Decisions . . . Decisions . . . Decisions . . .

When asked how people want their assets divided after they are gone, some people have definite opinions, while others are less certain. Not only do people differ in the level of their uncertainty concerning how to divvy up their assets, they even differ in what factors are important in making the decision.

In June 2007, Money magazine released a reader poll concerning various financial issues. The following percentages of respondents ranked each factor as very important:

• Dividing the estate equally among your children: 69%
• How responsible each child is about money: 37%
• How helpful each child has been to you: 29%
• How close you are to each child: 22%
• How much money each child has: 22%
• How many children of their own each child has: 19%
• How much you like each child’s spouse: 10%
• 37% said it can be reasonable to disinherit a child.

Another item of indecision for many people is the choice of decision makers: Trustee, Personal Representative, Guardian, and Agents under powers of attorney. For each of these positions, it is important to name people whose decision-making ability you trust. You may be tempted to name all your children or siblings to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings. However, naming a large number of people to serve together in the same role invites family disharmony and chaos. For example, if property in the Trust is to be sold and you have seven Trustees, many of whom may be out of town, it would be a logistical nightmare to route paperwork all around the country. Typically, things work more smoothly if you limit the number of people in any given role. Besides, having a job thrust upon them may be something many would just as soon avoid.

Regardless of what factors are important to you, a qualified estate planning attorney can help you achieve your goals. For example, if you are concerned about your child’s ability to manage finances, the money can be left in a Trust which will prevent him or her from accessing the funds without the permission of a person whom you designate, the Trustee. If you do not like your child’s spouse and are concerned he or she might divorce your child and take some of the inheritance you leave your child, you can leave your assets in a “Divorce Protection Trust.” Such a Trust keeps the assets separate from marital assets. Therefore, it minimizes the risk of the assets ending up in the hands of the child’s future ex-spouse.

A qualified estate planning attorney can help you achieve your goals while paving the way for your family’s continued success and harmony after you are gone.

Anna Nicole Smith’s Estate Planning Mess

Everyone may have had enough of the Anna Nicole Smith saga by now, but I could not let the moment pass without pointing to the mess she and her attorneys created with poorly drafted documents and poor planning in general.

Anna Nicole Smith jumped from one estate planning mess to another. As you may remember, she was the short term wife of billionaire J. Howard Marshall. For many years after he passed away, she was involved in litigation over his estate because J. Howard never included her in his will. Despite experiencing first-hand the emotional, financial, and time costs of J. Howard’s poor estate planning, Anna Nicole left behind her own mess.

On July 31, 2001, Anna Nicole Smith signed a will leaving all of her estate to her son, Daniel, to be held in trust with her friend, Howard K. Stern, as Trustee. As you may recall, Daniel died on September 10, 2006, at age 20. A few days prior to Daniel’s death, Anna Nicole gave birth to a daughter, Danielynn, on September 7, 2006. Later that month, Anna Nicole and Howard K. Stern had a commitment ceremony on a yacht in the waters off of Nassau, Bahamas.

So, by late-September, there had been significant changes to Anna Nicole’s circumstances. Yet, Anna Nicole did not change her will. She did not change it to leave anything to either her new daughter, Danielynn, or to Danielynn’s presumed father and Anna Nicole’s new domestic partner, Howard K. Stern. Further, she didn’t change her will to provide a guardian for Danielynn.

Anna Nicole died on February 8, 2007. Unhappily, it seems that she did not take a lesson from the mess she experienced over J. Howard Marshall’s estate. Not only did she fail to revise her estate plan after major changes in her life, but she included provisions in her will that override state laws. Those laws would have presumed she wanted to include children born after the will was written.

The laws of California (which govern her will) provide that children born after a will is written are presumed to be included unless the will specifically excludes future children. Anna Nicole included such an exclusionary provision in her will. Further, she appointed Howard K. Stern as guardian for Daniel. However, she did not specify that he was also to be guardian for any other children she may have. So, the question of who will be Dannielynn’s guardian is currently undecided.

Anna Nicole made yet another mistake. She used a will to dispose of her property. This made her affairs a public matter. She could have avoided some of the scrutiny over her affairs if she had used a Revocable Living Trust to hold and dispose of her assets.

Do not make the same mistakes that Anna Nicole made. Review your estate planning documents periodically. Upon any significant change in your life: the birth or death of a family member; marriage or divorce; or a significant increase or decrease in your assets. In addition, make your estate plan flexible enough to allow for changes in your life which may happen more quickly than you can change your plan. A qualified estate planning attorney can help you create a plan that anticipates changes in your life and can review the plan with you at regular intervals.

For additional information on estate planning and your options, visit our website at www.smithbarid.com. Or, if you would like to schedule an appointment to go over your estate plan and make sure your plan is adequate to protect your children and your assets, please feel free to call our office at (912)352-3999 if you live in the Savannah, Georgia area or email us at info@smithbarid.com.