Stieg Larsson died with no will

Stieg Larsson, the man who wrote the milenium trilogy including the novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, died suddenly in 2004 at the age of 50. At the time of his death, he was not yet famous and he was living modestly with his partner, Eva Gabrielsson. In fact, they had been living together in Sweden for 32 years.

Larsson spent his career investigating rightwing extremism and received many death threats. He feared that getting married would make them an even bigger target. Despite that, he and Eva finally set a date for the ceremony but Larsson died before it could take place.

The couple had talked about setting up a company in which the two of them would share all of their assets as well as any money earned for writing books and articles. The company would provide that if one of them died, the other one would get everything. Because of this plan, Larsson felt that a will would be unnecessary and so never prepared one. But the company was not set up before Larsson’s death.

Sweden has no provision in their law for inheritance by common-law spouses so when Larsson died without a will, his brother and father inherited everything he owned, including the rights to his books and the profits that the 50 million copies sold made.

In 2007, the family gave Gabrielsson ownership of the modest apartment in which she and Larsson had lived and offered her $2.75 million. She turned down the offer because she wants control of the estate so she can manage the handling of the books, including movie and other publication rights. There is a partial manuscript for a 4th book in the series; since she supposedly helped Larsson write the trilogy and the manuscript is in her possession, she could finish the novel but she refuses to hand it over to Larsson’s family.

If only Larsson had written a will, settlement of the estate could have been handled smoothly and in a timely manner. Instead, in 2012 (more than 8 years later), the dispute is still going on.

Don’t put yourself in this position. Make sure you have a will so your estate will go to the person you want it to….not the one the government dictates. For more information about this topic, go to diesmart.com.

Do you want to live or die in New Jersey?

Several years ago after my dad died in New Jersey, my brother and I were shocked when we realized how much money we were going to have to pay to the state in inheritance and estate taxes. The percentage was huge, especially compared to almost any other state in the US. Evidently, we were not alone in being shocked by New Jersey’s tax rules.

According to a study recently commissioned by Charles Steindel, chief economist of the New Jersey Department of the Treasury (and former senior vice president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank), 25,000 people moved away from New Jersey between 2004 and 2009. Why? In 2004, the state’s highest income tax rate was raised from 6.37% to 8.97% for those making $500,000 or more, and in 2009 a one year 10.75% tax rate was assessed on those making $1 million or more.

In addition to such high income tax, New Jersey is one of only two states (Maryland is the other) with both a state estate tax and a state inheritance tax; this is a problem for those who would like to leave at least the majority of their wealth to their loved ones when they die.

Steindel also conducted a survey of subscribers to the state’s online newsletter Tax Notes, which keeps professionals such as financial advisers, accountants and attorneys up to date on changes in law, rules and court decisions governing tax matters. Subscribers include advisers to high-wealth clients.

More than half of the respondents said that clients had recently left or expressed interest in leaving the state. Respondents said the top three reasons that clients gave for leaving were state income taxes (85.4 percent), local property taxes (77 percent) and estate taxes (67 percent). The next two reasons most-often cited were retirement (47.6 percent) and housing costs (43.7 percent).

So if you live in New Jersey and you have any assets, consider moving to a more tax friendly, or non-taxing, state like Florida.

It’s Donate Life Month

This is Donate Life Month. It’s a good time to think about how you can help others. Just pledge to donate your organs, tissues and corneas to others when you die; by doing so, you may save up to eight lives and enhance the lives of many others.

Did you know that as of March 2012, there were 113,115 patients waiting for an organ donation or tissue or cornea transplant? More than 1,800 of them were children. (Source: organdonor.gov)

In 2011 there were:
14,144 organ donors
28,535 organ transplants
More than 46,000 cornea transplants

Each day, an average of 79 people receive organ transplants.  However, an average of 18 people die each day waiting for transplants that can’t take place because of the shortage of donated organs.

To learn more about how and why you should help or to sign up, go to organdonor.gov today.

Isn’t great to think that you can save others, even after you’re gone?

To find out more about end of life planning, check out diesmart.com.

Let’s talk about dying!

Today is National Health Care Directives Day.   A day to talk about death.    A day to talk about Living Wills and Health Care Power of Attorney forms, referred to as advance health care directives.

Why is it important to talk about dying and health care directives.  It’s simple.     We will all die.   However,  the way we will die will be different than the way our grandparents died.   They died fast, due to acute illnesses like influenza or pneumonia.  A government study envisions that today, 80 percent will die a lingering death from things like Alzheimer’s, emphysema, cancer and Parkinson’s.   Our children or our spouse will need to make choices on our behalf between life…and quality of life.

When having dinner with your friends or family tonight, think about that sobering number.   Three out of the four people sitting at the dinner table will die a lingering death.    Someone will need the legal authority to make health care choices on your behalf.   Someone will be hoping they are making the choice you would have wanted.

Rather than talking about the  engagement ring Brad gave Angelina….make your dinner conversation important.    Ask yourself these questions:

  • Who do you want to make health care choices on your behalf?
  • What choices do you want them to make?
  • Do you want to donate your organs or your tissues?
  • Have you completed a living will and a health care power of attorney form documenting these wishes.   If so, where are they?    In California and some other states, these two forms are combined in a single form referred to as an Advance Health Care Directive.

Your estate planning lawyer can help you complete a Living Will and a Health Care Power of Attorney form.     You have the right to complete these forms without involving a lawyer.

Hers’s some resources that may help you start the discussion:

A great presentation by Dr. Peter Saul at the TED conference called “Let’s talk about dying.”
When families can’t agree what to do:   A personal experiences described in the San Jose Mercury News:  http://www.mercurynews.com/cost-of-dying/ci_20403982/national-day-support-end-life-health-care-planning
Where Can You Get Free Health Care Directive Forms:   https://diesmart.com/elder-law/living-wills/

 

Estate Planning and Family Feuds

Family feuds and estate planning were an oxymoron in the 50’s and 60’s.

The family consisted of a mother, a father, and children who shared the same mother and father.     Whether someone died with or without a will, the results were usually the same.     If the spouse made a will, they named the surviving spouse and the children as beneficiaries.   If a spouse died without a will, state intestate laws named the surviving spouse and the children as beneficiaries.

People died fast.    There were no caregivers or need to pay for long term care from family resources.

Fast forward to today. According to a recent USA article: Blended families are now the norm.   “More than half of all first marriages end in divorce and about 75% of divorced people will marry again, according to the National Stepfamily Resource Center. About 65% of these unions will include children from previous marriages. More than 40% of American adults have at least one step-relative, according to a Pew Research Center study earlier this year.”

If you are part of a blended family, dying with or without a will may not provide the results you want for children from a prior marriage.   If your surviving spouse dies without a will, state intestate laws do not provide for step children.     The parents or siblings of your surviving spouse will inherit any property you gave to a surviving spouse before state intestate laws grant any inheritance rights to your children from a first marriage.      If you think a surviving spouse has provided for your children from a first marriage in their will, remember a will is a revocable document.   A surviving spouse has the right to change a will after you die and give property you intended to be left to your children from a first marriage  to his or her children from another marriage.

We no longer die fast.     As we age, we lose our ability to manage our own affairs.    Our children are often our caregivers.    A caregiver may believe they deserve more than other siblings for taking care of their parents.

In a recent conversation with an estate planning lawyer, we talked about the growing demand for estate planning lawyers with litigation experience.   He explained families usually fight for two reasons.  The siblings fight because they believe the caregiver doesn’t deserve any special treatment.  The children from a first marriage and a surviving spouse from a second marriage fight because the children want to protect their future inheritance.