Acknowledgments xxi

Chapter 1 The Single Biggest Mistake Is Not Planning for the One Certainty in Life Death 1

Mistake #1: No Estate Planning Whatsoever 3

Mistake #2: Out-of-Date Wills 14

Mistake #3: Losing Your Will 17

Mistake #4: Do-It-Yourselfers and Handwritten Wills 19

Mistake #5: Not Signing Your Will Because You Physically Can’t 24

Mistake #6: Not Properly Executing Documents 32

Mistake #7: The Best-Laid (Estate) Plans 35

Mistake #8: Dying Intestate, or Without a Will 42

Chapter 2 Mistakes Involving Tangible Personal Property 45

Mistake #9: Nemo Dat Quo Non Habet (Latin for “He Who Has Not Cannot Give”) 46

Mistake #10: Not Properly Documenting the Delivery and Completion of a Gift 49

Mistake #11: Selling Valuable Tangible Personal Property Too Close to Death 51

Mistake #12: Bequeathing Tangible Personal Property That You Do Not Own 54

Mistake #13: Mentioning Too Many Details in Your Will 56

Mistake #14: Not Including Any Details in Your Will 60

Mistake #15: Not Providing Properly for the Care of Your Pets After Your Death 64

Mistake #16: Leaving Too Much Money for Your Pets After Your Death 66

Mistake #17: Giving the Same Tangible Personal Property Item to More Than One Person 68

Mistake #18: Not Properly Providing for the Disposition of Your Artworks after Your Death 69

Mistake #19: Not Providing for Your Tangible Personal Property in a Revocable Living Trust 73

Chapter 3: Mistakes Involving Real Estate 75

Mistake #20: Not Confirming How Title Is Held to Real Estate Before or Right After Death 76

Mistake #21: Forgetting That Real Estate Usually Passes Subject to Loans and Mortgages 78

Mistake #22: Not Draining the Water Pipes in a Vacant House in Cold Weather 80

Mistake #23: Failing to Maintain Adequate Property and Casualty Insurance on Estate Property—Especially Vacant Real Estate 82

Mistake #24: Failing to Provide That Children, or Others, May Continue to Reside in the Family Home with the Executor’s or Trustee’s Approval 84

Mistake #25: Failing to Provide That Existing Leases Will Terminate on Reasonable Terms After the Death of the Owner of the Property 87

Mistake #26: Owning Land, a House or an Apartment in a Foreign Country 89

Mistake #27: Assuming That a Co-operative Apartment Building Board Will Always Do What You Would Like 90

Mistake #28: Placing Real Estate in a Trust Without Checking on the Ramifications of Doing So 92

Chapter 4: Mistakes Involving Executors and/or Trustees 95

Mistake #29: Selecting Only One Executor in a Complicated Estate 96

Mistake #30: Selecting Too Many Executors 98

Mistake #31: Selecting an Even Number of Executors 102

Mistake #32: Selecting Executors with a Conflict of Interest 103

Mistake #33: Not Compensating (or Under-Compensating) Your Executors 107

Mistake #34: Not Selecting Your Spouse as an Executor 110

Mistake #35: Surprising Your Spouse with the Terms of Your Will 112

Mistake #36: Not Naming Your Children as Executors

Mistake #37: Naming Your Children as Executors 114

Mistake #38: Naming a Literary Executor in Your Will 116

Mistake #39: Naming a Corporate Fiduciary That Can Be Removed by an Individual Fiduciary 119

Chapter 5 Mistakes Involving Guardians, Minors, or Step-Children 123

Mistake #40: Not Naming the Biological Parent as the Guardian of Your Minor Children 124

Mistake #41: Naming the Biological Parent as the Guardian of Your Minor Children 128

Mistake #42: Failing to Periodically Review Your Choice of Guardian(s) 130

Mistake #43: Assuming That Your Step-Children Have the Same Legal Rights as Your Biological Children 132

Chapter 6 Mistakes Involving Prior Marriages, Prenuptial Agreements, and Significant Others 135

Mistake #44: Not Taking into Account the Terms of an Existing Separation or Divorce Agreement 136

Mistake #45: Entirely Disinheriting Children or Grandchildren Out of Stupidity or Inadvertence 138

Mistake #46: Not Taking Your Spouse’s Legal or Statutory Rights into Account 141

Mistake #47: Putting Your Child in Charge of a Surviving Spouse Who Is Not His or Her Parent 142

Mistake #48: Assuming That Your Divorce Automatically Revokes Your Will in Its Entirety 144

Mistake #49: Not Updating Your Will at the Start of Your Divorce Proceedings 146

Mistake #50: Not Respecting the Validity of a Prenuptial Agreement 148

Mistake #51: Not Mentioning the Prenuptial Agreement in Your Will 149

Mistake #52: Failing to Fund a Revocable Living Trust During Your Lifetime to Avoid Probate 150

Chapter 7 Estate Planning Mistakes Involving Tax and Copyright Issues 153

Mistake #53: Eliminating Your Residuary Estate Because of High Taxes on Your Personal Property 154

Mistake #54: Not Taking Full Advantage of the Available Tax Exemption Amount 156

Mistake #55: Not Having Assets Titled in the Name of Each Spouse 158

Mistake #56: Failing to Ascertain Whether Gift Tax Returns Were Ever Filed 159

Mistake #57: Failing to Pay the Five Percent Annual Minimum Distribution Requirement for Private Charitable Foundations 161

Mistake #58: Not Having a Buy-Sell Agreement in a Closely Held Business, Partnership, or Limited Liability Corporation 163

Mistake #59: Failing to Title Appreciated Real Estate in the Name of the Spouse More Likely to Die First 165

Mistake #60: Separating the Copyright Interest from the Actual Work of Art That Is Bequeathed to a Charity 167

Chapter 8 Estate Planning Mistakes Involving Disgruntled Friends and Family 169

Mistake #61: Lack of a No Contest or In Terrorem Clause in Your Will 170

Mistake #62: Using a One-Dollar No Contest/In Terrorem Clause in Your Will 171

Mistake #63: Using a Codicil Instead of a New Will 175

Mistake #64: Impulsively Changing Your Will by Whipping Out a Quick “Down-and-Dirty” Codicil 180

Mistake #65: Not Contacting the Attorney for the Beneficiary of a Will When Trying to Settle a Dispute with the Attorney for the Executor 182

Mistake #66: Requiring Survivorship by a Certain Number of Days 184

Mistake #67: Not Including Your Long-Time Secretary or Assistant as a Beneficiary in Your Will 185

Mistake #68: Entirely Disinheriting Children or Grandchildren Out of Anger or Vindictiveness 187

Mistake #69: Failing to Mention the Names of the Heirs You Intend to Disinherit in Your Will 191

Mistake #70: Directing That a Specific Attorney or Other Advisor Be Hired by Your Executor 195

Mistake # 71: Not Taking Advantage of a Qualified Disclaimer within Nine Months of Death 197

Mistake #72: Offering Too Large an Amount at the Outset of Negotiations 199

Mistake #73: Arguing with Your Attorney about Legal Fees 200

Mistake #74: Fighting with a Lawyer with “Criminal” Clients 201

Mistake #75: Having Your Former Mother-in-Law Own a Life Insurance Policy on Your Life 202

Mistake #76: Not Getting the Original Will Back from the Person Replaced as an Executor 203

Chapter 9 Mistakes Involving Funerals, Burials, or Cremation 205

Mistake #77: Not Appointing Someone to Make Burial and Funeral Arrangements 207

Mistake #78: Spending Too Much on a Funeral or Burial 212

Mistake #79: Providing Overly Detailed Funeral and Burial Instructions in Your Will 214

Mistake #80: Prepaying for Your Funeral, or Not 217

Mistake #81: Directing That There Be No Funeral or Memorial Service 218

Mistake #82: Losing the Deed for Your Cemetery Plot 222

Mistake #83: Directing That Your Bodily Remains or Ashes Be Buried or Scattered in an Illegal Manner 223

Mistake #84: Directing That Your Pet’s Remains Be Buried with Yours 225

Mistake #85: Getting Too Religious in Your Will 227

Chapter 10 One-of-a-Kind Mistakes by Celebrities and Icons 229

Mistake #86: Not Making Charitable Gifts in Your Will When Your Sons Are the Heirs to the British Throne 230

Mistake #87: Mentioning the Name of a Lawsuit Involving You in Your Own Will 232

Mistake #88: Leaving Your Estate to an Older Person Outright and Not in Trust 235

Mistake #89: Leaving It All to Your Girlfriend Who Has a Drug Addiction 240

Mistake #90: Making a Bequest with Politically Incorrect or Racist Strings Attached 243

Mistake #91: Not Properly Identifying an Organization That Receives a Bequest 245

Mistake #92: Not Providing a Way to Determine That Your Wife Has Regained Her Sanity 247

Mistake #93: Murdering Your Spouse (or Anyone Else) 249

Chapter 11 Rookie or Boneheaded Mistakes 251

Mistake #94: Making a Material Misrepresentation on a Life Insurance Application 252

Mistake #95: Not Settling a Dispute When the Downside Is Much Greater Than the Upside 254

Mistake #96: Making Handwritten Changes to a Will after It Has Been Signed and Witnessed 256

Mistake #97: Acting as a Witness to a Will in Which You Are Named as a Beneficiary 258

Mistake #98: Removing the Staples from an Original Will 259

Mistake #99: Putting Your Original Will in a Bank Safe Deposit Box That May Be Sealed 262

Mistake #100: Preparing Only a Videotaped Will Instead of a Written One 263

Mistake #101: Owning a Large Amount of Life Insurance in Your Name Individually 264

About the Author 267

Index 269