Estate Planning: A Cautionary Tale

 Grandpa committed an act of kindness: He executed a living trust. He knew    that this would insure that, after his death, his assets would be distributed in accordance with his wishes, without the expense and inconvenience of probate proceedings.
He didn’t want to spend much money on estate planning, so he utilized the services of a paralegal service.
When he died, his two daughters found:
There was no written provision at Grandpa’s gated retirement community for anyone to be given access to the community or to his apartment. The manager of the community wouldn’t allow anyone to enter without the intervention of an (expensive) attorney.
2. When they did gain access, Grandpa’s trust was lying on a shelf in his kitchen, where anyone could have taken it and messed with it.
3. A box of money in plain sight. Lots of money. (Who knows how much may have already been removed before they arrived?)
4. Bank accounts in Grandpa’s name, not titled in the Trust.
5. One large Payable–on-Death account naming a long-estranged relative as beneficiary.
5. Some troubling ambiguities in the language of the Trust. (These ambiguities would require a court to resolve, perhaps not in accordance with Grandpa’s true wishes.)
6. A provision in Grandpa’s will appointing an out-of state executor. (This resulted in the Court’s imposition of a surety bond, at the expense of the Estate and, ultimately, the daughters.)
After a year of costly proceedings in Probate Court, the daughters got what Grandpa intended them to inherit. Maybe.
Lessons to be learned here:
1. Have your Trust and other estate planning documents prepared by an experienced attorney.
2. Fund your Trust. Hold title to your assets as Trustee of your Trust, not just in your own name.
3. Be sure that building managers and Homeowners’ Associations have up-to-date authorizations to permit access to your place of residence by the people of your choice, in the event of your illness or death.
4. Secure your valuable documents, to protect them from loss or misuse.
5. Don’t leave more cash around than absolutely necessary for daily/weekly expenses.
6. Review your estate planning documents and the titling of your assets periodically, to be sure they still reflect your wishes.
Jerry Kessler practices law in Santa Clarita. You may contact him at 661-255-1001 for a confidential consultation.