Off-topic PSA: Dying intestate is a P.I.T.A.- take care of your “final arrangements”.

[Dannyalcatraz]

In my life, I’ve had to deal with the estates of several people, in both a personal and professional capacity.  Of all the several passings, few of the people had a will.  And that’s a problem.

 

Wills are not the only end-of-life document out there, nor is one the solution for all potential issues that may arise during an estate administration.  If people want to fight, they’ll fight.  But it’s a starting point; a cornerstone of even the most basic estate plan.  Everyone should have one.

 

TO BE CLEAR: I’m an attorney in Texas, and I don’t have one.  I don’t have kids, and none of my legal heirs shares my interests- IOW, nobody really wants most of my stuff.  Texas’ intestacy laws would generally satisfy my testamentary intent.  But I’m still working on drafting one.  Why?

 

[QUOTE]1. Depending on where you live, intestacy can actually create expenses for your estate.  In Texas (and other states), the executor of an intestate estate is legally required to prove the decedent had no unknown children, and that means hiring a private investigator.

 

2. Wills clarify issues.  They’re no panacea- people challenge will provisions all of the time or outright ignore them- but the will has legal force behind it and is admissible in court.  Even before landing in court, knowing “Aunt Alice” wanted to donate her car to the Lighthouse for the Blind could prevent bickering over which of her nieces and nephews should have it.

 

3. One of the first tasks in drafting wills is usually appointing an executor.  Sometimes multiple contingent or co-executors.  The executor performs several vital functions in managing the probate process.  Estates without executors raise all kinds of problems in probate, and often, the court will appoint someone.  Who this will be can become yet another source of friction between presumptive heirs.

 

4. Even if you’re like me and you’re certain nobody wants most of your stuff, odds are good SOMEONE wants SOMETHING you own, even if it’s just a memento.  They just may not have told you.   

 

5. Disinheriting someone is surprising popular.  A lot of people have relatives they absolutely do not want to inherit any of their stuff.  Intestacy laws don’t care.  Your Dad left your Mom and had a 2nd family with the Homewrecker Hussy?  Your half-siblings are potentially your heirs in the eyes of the law.  Got a kid who is 1 felony away from going to jail for life, but you love your nieces & nephews?  A will can cut him out of your estate while gifting something to his offspring.  Same goes for skipping a generation for inheritance tax purposes (not a common problem, but…. ).

 

6. Leaving things to charities is something a lot of us think about, but intestacy laws don’t address that option at all.  So if you’re a charitably minded person, you absolutely should use a will to ensure your faves get taken care of.

 

[/QUOTE]

 

The death of someone close can be an emotional time, and can bring out the good or bad in people.  And unfortunately, the bad can be awful.  I’ve seen some cases where certain relatives looted a deceased person’s house while everyone else was at the ceremony.  I’ve seen siblings jeopardizing their inheritance by round-robin squabbles over opinions that are actually not supported by law.  

 

Wildcard: the states involved have laws that state partial owners can force sale without the consent of other owners.  All they have to do is give the other owners their legal share of the proceeds of the sale.  Imagine an intestacy where people are fighting over a house, and one of the heirs is contemplating initiating a forced sale so they don’t have to deal with the other heirs because they’re “sick of the BS”.  I don’t have to imagine it- I’m looking at 3 of those right now in my own family.  Some of the battles have been going on for decades.

 

Finally, another viewpoint from my old Wills & Estates professor, a spritely human being named Stanley M. Johanson.  He advocated that, while wills were good, it was better to “remember” people when you’re alive.  If/when you can, he advised, give them something you know they’d want you to leave them in your will.  That way, you get the joy of seeing their expression.  My Mom has been on both sides of that.

 

And of course, check out the laws in your own state or country for the info that applies to your specific situation.  Ideally, with someone who deals with wills & estates regularly.

[Sharkman]

When my mom died in April 2020, she had both a will and a revocable living trust set up.  It made things incredibly easy for my brother and I to split up everything.  I was planning on setting up my own revocable living trust right away, naming my now ex-girlfriend and her three daughters as the beneficiaries.  I am REALLY glad that I waited, because less than three weeks after my mom died, the ex and I quit talking with each other.  In September 2021 I finally set up my trust, so now that's one important thing I no longer have to worry about.  Now, if you happen to be financially well off, choose your beneficiaries carefully.  You don't want to be worth more dead than alive to someone, or to their sleazy in-law or significant other.  If you're not financially well off, it still helps to decide ahead of time who is going to get what.

 

My uncle is 87 years old, and he's not in good health.  As far as I know, he still does not have a will made.  When he dies, I have a strong feeling that two of my five cousins are going to hire a lawyer and fight my other three cousins, my brother and I.  So we will have to hire a lawyer and fight back, and I don't even want anything my uncle has.  So all of you, get a will or trust made ASAP. so you don't put others through what I might be going through in the near future.

[Winston Psmith]

I've seen both sides of this - families fighting over property, especially real estate, and people dying suddenly, while leaving a huge pile of stuff for someone to sort through and unload.

 

The other consideration - a prolonged court battle becomes much like the ancient image of a snake eating its own tail. Any potential windfall for either side is slowly and steadily diminished by lawyers' fees and court costs: Doubleplusnotgood.

[Larryz]

+1,000 on getting a Living Trust and a Will along with a Power of Attorney, Advance Directive, etc., via an attorney that specializes in such matters.  I have no worries with regard to my beneficiaries fighting with each other.  Having these documents done in advance of either spouse (or Danny's Uncle) dying is a great way to end disputes.  Having an attorney provide assistance with the steps to take when the time comes and to provide any updates in the interim, is also the way to go.

 

I had to administer my Mother and Father's Probate case as they died intestate within a month of each other a few years ago.  I could not have done the job without the aid of my/our attorney who specializes in such matters, and she had a great history of working with the Probate court for many years.  Of the 5 brothers and sisters, only one kept trying to provide opposition but the court saw through her objections. 😎

 

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

While we’re talking about this stuff, there’s another estate planning tool I am a big fan of that people should know about.  When I was starting out, they were called Health Education and Welfare (HEW) Trusts, but they’re more commonly known under a different name these days- HEMS Trusts.  HEMS = Health, Education, Maintenance & Support.  Their design purpose is simple: a HEW/HEMS trust’s assets can only be disbursed to pay for a beneficiary’s needs in one of the categories covered.  Any other expense making a claim against the trust assets- a loss in a lawsuit, an investment scam or even a wild shopping spree- will be denied.

 

Here’s an excerpt from a little guide I found.

Quote

 

Examples of HEMS 

Health, Education, Maintenance and Support are rather broad categories, but what do they include, exactly? The exact items included can vary by state, but here are examples of HEMS that are commonly included.

Examples of Health 

Some basic examples in the Health category include:

Routine health care
Hospital care
Emergency medical treatment
Psychiatric or psychological care
Prescription drugs
Dental
Vision
The following may also be considered included in this category:

Elective procedures like LASIK or cosmetic surgery
Alternative medicine treatments
Gym, sports club, or spa memberships
Health supplements
Examples of Education 

This category commonly includes:

Tuition for all levels of schooling from grammar to graduate, professional, or technical school or training
Continuing education expenses
Expenses for school-related programs, such as Study Abroad in college
Support during schooling years, even during summers and other breaks
Examples of Maintenance and Support 

“Maintenance” and “support” are one and the same. Commonly included in this category:

Mortgage or rent payments
Property taxes
Premiums for health, life, and property insurance
Travel and vacation expenses
Charitable giving
This category is the least clearly defined. It’s typically interpreted to include distributions that help maintain the beneficiary’s standard of living. Distributions to cover expenses that are solely for the beneficiary’s happiness rather than support do not fall under this category.

 

Tangent:  I’ve been a proponent of including HEW/HEMS Trusts in a variety of contracts & other agreements that could result in windfalls, especially when the benefits could fall to minors.  My primary area of advocating them was in sports and entertainment contracts, where youths can often become millionaires years before the age of majority.  My pitch was along the lines of it meaning you may not have a mansion  and a supercar next year, but you and your family will ALWAYS have a house and vehicles for the rest of your lives.

 

My secondary area of advocacy was for lottery winners.

[bill5]

On 1/31/2023 at 9:02 PM, Dannyalcatraz said:

 Everyone should have one.

Bears repeating and applauding and the best post of any kind I've seen in some time. If it was up to me, this would be a federal law as soon as you hit 18 and updates (even if simply signing off on the current one as still current) would also be mandatory at least say oh every 5 yrs. Perhaps make it a mandatory part of filing your tax report as that's already a not fun activity  

 

Without getting into details, I went through hell and back dealing with one that was prepared but never signed (partly my fault really but again not worth getting into). These things can bring out the very worst in people. I get it's unpleasant to do, but that doesn't make it OK to blow off and can prevent major headache/heartache for those left behind. For that reason frankly IMO it's selfish and thoughtless not to do it, even if unintentionally. I wish employers would push hard for people to do this as well.