Top 10 Celebrity Estate Planning Fails to Avoid in the New Year

The celebrity deaths of 2019 were both tragic and shocking. What was also alarming from all of this was their estate planning. Though there’s an undeniable element of schadenfreude (guilty pleasure) that makes these disaster stories ghoulishly enjoyable, there are also important lessons to be learned…and avoided. The problems experienced by celebrity estates are often the very same ones that trip up our more typical clients, be it on a smaller scale. Read on to learn the top 10 celebrity blunders that everyone should avoid in 2020.

  1. Choosing an untrustworthy Successor Trustee or Personal Representative.
  2. Leaving your intent unclear by using vague terms in your estate planning documents.
  3. Procrastinating by thinking you are too young to do any planning.
  4. Making verbal promises to family and friends with no legal written instructions to back it up.
  5. Failing to finish what you start.
  6. Forgetting to tell your loved ones where your original estate planning documents are located.
  7. Not updating your estate plan, especially after a divorce.
  8. Do it yourself planning by using online legal services and guessing your way through the questions.
  9. Doing nothing usually leads to high legal fees in the probate court process and negative tax consequences for your heirs.
  10. Failing to nominate guardians for your minor children.

Indeed, outdated documents, beneficiary blunders and other estate-planning mistakes can tie your assets up in court for years, allow taxes and legal fees to eat up a chunk of your estate, and give inheritances to people you parted ways with, or hardly knew.

Making sure your estate ends up with the right people is more complicated than just drawing up a Trust or a Last Will and Testament (“Will”). IRAs and 401(k) accounts, for example, have their own named beneficiaries – and will automatically pass to the designated person, regardless of what’s in your Trust or Will. Yet many people fail to update the beneficiaries on these accounts. Additionally, a Will isn’t enough to protect your estate from court battles, taxes and the very arduous probate process. All of this can be avoided with the advice of an estate planning attorney.

Before you take your final journey, make sure you consult your estate planning attorney. Contact OC Estate & Elder Law at (954) 251-0332 or info@ocestatelawyers.com to get started on your New Year’s resolutions.

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Through years of experience, we have identified the most common mistakes people make when planning for their families or navigating the probate process. Our goal is to ensure you steer clear of these errors.

Free Resources

Through years of experience, we have identified the most common mistakes people make when planning for their families or navigating the probate process. Our goal is to ensure you steer clear of these errors.

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Maribel Morell

Senior Paralegal

Maribel is our behind-the-scenes expert on probate and trust administration processes. She holds the distinction of being the very first team member in 2015.

Maribel ensures that assets are properly transferred from the deceased to their loved ones. Not as easy as it sounds – Maribel is a whiz in Florida probate law, real estate law, dealing with financial institutions around the world, and serving as a mediator between family members.

Her highly technical role requires meticulous attention to detail and empathy while assisting grieving families who just lost a loved one. It is obvious that Maribel loves her work. She also boasts impeccable fluency in Spanish.

Maribel cherishes time with her family, especially her beloved son. She also excels in the arts, having performed Flamenco and Comparsas dance in parades, winning awards at Miami Beach’s Festival of Arts, and honing her interior design and home renovation skills. Maribel’s secret strength lies in her nurturing character, which plays a pivotal role in shaping our law firm’s achievements.

Education and Training:

  • Associate in Arts Degree, (Miami, Florida)
  • Worked in the financial services industry
  • Florida Notary Public