Orlando Estate & Elder Law

Digging Up Claims of Heirship

Some people will go a long way in their efforts to claim that they are the heir to a valuable estate, when they are not really related to the deceased. That can be a problem.

Recently the remains of Salvador Dali were exhumed by an order of a court in Spain.

A woman named Pilar Abel claimed to be Dali's daughter and entitled to a portion of his estate. She convinced the court to exhume the body, so DNA testing could be conducted.

As it turns out, the DNA testing revealed that Abel was not related to Dali.

It is not clear whether Abel knew that her story was false.

If she had been able to prove that she was Dali's daughter, she would have received approximately $250 million from his estate as the Wills, Trusts & Prof Blog reports in "Inheritance Disputes from Beyond the Grave."

These post-death claims of those asserting heirship to a large estate are increasing, according to some in the estate law field.

That might seem strange,  since DNA testing makes adjudicating any such claims relatively easy.

However, it goes to show how desperate some people are to seek a fortune the old-fashioned way – by inheriting it.

What does this mean for your estate plan? It is important to include ways to help prevent these claims and other challenges to the plan. An estate planning attorney can assist you in making the problem less likely to cost your estate the time and money to fend off a challenge.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog (Oct. 26, 2017) "Inheritance Disputes from Beyond the Grave."

No-Contest Clauses - Not For Florida

Including a no-contest clause in a will can be a powerful deterrent to challenges to the will. However, they have their limitations.

Sometimes it is possible to foresee that a family member or other person may not be satisfied with the inheritance planned for them through a will. For example, a child who receives a smaller portion of a parent's estate than other children, might not be happy about it.

This can lead to the unhappy person seeking to challenge the validity of the will.

One way to help prevent that is through the use of a no-contest clause.  (NOTE:  these clauses are not permitted in Florida.)

These clauses state that anyone who challenges the validity of a will should receive nothing under that will. What this means in practice is that a challenger who loses would receive nothing.

This creates a strong incentive not to challenge a will, unless a person is certain that they can win. However, it is not quite that simple as The Press-Enterprise discusses in "The pros and cons of the no-contest clause."

Over the years, courts have carved out an important exception to the applicability of no-contest clauses.

If the person challenging the will had probable cause for the challenge, then the court will not apply the no-contest clause, even if the challenge fails.

This allows people to bring potentially meritorious claims to the attention of the court. The no-contest clause will still be applied, when the court finds that the contest to the will was brought completely without cause.

No-contest clauses are not perfect.  However, they remain a useful tool to help prevent challenges to wills.

If you would like to create an estate plan that helps prevents your family from fighting over your estate, then seek an estate planning attorney to find out more about other ways to prevent challenges to your estate plan that work in Florida.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: The Press-Enterprise (Aug. 5, 2017) "The pros and cons of the no-contest clause."

Belgrade's Approach to Pet Issues

Lacking an official place to bury their beloved pets, the citizens of Belgrade, Serbia have turned to clandestine methods. They have created hidden pet cemeteries in the city's parks.

It used to be that cities did not worry too much about what to do with residents' deceased pets. Most people were content to dispose of the remains through cremation or to allow the local authorities to dispose of the remains however they wanted.

Many people today treat their pets like they were members of their families. They often leave their pets inheritances and, in some cases, create elaborate trusts for the care of their pets.

Many people also want to bury their pets more formally in a traditional burial site.

Not all cities around the world have places to bury pets. That can cause problems.

As Fox News reports, this is the case in Belgrade, Serbia. The article is titled "Improvised pet graveyards hidden in Belgrade parks."

Belgrade has promised its citizens a pet cemetery for a decade, yet the project to actually build one is still in the planning phase.

Not wanting to wait for the city to create a place for their pets, many residents have taken to burying their pets in the city's parks in hidden graveyards.

The city does offer other ways to dispose of animal remains through official channels.  However, that is not good enough for people who want a place they can go to visit their beloved former pets.

What does this show? The pet human bond is stronger than ever.

If you feel strongly about what happens to your pets after you pass away, then visit an estate planning attorney to see what can be done to make sure that your pet is taken care of.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Fox News (Oct. 26, 2017) "Improvised pet graveyards hidden in Belgrade parks."

Budgets Cuts Causing Horror at Funeral Homes

Many state governments have experienced budget shortfalls in recent years. That has led to the inability to properly inspect and regulate funeral homes.

In 2016 residents of one Flint, MI neighborhood began noticing an awful stench. They all knew where the smell was coming from.

It was a local funeral home that had run into problems with regulators before.

This time when inspectors responded to the complaints, they found 10 decomposing bodies stored in cardboard boxes stacked in the garage. One of the corpses had been there for six weeks.

Residents say their complaints about the funeral home go back several years.

This is not a completely isolated case as ABC News reports in "Funeral home horrors put spotlight on spotty US regulation."

Funeral homes in many states have similar issues.

Some funeral directors feel the problem is that there is not a uniform standard for inspecting funeral homes.

Some states do not require inspections at all, until a complaint is filed.

More inspections would help the problem,  since regulators would discover problems sooner. However, many state budgets do not allow for hiring the increased number of inspectors that would be required.

Most likely there will not be any issues with the funeral home you choose. However, be sure to do your homework and be certain that nothing seems off about it.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: ABC News (Oct. 28, 2017) "Funeral home horrors put spotlight on spotty US regulation."

International Efforts by Dropped Daughter

Having failed to secure a portion of her father's estate in California, the daughter of Douglas Tompkins has taken her case to the courts of Chile.

The founder of Esprit and North Face, Douglas Tompkins, was also a conservationist who was best known for purchasing large amounts of land in Argentina and Chile for preservation.

He passed away in 2015 with a sizeable estate.  However, he did not leave any of it to his two daughters or five grandchildren.

Tompkins left everything he had to his second wife, who was not the mother of his children.

Tompkins and at least one of his daughters, Summer Tompkins Walker, did not get along or approve of their respective lifestyles as the San Francisco Chronicle reports in "Daughter seeks million from Esprit co-founder Douglas Tompkins' Will."

Tompkins Walker initially declared that there was nothing she could do about her father's decision to cut her out from his estate.  However, she later filed a claim against the estate in Los Angeles.

She lost that claim quickly.

Tompkins Walker did not give up the fight and now claims that since her father established residency in Chile, that country's laws should apply to her father's estate.

She has now filed a case in Chile asking for the court to award her $50 million from the estate.

This case illustrates what happens when a child is completely cut out from a parent's estate. That child has little incentive not to fight the decision.

Tompkins Walker is not without means of her own. However, she apparently feels insulted by her father's estate plan and is motivated to fight it.

For more information about estate planning to avoid issues large and small in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: San Francisco Chronicle (Oct. 29, 2017) "Daughter seeks million from Esprit co-founder Douglas Tompkins' Will."

Cruising For Assisted Living Facilities

Assisted living facilities can be so expensive, that going on a permanent ocean vacation can be cheaper.

When discussing the costs of caring for the elderly, most of the debate about where they should live focuses on nursing home expenses.  It is partly because they are extremely expensive to live in for an extended length of time, but also that the government often ends up paying for the stay.

Relatively little attention is given to the intermediate places seniors might live in, when they are no longer able to live at home on their own but not yet in need of nursing home care.

These assisted living facilities are also expensive, and there is a cheaper option as the Motley Fool discusses in "Is Cruise Ship Living a Cheaper Option for Seniors Than Assisted Living?"

The average cost of an assisted living facility is around $45,000 a year. As it turns out, seniors can live on a cruise ship, if they want, for approximately $10,000 less per year.

Cruise ships also have much of the same assistance available as assisted living facilities. The ships prepare meals and assist with laundry, for example.

This does not mean seniors should live on cruise ships instead of in assisted living facilities. It does mean, however, that seniors need to be very careful in scrutinizing assisted living facilities, so they know what they will have to pay and what services are included with the fees.

If a particular facility cannot offer better service than a cruise ship at an affordable price, then it would be a good idea to look for a different one.

For more information about all aspects of elder law and estate planning in Orlando and all of Central Florida, please check out my website.  While you are there, be sure to sign up for our monthly informational newsletter.

Reference: Motley Fool (Oct. 3, 2017) "Is Cruise Ship Living a Cheaper Option for Seniors Than Assisted Living?"

Out of Date Estate Plans

Unless you keep your estate plan updated regularly, then it is likely that it will not do exactly what you want it to do when you pass away.

Wealthy people do not have a good excuse for not planning for their estates. People who have means need to make sure that after they pass away, their heirs can inherit their fortunes in a way which minimizes the amount of taxes to be paid to the federal and state governments.

When that is not done, much of the value of an estate can disappear quickly.

Most successful business people are aware of this. A recent survey found that 9 out of 10 entrepreneurs have at least a will, if not more estate planning documents.

However, there is another problem that many of those entrepreneurs are overlooking, as Forbes reports in "Most Successful Entrepreneurs Have Out of Date Estate Plans."

The survey found that 85% of the entrepreneurs have estate plans that are more than five years old. That is not always a problem.

Newly acquired property can sometimes be accounted for in old estate plans. Tax laws often change though.

If a significant tax law has changed, the way in which an old estate plan handles an estate can be less than ideal. The plan may no longer do what was intended.

What that means is the estate plans of wealthy people need to be reviewed regularly to make sure those plans still do what was intended.

This is something that should be done with the assistance of estate planning attorneys who can provide advice regarding laws which might have changed.

For more information about all aspects of estate planning in Orlando and all of Central Florida, please check out my website.  While you are there, be sure to sign up for our monthly informational newsletter.

Reference: Forbes (Oct. 9, 2017) "Most Successful Entrepreneurs Have Out of Date Estate Plans."

IRS's Under Audit

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration has recently recommended that the IRS needs to do a better job of scrutinizing estate and gift tax returns.

It is not common to think of the IRS as being too lenient or not diligent enough in its work. The public perception of the agency tends to be that it is too hard-nosed. However, it is also sometimes portrayed as being unfair.

It does not audit everyone.

Not every tax return is thoroughly scrutinized. How the IRS chooses what to look into, is often questioned.

It has recently been called into question by the government official responsible for providing oversight of the agency's processes, as the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog reports in "IRS Faulted on Scrutiny of Estate and Gift Tax Returns."

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration issued a report that criticized the IRS for its handling of estate and gift tax returns. In part, the report faults the IRS for the way in which it scrutinizes those returns and suggests that the process is not fair to taxpayers.

What that means, however, is not that the IRS should look at fewer returns. It means that they should look at more returns to make sure everyone is filing them appropriately.

The IRS has agreed to make the changes that the inspector general suggested.

If the IRS is going to start scrutinizing more estate and gift tax returns, then the people filing those returns need to be even more diligent than they already are.

Make sure everything is filed properly and that the information is accurate.

For more information about all aspects of estate planning in Orlando and all of Central Florida, please check out my website.  While you are there, be sure to sign up for our monthly informational newsletter.

Reference: Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog (Oct. 15, 2017) "IRS Faulted on Scrutiny of Estate and Gift Tax Returns."

Will The Kids Want Your Stuff?

People accumulate a lot of stuff throughout their lives that is useless for other people. There is a process in Sweden, known as death cleaning, that people use to get rid of possessions before they pass away.

Most people have many random things in their homes that they have accumulated over the years. While many possessions have some sort of value or use, there are other things that just accumulate and create clutter.

 These items can be old newspapers and magazines that were just never thrown out for some reason.  They can be old clothes that are decades out of fashion that remain in closets and drawers. It can be documents from old seminars.

Some people even still have their college books and assignments stored away in boxes somewhere.

It is not a big problem for most people to have this stuff around the house, but someone is going to have to clean it out eventually. It often falls on family members, after the person who accumulated the stuff passes away.

The New York Post reports on a Swedish tradition on how the clutter can be handled in "Swedish death cleaning is the morbid new way to de-clutter your life."

As people grow older in Sweden, they begin an intentional process of thinking about whether they still need the things they have accumulated. If they do not and they do not want to leave the items for their heirs to deal with, then they gradually begin to get rid of the items.

This is called dostadning, or death cleaning in English. It is not a one-time deal. It is something that people do over the course of their lives, often beginning when they are as young as 50.

You do not necessarily need to start death cleaning.  However, you should think about what will happen to your possessions after you pass away. Doing that at a minimum should lead you to get an estate plan, so what you want to happen will actually happen.

For more information about all aspects of estate planning in Orlando and all of Central Florida, please check out my website.  While you are there, be sure to sign up for our monthly informational newsletter.

Reference: New York Post (Oct. 5, 2017) "Swedish death cleaning is the morbid new way to de-clutter your life."

Text Message A Will Down Under

Technology makes it easier to determine who actually wrote a particular piece of text. That has implications for what courts will accept as valid wills, as an Australian case illustrates.

One of the first historical challenges that estate law needed to sort through was how to determine whether a document submitted as a will of a deceased person was actually what the deceased intended to do with his estate and not something someone else had made up.

Making that determination was not easy, since the deceased person was not available to question.

To overcome this problem, estate law adopted formal requirements for wills, such as that a will is signed by the will maker with witnesses present.

If the formal requirements were met, courts could assume the document in question was a valid will. In some places, writings that did not meet the formal requirements could be accepted as valid wills.  However, this was true only if there was enough evidence to prove that the writing was intended as a will.

When something is now written using digital technology, it is easier than ever before for courts to determine whether or not a particular piece of writing was meant as a will.

An Australian court recently accepted an unsent text message as a valid will.

In that case, shortly before committing suicide, a man drafted a detailed message to his brother leaving his modest estate to the brother and a nephew at the exclusion of his wife, who had recently decided to leave him.

Fox News reported on the story in "Unsent text message OK as valid will, says Australian court."

Just because a court can use digital technology to determine that something is a will, does not mean a court will do that in any particular case. Therefore, it is best to not rely on the possibility and to create a will that meets the formal requirements.

For more information about estate planning in Orlando, FL (and throughout the rest of Central Florida), visit our estate planning website and be sure to subscribe to our complimentary estate planning e-newsletter while you are there.

Reference: Fox News (Oct. 9, 2017) "Unsent text message OK as valid will, says Australian court."