Vacek & Thain, PLLC

The Battles Continue in Bobbi Kristina Brown's Estate

Bobbi Kristina Brown's estate, similar to the estate of her mother Whitney Houston before her, is locked in massive family disagreements and this time the estate administrator is suing the trustees.

The drama continues with the estate of Bobbi Kristina Brown as the family of her mother, Whitney Houston, fights with Bobbi Kristina's father, Bobby Brown, over the estate of Whitney Houston.

At one point it even included a boyfriend who claimed to have been secretly married to Bobbi Kristina. Now, there is a new development. The estate administrator has filed suit against the co-trustees of Bobbi Kristina's trust, Cissy and Pat Houston.

Radar reported on this story in "Bobbi Kristina Brown's Estate Sues Pat & Cissy Houston Over Unpaid Bills."

The trust is supposed to pay for the costs of administering the estate. However, according to the administrator, Cissy and Pat Houston will not pay any bills unless they consider the bills reasonable. The administrator claims that this has impeded the operation of the estate.

Given the contentious nature of the estate so far, it would be easy to quickly condemn the trustees for acting improperly. On the other hand, without knowing the exact nature of the bills the administrator submitted for payment it would be unwise to rush to judgment.

Trustees have an independent fiduciary duty not to waste the assets of the trust.

If the payments demanded by the administrator are unreasonable, then the trustees might have been right not to pay them. Before doing that it would have been best for the trustees to consult with an attorney.

Reference: Radar (Feb. 14, 2016) "Bobbi Kristina Brown's Estate Sues Pat & Cissy Houston Over Unpaid Bills."

Science and the Impact on Estate Planning

Science may be making inroads in cryogenics with the idea of freezing a person's brain until medical advances allow a person to be brought back to life. So far it remains science fiction.

Ted Williams will not be coming back to life in the future but scientists are a step closer to being able to freeze a brain. After Williams passed away he had his head cryogenically preserved with the hope that someday scientists would later be able to bring him back to life with memories intact.

Unfortunately for Williams, scientists do not have a way to freeze a human brain that preserves the synaptic connections. The Huffington Post reports that scientists have now frozen a rabbit's brain in a way that preserves the synaptic connections in "Cryogenically Frozen Rabbit Brain Hailed As Scientific First."

This does not mean cryogenic preservation will be possible in the near future. It might never be possible. Regardless, it is interesting to wonder what it might mean for estate planning.

Currently, estate planning is done with the understanding that the dead do not come back to life. Thus, all of the deceased's property is given to others. However, if it is expected that the deceased will come back to life in the future, then might some of his or her property be retained?

What would the legal ramifications be? Who would keep the property in the interim and how long must it be kept while waiting for scientists to be able to revive the deceased in some form?

It is likely that science will have an impact on estate planning but it also likely that it is a long time in the future.

Reference: Huffington Post (Feb. 11, 2016) "Cryogenically Frozen Rabbit Brain Hailed As Scientific First."

Please visit our website for more information on estate planning.

The Extraordinary Life and Ordinary Will of David Bowie

David Bowie turns out to be a unique individual with an ordinary $100 million will.

While there was speculation that musician David Bowie's estate plan would have been unusual with strange requests, it turns out the $100 million will is rather ordinary and does not include a breakdown of assets.

He directed that his wife should receive half of the estate, including his New York apartment. A total of 25 percent of the estate was left to his minor daughter through a trust. The remaining 25 percent is to go to his son from a previous marriage. Bowie also included small bequests to a couple of friends.

The New York Times reported on the will in "David Bowie's Will Splits Estate Said to Be Worth $100 Million."

The only unusual aspect of Bowie's will is how he would like his remains treated. In the 1980s, he vacationed with Iggy Pop in Bali. He fell in love with it and asked that, if possible, his remains be transported there to be cremated and disposed of according to Bali's Buddhist rites. If it is not possible to have his body cremated there, he at least wanted his ashes spread there.

It appears that the will of this unique individual is not only ordinary but unlikely to be challenged.

Reference: New York Times (Jan. 29, 2016) "David Bowie's Will Splits Estate Said to Be Worth $100 Million."

To register for a free living trust seminar or for more information on estate planning, please visit our website.

Taking Mom and Dad to Work

Caregivers of elderly parents may need help from the workplace in order to complete their jobs.

While companies have often focused on helping younger people with onsite daycare facilities for their children, a similar situation has developed for older employees who have found themselves responsible for providing care for their elderly parents.

More and more Americans are taking care of their elderly parents. Many are taking care of children and elderly parents.

Recently, Next Avenue reported on speculation that this might lead to companies offering onsite elder care facilities in "Will We Soon See Workplaces With On-Site Elder Care?"

The speculation comes from a speech at the annual Davos summit given by Welltower CEO Thomas DeRosa. He stated that taking care of a parent with Alzheimer's is a fulltime job for someone who cannot afford to hire a professional caregiver. Such a person would have to quit work, so it would be a good idea for companies who want to retain employees to have the facilities.

It is estimated that productivity losses due to taking care of family members cost $33.6 billion a year.

Of course, this is just speculation. No company has offered onsite elder care facilities yet.

Reference: Next Avenue (Jan. 29, 2016) "Will We Soon See Workplaces With On-Site Elder Care?"

For more information on estate planning, please visit our website.

There are Options to Traditional Funeral

Some people are turning to the older option of funeral services at home rather than the funeral home.

Before the Civil War most people were buried at home after services held by their families but public mourning with morticians preparing the remains has become the tradition.

The New York Times reports that many Americans are now looking to go the older route and have funeral services conducted in their own homes by family members in "Start-Ups Take Rites From the Funeral Home to the Family Home." One of the big benefits for many people is that home funerals are much less expensive than using a funeral home. Other people prefer the intimacy of services conducted in the home.

It is a good idea to think about how you would like your funeral to be conducted at the same time you are creating an estate plan.

Whether you would prefer a home funeral or a funeral home, you can make your preferences known in your will or in another document. As long as your preferences are reasonable and legal, then they can be followed.

Reference: New York Times (Jan. 30, 2016) "Start-Ups Take Rites From the Funeral Home to the Family Home."

For more information on how to create your own estate plan, please visit our website.

Use the Tax Season to Look at Your Estate Plans

Your estate plan should be reviewed occasionally and linking it to the annual tax season could be beneficial.

The tax season is a time for gathering all of your key financial information and is an excellent time to take a look at your estate plan. While doing your taxes you will be gathering much of the same documentation needed to review an estate plan. In addition, the documentation will be fresh in your mind.

Accounting Web recently offered some tips about estate planning during the tax season in "Estate Planning Reminders for This Tax Season."

The advice includes:

• Review or Get a Will – Spend a little time to review your will and make sure everything is up to date. If you do not already have a will, visit with an estate planning attorney about getting one.
• Prepare a Letter of Instruction – Make a list of your assets, where they are located, and how they should be handled in your estate.
• Review Beneficiaries – Since you should have the asset documentation available as part of your tax preparation, make sure all beneficiary designations are up to date.
• Consider a Trust – Again since you already have the documentation handy, tax time is a good time to have a trust drawn up and to transfer assets into the trust.

The person who prepares your taxes and your estate planning attorney could work together. Consider it as tax time comes around.

Reference: Accounting Web (Feb. 8, 2016) "Estate Planning Reminders for This Tax Season."

For more information on how to plan your estate or better: attend a free seminar, please visit our website. 

Former Prosecutor Pleads Guilty in Estate Case

A former district attorney has entered a plea of guilty for stealing from an estate.

With a record of 20 years as District Attorney for Robertson County, Texas, John Paschall should have been someone who could be trusted but a client learned otherwise when Marium Oscar chose Paschall to oversee her estate.

Her estate was supposed to be divided between the local Volunteer Fire Department and a local charity. Instead, Paschall took approximately $200,000 from the estate for his own benefit.

His misdeeds came to light during a civil suit and he was subsequently charged in a criminal action.

Paschall plead guilty and will serve 30 days in jail and 10 years of probation. He was also ordered to pay more than $186,000 in restitution and surrender his license to practice law.

KBTX reported this story in an article entitled "Former Robertson County DA must pay $186,518.07, spend month in jail for stealing money."

Fortunately, Paschall was caught and convicted.

Even if you consider the sentence is on the light side, this case illustrates the need to be very, very careful when it comes to selecting the executor of your estate. Choosing an attorney may be a good idea. However, make sure it is an attorney you can trust, such as an experienced estate attorney who has a reputation for properly handling estates in your area.

Vetting the person you select to administer your estate can help ensure that he or she will not steal estate funds.

Reference: KBTX (Feb. 4, 2016) "Former Robertson County DA must pay $186,518.07, spend month in jail for stealing money."

Please visit our website for more information on estate planning.

States Evaluate Importance of Estate Taxes

Since wealthy elderly residents have been known to relocate to states with more favorable estate tax laws, a clear trend has developed with more and more states reducing or eliminating estate taxes.

A dilemma has been presented to state governments facing revenue declines. They can raise tax revenue by taxing the estates of the wealthy but they then risk their own residents relocating to more lenient states before they pass away.

When such citizens move away that means these state governments with estate taxes do not receive income or capital gains taxes from those wealthy people. In the end, such states must determine which taxes are more important to them and their budgets.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance reports in "More States Giving Heirs a Break on Estate Taxes" that the majority of states have chosen to keep their citizens rather than impose an estate tax.

So, how many states still have an estate tax? At present, this number includes only 14 states and the District of Columbia. Tennessee is the latest state to do away with its estate tax and six other states have increased their estate tax exemptions recently.

Although it might be tempting to say this trend is clear evidence that estate tax revenue is not as important as other revenue, there probably is not enough definitive evidence to make that claim. The political controversy surrounding the estate tax might play some role in this trend amongst the states.

It will be worth watching if the states still imposing the tax continue to face pressure to repeal it to keep the wealthy from fleeing to other states in their retirement years.

An estate planning attorney could be helpful in guiding you through these important issues.

Reference: Kiplinger's Personal Finance (February 2016) "More States Giving Heirs a Break on Estate Taxes"

Please visit our website for more information on estate tax or to register for a free living trust seminar.

Some Pets Left Behind Are Very Wealthy

Some people may have made their beloved pets extremely wealthy when it came to taking care of them in their estates by leaving them millions.

It has become common in recent years for pets to be included in an estate plan as people focus on distributing their wealth to care for pets as well as human relatives. While generally only sufficient money has been left to care for pets in a modest lifestyle, some have inherited large amounts of money.

Recently, Time published a list of some of these wealthy pets in "The 10 Richest Pets of All Time."

The list includes:

• Gunther III - A German countess left her dog her entire $80 million estate. The trustees of the estate have grown the fortune to $375 million that now belongs to Gunther's child, Gunther IV.
• Toby Rimes - This poodle inherited $40 million when its owner passed away in 1931. However, Toby died a few months later and the estate was divided between various charities.
• Tommaso - This Italian cat was a stray adopted by an elderly woman who left it her $13 million estate.
• Gigoo - A British publisher left his beloved chicken Gigoo a fortune worth approximately $15 million.
• Trouble - Leona Helmsley left her dog Trouble $11 million – although the inheritance was later reduced to a mere $2 million by a judge.

Of course, you do not need to leave a pet anywhere near the above amounts to make sure they are taken care of after you pass away.

An estate planning attorney can guide you in caring for your pets as well as your relatives.

Reference: Time (Oct. 5, 2015) "The 10 Richest Pets of All Time."

Please visit our website for more information on estate planning and pet trusts.                     

Trump's Actions Involving Father's Estate Spark Media Attention

Family disagreements can sometimes rise into public view as seen in Donald Trump’s campaign for president.

Given presidential candidate Donald Trump’s temperament for blunt, off-the-cuff comments, it should come as no surprise that a challenge to his father's will caused Trump to act out of anger and he is now answering questions about it.

Trump's older brother was not interested in the family real estate business. He instead became a pilot until alcoholism forced him out of the sky. He died from the disease in 1991.

When Trump's father passed away in 1999, Fred Trump III, Donald's nephew from his brother, spoke at the funeral. That night Fred III's child was born with cerebral palsy. Donald Trump pledged that the Trump family would take care of the child's medical needs.

However, when his father's will was read it was discovered that his brother's family was cut out of the will.

Donald Trump had helped create the will.

His nephew's family claimed Donald and his other siblings had unduly influenced their father who suffered from dementia. They challenged the will. This angered Trump and he cut off support for the child with cerebral palsy.

The Daily Mail has more on this story in "Donald Trump admits cutting off medical treatment for his nephew's sick baby after will dispute with alcoholic brother's family."

Undoubtedly this story will be used for political reasons as long as Donald Trump remains a presidential candidate.

There is, nevertheless, a non-political lesson in all of this.

When families feud over estates, the feuds have a way of affecting others, like the medical treatment of a sick child.

Contacting an estate planning attorney could possibly help avoid such issues.

Reference: Daily Mail (Jan. 3, 2016) "Donald Trump admits cutting off medical treatment for his nephew's sick baby after will dispute with alcoholic brother's family."

Please visit our website to learn more about handling estates with special needs or to register for a free living trust seminar.