Things More Important Than Money

In case anyone feels I have neglected my duties to inform the public of the needs for estate planning, and in the aftermath of family members feuding over an inheritance when there is no will or revocable trust, here is a statistic for you: According to Lawyers.com, only 51 percent of adults reported they had estate-planning documents, compared with 64 percent in 2007.

The reason for that 13 percent drop in the past three years is obvious. More people were wondering if they were going to have an estate, let alone one left to distribute as an inheritance. Most of the reasons given for not having an estate plan (or call it a simple will) is the need to focus on paying bills and “other essential money priorities”, according to the survey.

Please heed the fact that your estate plan is the most essential gift you can leave as your legacy. If you care about your family’s mental and financial interest after your death, you need to have a plan for distribution of your estate — from the sale of your house to the jam jars that grandma passed down to your mom. In fact, about the time the death bed comes out, you may find that what you thought was essential turned out not to have much meaning at all.

An article in the Sacramento Bee by Claudia Buck titled “Estate Planning Can Help Prevent Family Feuds” reviewed a book called “Where There’s an Inheritance …” by attorney Leo Kotzer from Toronto. The book chronicles 80 true-life scenarios of senseless infighting between siblings and other relations once the mother and father are gone.

The fighting occurs usually over the most mundane items that weren’t specifically left to a certain heir because the will, for example, used the same old boilerplate paragraph that states in effect: ”All of my personal property both tangible and intangible, including furniture and furnishings, are left to my three children to share and share alike.”

The mother and father think their children would never be selfish enough not to distribute these personal items in an equitable and cooperative way between them, because the parents haven’t been there at the end when the family falls apart after they are gone.

The first example captures the essence of all the other ridiculous and unforeseen fights over nothing that is of major value. They can be items with the price tag still on them, yet the price for attorney fees after three years of fighting can be $15,000. The vignette involves squabbling sisters, one of whom was incensed that a crystal vase she had given her mother should have been given directly to her. Her angry solution was to “smash it to smithereens in a parking lot so no one could have it.”

The entire underlying theme of my own book, The Heroes Way for Baby Boomers, besides saving estate tax dollars, is to make certain the estate is so well planned that this type of squabbling over anything in your estate will never happen.

It is estimated that 60 percent or more of the population lives in a blended family. The term “blended family” is a modern term of art used in the legal field. It includes that family where the parents are on their second or third marriage, have their children, their stepchildren and perhaps children together.

In the dictionary, the word “blended” is defined as “to mix smoothly and inseparably together.” Given that definition, and the character of the typical “blended family,” the term should probably be changed to “unblended family.”

From a litigator’s point of view, this family is living in a volatile world and is subject to “probable litigation” upon the death of the first spouse. This can happen whether the estate has something to fight over or not. The best way to understand what to do in the blended family situation is to understand what will happen if you do nothing. Remember that all of us have an estate plan whether we like it or not.

California, as with every state, has devised a plan that will distribute your assets upon your death in accordance with the rules of intestate succession found in the Probate Code.