HIGH PROFILE

ESTATE PLANNING

MISHAPS

THE POTTER LAW FIRM KENTUCKY AND NORTH CAROLINA ESTATE PLANNING ATTORNEYS

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When it comes to estate planning the rich and famous have the resources to

engage the best expertise that money can buy. Indeed, it is money well spent

because a licensed estate planning lawyer can help high net worth individuals

mitigate their estate tax exposure.

The federal estate tax carries a 40% maximum rate in 2013. This can erode your

wealth considerably.

While the federal estate tax is one concern, high net worth individuals are in a

position to change lives. If you are in this financial stratosphere you are going to

want to make sure that your assets wind up in the right hands.

This may sound simple enough, but some people of considerable means have

made estate planning errors that have ultimately yielded unintended

consequences.

In this paper we will look at a handful of high profile estate planning mishaps.

ROCKER JIM MORRISON

When the freewheeling Morrison passed away he had a last

will in place. At the time of his death he was just 27 years of

age, and the fact that he had any type of estate plan at all

may be surprising to some.

It could be conjectured that he was proactive because he

really didn't want his parents to inherit his resources if he

were to pass away. He did not have a relationship with his parents, and he stated

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that he never wanted to see them again.

He left everything to his girlfriend Pamela Courson. Morrison did however state

in his will that he wanted his brother and sister to inherit his estate if Courson

did not live for at least three months after Morrison's own death.

She did live for longer than three months, but she passed away from a drug

overdose just a couple of years after Jim died in France. Unlike Jim, she didn't

have any type of an estate plan in place. She died intestate.

As a result, her parents inherited everything she inherited from Jim. They

ultimately negotiated a settlement with Jim's parents and they shared in the

proceeds from the estate.

This was not consistent with his wishes, but he didn't plan his estate

comprehensively enough.

MARILYN MONROE

The case of the estate of Marilyn Monroe is another instance

where a famous celebrity wound up enriching someone that

was not mentioned in the will that was left behind.

Monroe left most of her estate to Lee Strasberg, her acting

teacher. He was married to a woman named Paula while

Marilyn was alive, and Marilyn was very close to both of the Strasbergs.

Paula predeceased Lee, and he remarried. When Lee passed away, his third wife,

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Anna, inherited the Marilyn Monroe estate.

She made a fortune with the licensing rights to Marilyn's image though she

never met the woman.

STEVE MCNAIR

The former NFL football star Steve McNair was shot and

killed in 2009. He did not have a last will or any other estate

planning documents in place.

He had made tens of millions of dollars throughout his

career so the estate tax was very much a factor. McNair

could have taken steps to mitigate the exposure, but he did nothing.

The estate was frozen in probate for a considerable amount of time, though his

wife and children are his legal heirs via intestate succession rules.

McNair's mother, Lucille, suffered greatly due to her son' s lack of planning.

Steve McNair's widow Mechelle was named the personal representative of the

estate. McNair's mother was living in a house that Steve built for her in

Mississippi. Mechelle demanded $3000 per month in rent from Lucille.

Because she could not come up with the money on a monthly basis, Lucille had

to move from her home. To make matters worse, McNair's surviving spouse took

legal action to extract over $50,000 from Lucille to account for items that had

been removed from the home.

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Lucille contends that she used her own money to purchase these things.

Clearly, Steve McNair would not have approved of this treatment of his mother,

but he didn't take the estate planning steps that would have prevented it.

ROMAN BLUM

Roman Blum was not famous like Jim Morrison, Marilyn

Monroe, and Steve McNair. He was however rich. He died in

2012 at the age of 97 in possession of some $40 million in

total assets.

Mr. Blum was certainly in a position to change the lives of

friends and perhaps give to charities since he did not have any living relatives.

Instead, he is enriching the state of New York. He died without a will or any

other legal device to direct the transfer of his financial assets. As a result, the

state will absorb his $40 million under escheat laws unless a blood relative is

found within three years of his passing.

CONCLUSION

These cases are certainly instructive to the rest of us. It is important to take

action to have a comprehensive estate plan in place. If you do nothing, negative

circumstances can clearly be the result.

And you should certainly go forward with the benefit of licensed legal counsel.

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An estate plan that is not well constructed given the circumstances can wind up

facilitating an unwanted outcome.

REFERENCES

NPR http://www.npr.org/2012/08/03/157483945/monroes-legacy-is-making-fortune-but-for-whom The Tennessean http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090717/NEWS01/907170371/Steve-McNair-s-estate-left-limbo En.AllExperts.com http://en.allexperts.com/q/Doors-Jim-Morrison-443/Morrison-Estate.htm

New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/nyregion/holocaust-survivor-left-an-estate-worth-almost-40-million-but-no-heirs.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

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About the Author

Pamela H. Potter

Owner and founder of the Ashland, Kentucky based Potter Law Firm, Ms. Potter concentrates her practice in the area of estate planning, estate administration, and elder law. Mrs. Potter's goal is to help her clients plan secure financial futures for themselves and their families. To achieve that goal, her firm offers a wide range of estate planning services, including wills, trusts, and powers of attorney in addition to probate, estate administration, elder law, and Medicaid Planning services.

Experience

Ms. Potter spent three years in the public section and 15 years practicing in general practice law firms before founding her own firm in 2000. She is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, the Huntington Estate Planning Council, the Real Property, Probate and Trust section of the American Bar Association, the Probate and Trust Law Section of the Kentucky Bar Association, and the Kentucky Bar Association Elder Law Committee.

The Potter Law Firm www.potterestateplanning.com ASHLAND 1620 Carter Avenue Ashland, KY 41105-2591 Phone: (606) 324-5516 Fax: (606) 324-4766 NORTHERN KENTUCKY 3940 Olympic Boulevard Suite 400 Erlanger, KY 41018 Phone: (859) 372-6656 CHARLOTTE 15720 John J. Delaney Dr., Suite 300 Charlotte, NC 28277 Phone: (704) 944-3245 This is an advertisement.