Estate Planning and Estate Administration Real Life Stories
Estate planning and estate administration could seem disconnected with real life until you realize that some of the same issues that affect everyone also affect people who write Wills and Trusts and average people who plan their taxes and people who are entrusted with carrying out the believed wishes of the deceased even when these would seem unusual.
Here are some recent examples of real life estate administration and estate planning problems as noted by https://www.ig-law.com/estate-planning/ lawyers who solve many estate issues on a daily basis.
- “The ‘SpongeBob’ Headstone.” The SpongeBob story begins with a real tragedy. Kimberly Walker, a 28 year old Gulf War Veteran who served two tours of duty in Iraq, was found dead in a Colorado hotel room on Valentine’s Day, 2013. Her boyfriend was arrested and charged. Kimberly, during life, had been a great fan of SpongeBob Squarepants, a beloved cartoon character well known to TV visitors of the Nickelodeon network. To honor her memory and her spirit, her family designed a headstone in the likeness of SpongeBob with Walker and U.S. Army carved and proceeded to obtain approval both from the television network holding the copyright, which was obtained, and from the cemetery to erect the headstone. Although an employee of Spring Grove Cemetery initially approved the design, Spring Grove recently removed it anyway stating that other families might not find the character appropriate. To my mind, here is the question. What is the purpose of the final memorial, the one by which you will be remembered? Is it expected to meld into the background with everyone else or could it reflect the personality of the deceased? Over the past several years there have been modifications to funeral services and celebrations of life. Why not also in a cemetery? What do you think? To see a photograph of the headstone, you should Google “SpongeBob Headstone.”
- The Trust Amendment Written On the Way To the Airport. Over the years, I have often met Will drafters who rewrite their Wills before a scheduled vacation.
Apparently, one settlor waited a little too long to formalize his documents. K. R. Conklin, the Settlor and sole Trustee of the K. R. Conklin Living Trust, originally named his biological daughters as beneficiaries and successor trustees. He was divorced from their mother and later married Diana Jo Conklin. He assisted in raising his stepchildren, C. David Rouner and Alisha Hudson. Several years before his death, he executed a three page amendment to his revocable trust while in the car on his way to the airport with Diana “Jo.” The amendment read:
“Am writing this in the car on the way to KC, MO so excuse the penmanship. If you are reading this it means that Jo & I have met our demise either going to or coming back from Phoenix. The Trust has not been updated for several years so I will express my desire on how I wish everything to be handled…” He then went on to include his stepchildren with his biological children as beneficiaries of the Trust.
The question was whether the Amendment was a “Conditional Trust Amendment,” that is, was it intended only if he and Jo failed to survive the trip or did it change the Trust regardless. The trust amendment, by the way, was found after his death in a file folder that included his life insurance policy information.
The lower court in Missouri found in favor of the biological children. The Court of Appeals reversed affirming the handwritten amendment and the stepchildren. Note that no one really won here. The case was decided only after four years of litigation in July, 2013.
- Canadian Snowbirds Need To Watch US Taxes. Canadians who expect to spend a fair amount of time traveling in or living in the US have more to watch than currency exchanges. Apparently US law now states that an individual who spends more than 182 days annually in the states or more than 120 days average over a three-year period can be considered a resident for tax purposes. Additional US legislation has been proposed that would allow Canadian retirees to spend up to 240 days in the US but they would have to pay income and, if applicable, estate tax.
Apparently US taxes on Canadians have become a substantial enough issue that an entire website, www.snowbird.ca, is devoted to it. Enjoy.
About the Author Janet Colliton
Esquire, Colliton Law Associates, P.C. Janet Colliton has practiced law for over 38 years, 37 of them in Chester County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia. Her practice, Colliton Law Associates, PC, is limited to elder law, Medicaid, including advice, applications and appeals, and other benefits planning including Veterans benefits, life care and special needs planning, guardianships, retirement, and estate planning and administration.