960s, or 1970s – he was given the nickname “Mr. Cub.” He is enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York and is credited with saying “It’s a beautiful day for a ballgame . . . Let’s play two!” The judge found that the Will was valid based upon testimony of two paralegals who were employees of the law firm that prepared the Will who observed Mr. Banks signing the Will. As one would think, the witnesses testified to Mr. Banks’ competence. In the Will, Banks did not leave anything to his family. Rather, it left everything to a woman, Regina Rice, who has been described as his caregiver, but also has a talent management company, Ricer Enterprises. Until he retired when I was almost 13, John Wooden was the “Wizzard of Westwood” to me. My father had me watching UCLA basketball from my earliest days. During my teens and twenties, there were two legendary college basketball coaches, Dean Smith of the University of North Carolina and Bobby Knight of Indiana University. Dean Smith died earlier this year and it was recently learned that he left his former players a gift – $200 to each of them to be used for a dinner on him. Most of the clients that I represent have children. The majority have more than one child. While in some families, it is “obvious” who is going to be the successor trustee/executor, that is not always the case.
There are some families wherein it is especially difficult for the parents to select one child because they feel that they will be hurting the feelings of the other child. It seems to happen most when there are two children (as opposed to three or more) that clients will want to make both children co-trustees/co-executors. The heading to this blog post is plagiarized from the Los Angeles Times who in an article by Lisa Zamosky on Sunday, September 21, 2014 discussed what people can do to make sure that their final days are the way they want them to be.
The article begins with identifying the problem – namely that there are many people who die in the intensive care units of hospitals – who would rather die at home. Medical doctors are trained and programmed to do everything possible to keep their patients alive. That is a good thing! On the other hand, there are undoubtedly some situations where providers have an incentive to provide more services even though everyone knows that the services are not going to heal the patient.
While divorce was once considered taboo, today, as we all know, it is beyond common. If the marriage generated kids, more often than not, it should make estate planning more complicated because there are additional issues to consider. Whether it is husband’s/dad’s new girlfriend who might become his wife; or wife/mom’s fiancé or new husband, the potential for new children and the addition of step-children has added a whole new dimension to estate planning.
Many of us avoid the topic of our own demise. The ever present question mark that looms over this topic leads to an inevitable avoidance. In recognition of this, I try my best to make each and every one of my clients as comfortable as possible during the process of creating an estate plan. Despite this, many individuals will never even make it into my office. In order to eliminate some of the fear that goes hand in hand with discussing these matters I decided to outline a few issues that are helpful to consider before meeting with a Wills and Trusts attorney. To fear the unknown is also human, and my hopes is that providing the basic background to your first meeting will give you the confidence to address your estate planning needs and take that first step.
Yesterday, July 23, the testimony portion of the Sterling versus Sterling Probate trial concluded. While I have written a few posts regarding this proceeding I feel that it is important to stay up to date with such a sensationalized probate matter (with that is mind, I will do my best to keep this brief). During the conclusion of yesterday’s time in court, Donald’s attorneys opted out of calling his estranged wife, Shelly Sterling, to the stand. Instead they brought forward a neurologist who testified that the stress caused by having Shelly present during the doctor’s evaluation of Donald affected the outcome of their conclusions.
Closing arguments are set to be heard this coming Monday, July 28, and as it has been up to now, the conclusion of the court proceedings are predicted to be a ‘fight till the finish.’ Workout fads seem to come and go faster than top songs on the radio, however a recent development in the realm of yoga just might be worth a second look. The up and coming Yin Yoga features poses in the sitting or lying down position that are held for ten minutes at a time. Yin Yoga classes are a much slower pace than the more well-known hatha and vinyasa styles. Hatha yoga involves poses held for a minute or so, while vinyasa involves a series of repeated poses that cycle through standing, sitting, and laying poses with transitional movements at a much faster pace. Yin Yoga on the other hand involves a few poses held for long periods of time, while students are asked to relax their minds, and allow gravity to do the stretching for them.
The hearing regarding the Trust of Donald and Shelly Sterling has been recessed until July 21, leaving the validity of the sale of NBA Clippers team up in the air until then. The ongoing turmoil associated with the Sterling estate went public in April after TMZ released tapes of Donald Sterling making racist remarks (the tapes had been recorded by then girlfriend Vanessa Stiviano). Sterling was then fined and banned for life by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, and later pressured to sell the team. In mid May it became public that Mrs. Sterling had signed divorce papers, but had not filed them, and Donald began the battle to maintain control and ownership of the LA Clippers.
|
Categories
All
Michael Burstein
Estate Planning and Probate Attorney, Manhattan Beach Local, Sports Enthusiast
Archives
April 2023
|