Estate Planning

Robin Williams Will Limits Use of Likeness

Published on: November 13, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Certain celebrities continue to earn phenomenal amounts of money, even though they are deceased. Using advanced technology, audiences enjoy what appear to be live performances and new material from actors and singers who have been gone for decades. Holograms are good enough to convince stadiums filled with fans that they are seeing the real deal.

For the estates that hold the rights to the likenesses of celebrities this can earn millions of dollars a year. Such is the case with the likenesses of Michael Jackson, James Dean, Betty Page and many others.

Not every celebrity, however, is comfortable with the idea of their name and likeness being used after they pass away to make money.

Escheatment: Monitor Unclaimed Property Lists

Published on: November 12, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

A state government has the legal right to claim the property of a person who has passed away and has no heirs or beneficiaries. Here's the problem: almost all state governments today are experiencing significant shortfalls in revenues. As a result, some states have become a little too eager and too aggressive about claiming property through escheatment.

What often happens is that an account holder has not stayed in contact with a brokerage or financial institute for a long time. The financial institute then reports the assets in an account as unclaimed property. Rather than making any effort to locate the person who owns the account, the government claims the property as its own. This can create issues for people who have long term investments as part of their retirement and estate plans.

Recently, Investopedia listed how you can avoid this happening to your stock accounts in "4 Ways to Avoid Escheatment of a Stock Account."

Titling Assets with Estate Planning in Mind

Published on: November 10, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Most married people tend to use the traditional way of owning property together, using "joint tenants with right of survivorship," known in estate planning circles as "JTWROS." Just as the name describes, when one of the spouses passes away, the surviving spouse becomes the sole owner of the property.

This has benefits for estate planning, as the property does not have to go through probate. However, there are potential drawbacks. If one of the owners is in debt, his or her creditors may be able to go after the property held jointly. If a parent holds property as a joint tenant with a child, it might make it so other children do not receive a fair inheritance.

Recently, Investor's Business Daily discussed alternatives to joint tenancy in "Best Ways To Title Your Assets — Avoid Traps," including:

Often Overlooked: How Will Heirs Pay the Estate Tax?

Published on: November 4, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

We’ve heard or read the stories of wealthy families forced to sell off prized heirlooms so that hefty estate taxes could be paid. It is never a happy day when an heir needs to sell the family home, wine collection, fine art or collection of vintage automobiles to raise cash for the estate tax. Proper estate planning for wealthy families should include a rather simple solution to this problem: life insurance.

This was recently explained in the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog in "How Life Insurance Can Be Used To Help With Estate Taxes."

You may consider the creation of an irrevocable trust and make it the beneficiary of a life insurance policy.

Houston Families Note: Blended Families Require Extra Planning Effort

Published on: September 14, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Perhaps if Dr. Nathaniel Shafer knew what was to come, he may have made some changes to his will that might have precluded a nasty dispute between his wife and his children from a previous marriage. Dr. Shafer’s will leaves a $10 million estate entirely to his wife and her child from a different marriage, Dr. Shafer’s children from a prior marriage accuse their stepmother of filing a fake will. Estate planning for a blended family can be tricky.

Jennifer and Robert Shafer, the children from a previous marriage, are claiming that their stepmother filed a fake will. They want the court to throw that will out and to use an earlier will that leaves half of the estate to them. To prove their claim, the Shafer siblings are asking the court to waive a doctor-patient privilege so a therapist the couple saw can testify about their relationship.

The New York Post reported this story in an article titled "Siblings claim stepmom filed fake will to get $10M inheritance."

Robin Williams’ Estate Battle Continues

Published on: September 10, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Divorce lawyers know that some of the most intense fights between a couple can erupt over the most insignificant item —- a matchbook collection or a set of souvenir spoons from family vacations.

The stuff being fought over serves as a proxy because the parties are angry with each other and want to fight over something. The same thing happens in estate law when heirs do not get along and resent each other. The heirs will fight over those very same inexpensive souvenir spoons.

However, in estate law these battles do not make it to court as often as they do in divorce law because divorcing couples are already in court. Most of the time heirs feuding over junk find it cost prohibitive to hire attorneys. Robin Williams' estate might be an exception.

Ernie Banks’ Estate Saga Continues

Published on: September 9, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The ongoing skirmish over the small estate of baseball legend Ernie Banks has gone into extra innings. There was a battle between Banks’ estranged wife and the caretaker who was named as sole heir to the estate. Most recently, a third party has claimed a portion of the modest estate.

Banks' friend, Shirley Marx, has entered a claim against the estate for $80,000. Marx claims this is the amount she loaned to Banks while he worked for her family's moving company. However, the loans were not documented, which will make it difficult for Marx to prove her claims.

The Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog reported on this in "Estate of Ernie Banks Faces New Challenge As Creditor Steps Forward."

Will New IRS Regulations Impact Your Houston Estate Planning?

Published on: August 27, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

New regulations are coming from the IRS regarding family partnerships and limited liability companies. Perhaps in search of revenue, or trying to overcome a legally-permitted loophole, the IRS will soon make changes to capture some otherwise lost revenue on these entities, which have enjoyed tax discounts on assets that are otherwise easy to value.

Family partnerships and LLCs have been used for many years as a means of allowing family members to own assets jointly and to allow assets to be distributed in a relatively easy manner when one of the family members passes away.

The practice began as a way to handle control of family-owned businesses. However, when a family-owned business is owned by a family legal entity, the only way anyone else could buy into the business is by becoming a member of the partnership or LLC.

New EU Rules May Impact Estate Planning for Land Owners Outside U.S.

Published on: August 24, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The European Union has put into effect new rules on inheritance laws that allow people to select which country’s laws they want to have applied to their wills. Americans who own property in the EU that they wish to pass on through their estate need to prepare for this change.

In the past, if you had a will written and executed in one country, and you died in that country, the law of that country would govern the distribution of your estate. A new rule from the European Union that is currently in effect will give you the option to choose which country’s laws you want to apply to your will. The country you have chosen must be designated in your will.

Thus, for example, if a German is living in Italy, he or she can write a will to be used in Italy but that applies German law. This is not limited to nations in Europe. An American living in Europe could chose to apply US law. The Connexion reported on this new rule in "New EU inheritance rules now in force ."

Estate Planning Isn’t a “Cookie Cutter” Approach for All Millionaires

Published on: August 18, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

A recent survey from CNBC.com shows that there are differences in how the wealthy perceive the need for estate planning, and not all millionaires behave the same way. There are differences between families at the $1 million – $5 million level and those with $5 million and more. However, a significant number of millionaires do not have an estate plan, and part of that may be due to estate planning fatigue.

According to a poll of 750 millionaires, individuals with $5 million or more (68%) were more likely to seek help with estate planning, compared to individuals with $1 million to $5 million in assets (61%). The survey, conducted by CNBC.com, reports their findings in a recent article: “Wealthy suffer from 'estate-planning fatigue'.”

The political break down was as follows: Republicans (68%) were more likely to use an estate planning expert to create an estate plan than Democrats (61%) or Independents (58%).