The
death of a loved one is a life-changing event filled with emotion and can be traumatic.
Is there anything that can help ease the pain and promote the healing process?
Absolutely - proper advance legal planning can make all the difference.
Imagine
that someone close to you decided to write their own Last Will & Testament
rather than seek the advice of a skilled and experience estate planning
attorney. The old adage "penny-wise and
pound-foolish" would apply. Relying on a stationary store form,
Legal Zoom or, an internet site frequently results in creating a problem for the beneficiaries.
Look
no further than your backyard. A Florida woman used an E-Z Legal Form to
create a Last Will & Testament. Ms. Aldrich was very specific in
identifying the type of assets (i.e. her house, car, life insurance, bank
accounts) she wanted distributed to her sister or, if her sister predeceased
her then to her brother. However, her Last Will & Testament
failed to contain a paragraph (known as a residuary clause) directing the
disposition of all her other property. Before Ms. Aldrich died, her
sister died and left Ms. Aldrich $122,000.00 in cash and land. Ms.
Aldrich opened a new bank account and deposited the cash into
it. Ms. Aldrich did not revise her Will to include the property she
inherited from her sister. Sometime during the last year of her life she wrote
a hand-written note stating that all her worldly possessions should pass to her
brother. We can see that Ms. Aldrich recognized the need to take action to
devise (bequeath) the cash and land. This
note did not meet the legal standards to be recognized as a 'codicil' to
her Will.
The
family became divided. Her brother believed that he should inherit all Ms.
Aldrich's assets. Ms. Aldirch's nieces (children of a deceased brother)
argued that they should receive a portion of the cash and land. The case went
to the Florida Supreme Court read the case who decided that the
property Ms. Aldrich inherited from her sister was to be distributed based on
the Florida law of intestacy (dying without a Will).
That property would be distributed to her heirs who included both her living
brother and nieces. If Ms. Aldrich had
taken the time to consult with a lawyer after she inherited from her sister's
estate, a proper Last Will & Testament could have been prepared and signed.
The cost of the 'form' Will may have been less expensive than a Will
prepared by a qualified attorney, but the long run it cost more due to the
legal fees incurred in the litigation as well as the dissension it created in
the extended family. This is a real life
danger of using a pre-printed form with no legal advice. It is not tailored to
each person's unique situation.
One
very important lesson to learn from Ms. Aldrich is to seek the advice of a skilled
attorney and update your estate plan
when there are major life changes such as:
1.
a marriage
2.
a divorce
3.
a birth
4.
a death
5.
receipt of an inheritance
6.
receipt of a lawsuit settlement
Our
firm counsels people of all ages through the aging process. Young people over age 18 are legally adults
and should have incapacity and estate planning documents so they and their
families may have peace of mind.
We want to be your Trusted Advisor Through
Life.
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