September 28, 2015

Who Will Inherit Whitney Houston’s Fortune Following Bobbi Kristina’s Death — and What Are the Lessons?

As it turned out, Houston may have given Bobbi Kristina more money than she could cope with at such a young age. The trustees of the trust – Bobbi’s aunt and grandmother – certainly thought so because they filed court papers to change the will to delay the windfall to Bobbi Kristina, but the trustees later withdrew the request, no doubt realizing that courts invariably follow the terms of a will. But we’ve seen worse. At least Houston did have a plan that didn’t give everything to Bobbi, even though $2 million at age 21 was probably too much. The morals of the story are to update your estate plan when life changes happen and to think long and hard about what effect inherited money will have on a child and on those close to her.

Estate and Trust Administration

July 22, 2014

Five Things an Estate Planning Attorney Can Do – That You Probably Shouldn’t

Here is an interesting point of view that most estate planning attorneys would agree with. We know it is easy to run to an office supply store or even grab forms from the internet that guide you on how to write your own will, but it really isn’t ever as “simple” as you imagine it to be. There are several issues that need to be thought of and addressed when preparing documents such as a will, powers of attorney, and a trust and you don’t want loop holes to cause trouble for the family that ends up in probate. The unexpected can be planned for and consider issues typically not thought of.