Probate: The Excuses are Lame, Results the Same

More than 50% of Americans die without creating a Living Trust that details how they will distribute their estates. The reasons for not creating a Trust are endless, but they're really just excuses. Below are some high-profile examples of very typical excuses for not creating or updating Living Trusts. Regardless of the excuse, the results are always the same: long, expensive probate ordeals for their families. 

Procrastination

You may or may not be old enough to remember Sony & Cher. After the duo broke up, Sony remarried, moved to Palm Springs, became a politician, skied into a tree at Heavenly and died at the age of 62 without so much as a simple Will. His wife had little time to grieve because she became the administrator of his estate, defending a claim from Cher who believed she was still owed money from their divorce. A secret love child also surfaced and demanded a piece of Bono's estate.

Failure to Fund It

Michael Jackson created a Trust, but failed to fully fund it. A Trust means nothing unless you move your assets and real property into it--when it becomes a powerful legal document. Jackson’s failure to fund his Trust made it much easier for his family to duke it out in probate court, turning this into a public spectacle.

The Do-It-Yourselfer

Former Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger created his own Will, which consisted of 176 words. Some thought it was part of his imperious nature that he failed to prepare for his death at the age of 87. He left out key provisions and his family paid the price-- his children paid more than $450K in estate taxes. Burger’s lack of a proper Trust caused many people to wonder how someone who reached the top of his profession died without the one thing he could have used: a good lawyer. While he served on the highest court in the land for 17 years, he had a fool for a client.

Immortality

Jimi Hendrix apparently thought he’d live forever because he didn’t do any estate planning. He died at 27 in 1970. He was, however, a child of the 60s, and may have been in an extended Purple Haze. Nevertheless, his estate was thrown into a lengthy and expensive court fight that took some 30 years to settle. Jimi's father, Al, sued for the rights to Jimi's music, and finally won in 1995. Under the name of the estate, Al created multiple trusts, partnerships, and corporations, notably Experience Hendrix, L.L.C. based in Seattle.

Failure to Update Your Trust

For millions of Batman fans, Heath Ledger will forever be remembered as the Joker, though his daughter may remember him best for never having added her to his Will. His sudden early death of a drug overdose led to chaos, family infighting and lots of bad press. Ledger was just 28 when he died—another tragic victim of a drug overdose. In general, a Living Trust should be reviewed every few years, updated in the event of divorce, births or deaths and major investments. 

Of course we do Probate!

Contact us at one of our three Bay Area offices. Better yet, avoid Probate altogether and make an appointment to get started on your Living Trust. We help you through every step of the process. 

Is Creating or Updating a Living Trust a New Year’s Resolution?

Admit it: We all make resolutions

Whether we admit it or not, we all make New Year’s resolutions. We may not call them resolutions, and we may keep them to ourselves, but we all make at least small promises to ourselves. Who doesn’t at least silently promise to lose ten pounds or to stop smoking? Or commit to healthier living, getting more exercise, having better relationships or spending more time with their family in the new year?

At California Document Preparers, we’ve learned that another resolution people make is to create a Living Trust. It’s often the result of having spent time with family over the holidays—adult children talk to  their parents about the importance of getting not just a Living Trust, but a Power of Attorney and Advance Healthcare Directive. It’s easy to find reasons to procrastinate—it takes time, costs money, and who wants to deal with financial statements and legal forms? But we’ve thousands of Living Trusts over the years; it’s a very straightforward process, and we take pride in making this easy for our clients.

A dedicated team to help you

Living Trusts are one of our most important services. While anyone in our three offices can help you, we have dedicated team members who work specifically with Living Trust clients, and they develop close working relationships with their clients throughout the process. They’re knowledgeable, accommodating and work hard to make sure that every client understands the process. They’re available by phone and email to answer questions.

The Living Trust process at California Document Preparers:

Most of our clients tell us that creating their Trust was a lot easier than they thought it would be. We use special attorney-approved workbooks that provide a straightforward step-by-step process:

1. Come in to one of our offices and fill out the workbook.
2. We prepare all of the legal documents for you.
3. If you have property that needs to be moved into the Trust, we prepare the transfer deed(s) for you.
4. When your Trust is ready—generally within a week, you come in and we review the documents with you. Once you’re satisfied that everything is correct, you sign the documents and we notarize them.
5. We give you a hard copy of your Living Trust and retain a soft copy/pdf file. We can email this to you if you like; many people want to be able to distribute this to their children or other family members.
6. Your Trust should be updated for important life events, so we make it easy to do this for you as well, from a simple amendment to an entire restatement.

The best part: One flat fee. We don’t charge extra for phone calls, notarizing documents or if you require more help. This is our commitment to our clients. No surprises.

Taking the time to prepare a Living Trust is truly one of the most thoughtful things you can do for your loved ones. When you die, your family will be dealing with grief and loss. Without a Living Trust, they also will be dealing with what can be the nearly overwhelming burden of Probate.

A Comprehensive Living Trust package

We welcome your questions. Contact us at one of our three Bay Area California Document Preparers offices. We help you through every step of this process.  

A Lesson in Estate Planning from David Bowie

Few pop stars have endured or left a legacy as diverse and successful as that of David Bowie. He died last week of liver cancer, just two days after his 69^th birthday and the release of his latest album, Blackstar. He was inventive and cutting edge; the fans who transcended generations adored him. Those who didn’t know what to make of the androgynous pop star nevertheless remained fascinated by his ever-evolving, iconic personas. Over more than 50 years, he produced an extraordinary body of work that spanned music and film.

Bowie amassed considerable wealth

Bowie died a very wealthy man—his estate is worth an estimated $100M—and that’s before the inevitable spike in sales that will continue with his death. (In the 6 years since Michael Jackson’s death, his estate has grossed nearly $2B.) Yet in the 70s and 80s, Bowie struggled financially, reportedly nearing bankruptcy.

A brilliant plan for creating—and sustaining--wealth: Bowie Bonds

With the help of an investment banker, Bowie developed a brilliant plan for creating and sustaining wealth: Bowie sold a stake in his catalog of music. Instead of outright selling his songwriting, performance and licensing rights to his many successful songs, Bowie created “Bowie Bonds.” These allowed him to sell – for $55M– a 10-year investment, which operated like an annuity, providing a fixed-rate of return of 7.9%. The payouts were secured by all of his royalties and copyrights from the music. Prudential Insurance purchased the Bowie Bonds and was paid off in full during the 10-year timeframe. The Bowie Bonds transaction provided tax savings and ensured that his estate would benefit from his music catalogue.

Apparently Bowie was motivated by the desire to protect his family---his wife, Iman, their daughter, and a son from a former marriage. He had apparently always been interested in estate planning and wanted to make sure his assets passed on to his loved ones.

Bowie likely used one or more Revocable or Irrevocable Trusts

Given Bowie’s careful attention to financial planning, it’s likely that he used one or more Revocable or Irrevocable Trusts. In this way, he could have maximized the value of assets with the lowest tax consequences, but his assets could also pass privately, without the public scrutiny that accompanies Probate Court, which is the case with those who do not create a Living Trust.

Bowie’s final wishes

It was just revealed that Bowie’s $100M fortune will be distributed among his family and several loyal employees. Iman will receive half of his fortune as well as their Soho apartment; his children will each receive an estimated $25M. Bowie was a longtime Buddhist and requested that he be cremated in Bali in accordance with Buddhist rituals. He noted that if that was not practical, he could be cremated elsewhere, with his ashes scattered in Bali. The Bali cremation may have been problematic, for Bowie was cremated in New Jersey, but we can assume that his family scattered his ashes in Bali, according to Bowie’s final wishes.

A Living Trust ensures that your heirs will not have to deal with Probate and that your estate will remain a private matter. We assist our clients through every step of the Living Trust process. Call one of our three Bay Area offices today to make an appointment.