Description
Book SynopsisA trust and estate lawyer to the stars offers an engaging look at how to avoid numerous estate planning mistakes In The 101 Biggest Estate Planning Mistakes, author Herbert Nass, an estate planner for some of today's most famous celebrities, offers an entertaining look at what not to do when setting up an estate plan, or administering an estate.
Table of ContentsPreface xv
Acknowledgments xxi
Chapter 1 The Single Biggest Mistake Is Not Planning for the One Certainty in Life Death 1
Mistake #1: No Estate Planning Whatsoever 3
Mistake #2: Out-of-Date Wills 14
Mistake #3: Losing Your Will 17
Mistake #4: Do-It-Yourselfers and Handwritten Wills 19
Mistake #5: Not Signing Your Will Because You Physically Can’t 24
Mistake #6: Not Properly Executing Documents 32
Mistake #7: The Best-Laid (Estate) Plans 35
Mistake #8: Dying Intestate, or Without a Will 42
Chapter 2 Mistakes Involving Tangible Personal Property 45
Mistake #9: Nemo Dat Quo Non Habet (Latin for “He Who Has Not Cannot Give”) 46
Mistake #10: Not Properly Documenting the Delivery and Completion of a Gift 49
Mistake #11: Selling Valuable Tangible Personal Property Too Close to Death 51
Mistake #12: Bequeathing Tangible Personal Property That You Do Not Own 54
Mistake #13: Mentioning Too Many Details in Your Will 56
Mistake #14: Not Including Any Details in Your Will 60
Mistake #15: Not Providing Properly for the Care of Your Pets After Your Death 64
Mistake #16: Leaving Too Much Money for Your Pets After Your Death 66
Mistake #17: Giving the Same Tangible Personal Property Item to More Than One Person 68
Mistake #18: Not Properly Providing for the Disposition of Your Artworks after Your Death 69
Mistake #19: Not Providing for Your Tangible Personal Property in a Revocable Living Trust 73
Chapter 3: Mistakes Involving Real Estate 75
Mistake #20: Not Confirming How Title Is Held to Real Estate Before or Right After Death 76
Mistake #21: Forgetting That Real Estate Usually Passes Subject to Loans and Mortgages 78
Mistake #22: Not Draining the Water Pipes in a Vacant House in Cold Weather 80
Mistake #23: Failing to Maintain Adequate Property and Casualty Insurance on Estate Property—Especially Vacant Real Estate 82
Mistake #24: Failing to Provide That Children, or Others, May Continue to Reside in the Family Home with the Executor’s or Trustee’s Approval 84
Mistake #25: Failing to Provide That Existing Leases Will Terminate on Reasonable Terms After the Death of the Owner of the Property 87
Mistake #26: Owning Land, a House or an Apartment in a Foreign Country 89
Mistake #27: Assuming That a Co-operative Apartment Building Board Will Always Do What You Would Like 90
Mistake #28: Placing Real Estate in a Trust Without Checking on the Ramifications of Doing So 92
Chapter 4: Mistakes Involving Executors and/or Trustees 95
Mistake #29: Selecting Only One Executor in a Complicated Estate 96
Mistake #30: Selecting Too Many Executors 98
Mistake #31: Selecting an Even Number of Executors 102
Mistake #32: Selecting Executors with a Conflict of Interest 103
Mistake #33: Not Compensating (or Under-Compensating) Your Executors 107
Mistake #34: Not Selecting Your Spouse as an Executor 110
Mistake #35: Surprising Your Spouse with the Terms of Your Will 112
Mistake #36: Not Naming Your Children as Executors
Mistake #37: Naming Your Children as Executors 114
Mistake #38: Naming a Literary Executor in Your Will 116
Mistake #39: Naming a Corporate Fiduciary That Can Be Removed by an Individual Fiduciary 119
Chapter 5 Mistakes Involving Guardians, Minors, or Step-Children 123
Mistake #40: Not Naming the Biological Parent as the Guardian of Your Minor Children 124
Mistake #41: Naming the Biological Parent as the Guardian of Your Minor Children 128
Mistake #42: Failing to Periodically Review Your Choice of Guardian(s) 130
Mistake #43: Assuming That Your Step-Children Have the Same Legal Rights as Your Biological Children 132
Chapter 6 Mistakes Involving Prior Marriages, Prenuptial Agreements, and Significant Others 135
Mistake #44: Not Taking into Account the Terms of an Existing Separation or Divorce Agreement 136
Mistake #45: Entirely Disinheriting Children or Grandchildren Out of Stupidity or Inadvertence 138
Mistake #46: Not Taking Your Spouse’s Legal or Statutory Rights into Account 141
Mistake #47: Putting Your Child in Charge of a Surviving Spouse Who Is Not His or Her Parent 142
Mistake #48: Assuming That Your Divorce Automatically Revokes Your Will in Its Entirety 144
Mistake #49: Not Updating Your Will at the Start of Your Divorce Proceedings 146
Mistake #50: Not Respecting the Validity of a Prenuptial Agreement 148
Mistake #51: Not Mentioning the Prenuptial Agreement in Your Will 149
Mistake #52: Failing to Fund a Revocable Living Trust During Your Lifetime to Avoid Probate 150
Chapter 7 Estate Planning Mistakes Involving Tax and Copyright Issues 153
Mistake #53: Eliminating Your Residuary Estate Because of High Taxes on Your Personal Property 154
Mistake #54: Not Taking Full Advantage of the Available Tax Exemption Amount 156
Mistake #55: Not Having Assets Titled in the Name of Each Spouse 158
Mistake #56: Failing to Ascertain Whether Gift Tax Returns Were Ever Filed 159
Mistake #57: Failing to Pay the Five Percent Annual Minimum Distribution Requirement for Private Charitable Foundations 161
Mistake #58: Not Having a Buy-Sell Agreement in a Closely Held Business, Partnership, or Limited Liability Corporation 163
Mistake #59: Failing to Title Appreciated Real Estate in the Name of the Spouse More Likely to Die First 165
Mistake #60: Separating the Copyright Interest from the Actual Work of Art That Is Bequeathed to a Charity 167
Chapter 8 Estate Planning Mistakes Involving Disgruntled Friends and Family 169
Mistake #61: Lack of a No Contest or In Terrorem Clause in Your Will 170
Mistake #62: Using a One-Dollar No Contest/In Terrorem Clause in Your Will 171
Mistake #63: Using a Codicil Instead of a New Will 175
Mistake #64: Impulsively Changing Your Will by Whipping Out a Quick “Down-and-Dirty” Codicil 180
Mistake #65: Not Contacting the Attorney for the Beneficiary of a Will When Trying to Settle a Dispute with the Attorney for the Executor 182
Mistake #66: Requiring Survivorship by a Certain Number of Days 184
Mistake #67: Not Including Your Long-Time Secretary or Assistant as a Beneficiary in Your Will 185
Mistake #68: Entirely Disinheriting Children or Grandchildren Out of Anger or Vindictiveness 187
Mistake #69: Failing to Mention the Names of the Heirs You Intend to Disinherit in Your Will 191
Mistake #70: Directing That a Specific Attorney or Other Advisor Be Hired by Your Executor 195
Mistake # 71: Not Taking Advantage of a Qualified Disclaimer within Nine Months of Death 197
Mistake #72: Offering Too Large an Amount at the Outset of Negotiations 199
Mistake #73: Arguing with Your Attorney about Legal Fees 200
Mistake #74: Fighting with a Lawyer with “Criminal” Clients 201
Mistake #75: Having Your Former Mother-in-Law Own a Life Insurance Policy on Your Life 202
Mistake #76: Not Getting the Original Will Back from the Person Replaced as an Executor 203
Chapter 9 Mistakes Involving Funerals, Burials, or Cremation 205
Mistake #77: Not Appointing Someone to Make Burial and Funeral Arrangements 207
Mistake #78: Spending Too Much on a Funeral or Burial 212
Mistake #79: Providing Overly Detailed Funeral and Burial Instructions in Your Will 214
Mistake #80: Prepaying for Your Funeral, or Not 217
Mistake #81: Directing That There Be No Funeral or Memorial Service 218
Mistake #82: Losing the Deed for Your Cemetery Plot 222
Mistake #83: Directing That Your Bodily Remains or Ashes Be Buried or Scattered in an Illegal Manner 223
Mistake #84: Directing That Your Pet’s Remains Be Buried with Yours 225
Mistake #85: Getting Too Religious in Your Will 227
Chapter 10 One-of-a-Kind Mistakes by Celebrities and Icons 229
Mistake #86: Not Making Charitable Gifts in Your Will When Your Sons Are the Heirs to the British Throne 230
Mistake #87: Mentioning the Name of a Lawsuit Involving You in Your Own Will 232
Mistake #88: Leaving Your Estate to an Older Person Outright and Not in Trust 235
Mistake #89: Leaving It All to Your Girlfriend Who Has a Drug Addiction 240
Mistake #90: Making a Bequest with Politically Incorrect or Racist Strings Attached 243
Mistake #91: Not Properly Identifying an Organization That Receives a Bequest 245
Mistake #92: Not Providing a Way to Determine That Your Wife Has Regained Her Sanity 247
Mistake #93: Murdering Your Spouse (or Anyone Else) 249
Chapter 11 Rookie or Boneheaded Mistakes 251
Mistake #94: Making a Material Misrepresentation on a Life Insurance Application 252
Mistake #95: Not Settling a Dispute When the Downside Is Much Greater Than the Upside 254
Mistake #96: Making Handwritten Changes to a Will after It Has Been Signed and Witnessed 256
Mistake #97: Acting as a Witness to a Will in Which You Are Named as a Beneficiary 258
Mistake #98: Removing the Staples from an Original Will 259
Mistake #99: Putting Your Original Will in a Bank Safe Deposit Box That May Be Sealed 262
Mistake #100: Preparing Only a Videotaped Will Instead of a Written One 263
Mistake #101: Owning a Large Amount of Life Insurance in Your Name Individually 264
About the Author 267
Index 269
