Tag Archives: inheritance

My father left his home to his kids — my stepmother sold it for $1 million

We read this recent column from MarketWatch and found it interesting enough that we are repeating it in its entirety. If you have step children or step parents, you should be aware of what might happen if proper planning isn’t done.

He made his wishes clear, but his second wife had other ideas

Dear Moneyologist,

My brothers and I are mentioned in our father’s will as what he “wishes to happen” with the house he purchased for his second wife. He put the house in her name, but stated that if he should die first, he would like the wife to live in the house till she dies, but wanted the house to be sold and the proceeds to be split among his children.

After he died, my stepmother has sold the house for $1 million. She bought a new house for $500,000 and kept the difference. She has not put all the children on the ownership of the new house. Also, she has children from her first marriage who might want a percentage of the estate, including the new house. The will was made in Taiwan. I live in Texas.

Where do I and my brothers stand in this situation?

Betrayed Daughter

Dear Daughter,

When it comes to family drama, stepmothers fare about as well as mothers-in-law. That is, they get a hard time. Sometimes, it’s deserved, other times I think they fall victim to negative stereotypes. In one case, the stepmother wanted to cut her husband’s children out of his life insurance policy. And another stepmother obsessed over her husband’s children and what might happen to his credit score should he die. It’s easy to come down hard on stepmothers, mostly because of Grimm Fairytales. This 2009 book “Stepmonster: A New Look at Why Real Stepmothers Think, Feel, and Act the Way We Do” tries to debunk that myth. On this occasion, the jury is out.

Your father can’t leave his children something that he no longer owns. That’s not how life or the law works.

Your stepmother has downsized and created a nice nest egg. That was her prerogative. Your father can’t leave his children something that he no longer owns. He put his house in your stepmother’s name and, judging by his will, it seems that he wanted her to give it back. That’s not how life or the law works. If you could prove undue influence, you might have a case. You would need to provide evidence that (a) your father was not of sound mind when he signed over the house and/or (b) your stepmother somehow did not have his best interests at heart and tricked him into signing over the home. That would be an expensive and difficult process.

It’s still unclear whether U.S. or Taiwanese law would apply here. According to Taiwanese law, “The making and effect of a will are governed by the national law of the testator [your father, in this case] at the time of the making of the will.” But that may prove fruitless. “If you can prove that the testator was the true owner, you can file a litigation against your father’s second wife,” says Ou Yang, Hung, managing attorney at Brain Trust International Law Firm in Taipei, Taiwan and adjunct assistant professor of law at Soochow University. “It will be very hard to prove that the testator was the true owner of the house.”

Put it in simpler terms: You may have to kiss that $1 million goodbye.

For information about estate planning, check out our website www.diesmart.com.

Want to avoid probate?

You may think that if you have a will and in it you name the person who should inherit your home, that’s all you have to do. Yes, it is if you’re willing to have the home go through a probate process. That probate process will cost the beneficiary a lot of money as well as time and will be a public record.

However, there’s now a way that many can avoid the whole probate process and that’s thru the use of a transfer on death (beneficiary) deed.

There are several states that have a similar law and California just joined their ranks in January of this year.

If you live in one of these states, you now have the option to complete a Revocable Transfer On Death Beneficiary deed and name a beneficiary for your home. After your death, the beneficiary can directly claim ownership rights to the property without involving the probate court and paying probate fees.

The deed can be completed and filed without hiring a lawyer or paying a third party to record the deed with the county recorder.

For some homeowners, a TOD Deed can be a cost effective way to avoid probate on the death of the last owner. If you own a home and have it listed in your will, you might want to consider this new option.

For more information about probate and estate planning, go to www.diesmart.com.

Are your beneficiary designations up to date?

Do you have a bank account? What about a brokerage account or life insurance policy? Have you set up an annuity or a retirement plan?

You probably have a least one or two of these types of accounts. When you set them up, you were asked to name a beneficiary for each. At the time, the person you named was someone you wanted to receive these assets when you died. It might have been a spouse or significant other.

It’s been several years since you named that person. Have your circumstances changed? Are you now divorced or no longer involved with him or her? Have you remarried or had children you want to be sure are protected?

Most people name a beneficiary and then forget about it. They never go back and update the information provided so it reflects their current wishes. They figure it doesn’t matter because they have a current will that designates who should inherit what. However, it does matter. Whoever is named as a beneficiary receives that asset when you die, regardless of what it says in your will. So your ex-husband or former girlfriend may receive a large sum of money that you didn’t want them to have.

Don’t let this happen. Review your beneficiary designations whenever your circumstances change and be sure that your assets will go where you want them to when you die.

For more information about estate planning, go to our website www.diesmart.com.

You need a will. Why shouldn’t you write your own?

Most blank will forms are based on the assumption that you are part of a traditional nuclear family with a husband, a wife and a common set of children. It will further assume that you wish to follow the traditional path of inheritance: The surviving spouse will inherit the deceased’s assets and they will they pass to the children upon the second spouse’s death.

Instead, as is very often the case today, you may be part of a blended family. If so, you should definitely see an attorney and prepare a will that will protect every member of that new family.

Let’s look at an example of what might happen if you don’t have a well written will.

John and Susan had both been married previously. John had two children from his first marriage and Susan had three. When they got married, all was well for several years. Then John died suddenly. Susan inherited all of John’s estate (which included assets he had brought into the marriage).

When Susan died, her three children inherited her assets; John’s children got nothing. Why, because they were not Susan’s legal children and neither John or Susan’s will legally protected them. A lengthy legal battle ensued with the biggest winner being the attorneys.

Although this blog is based on an article from the Sydney Morning Herald, it is critical for everyone in a blended family to take heed.

Make sure your legal paperwork protects your family and distributes your assets the way you want them allocated. Don’t take a shortcut now that may result in unnecessary pain and suffering at a later date.

For more information about estate planning, check out our website www.diesmart.com.

Why is Michael Jackson’s estate back in the news?

When Michael Jackson died in 2009 at age 50, he left a will that specified what should be done with his assets.

He may not have taken into consideration what those assets would be worth in subsequent years…but the IRS has now done so. There is now a huge dispute between the Internal Revenue Service and Michael Jackson’s estate over what should be paid in estate taxes.

According to Michael Jackson’s representatives, the value of the estate is currently $2,105; according to the IRS, it’s more like $434 million. “With interest and penalties, lawyers estimate the case – set for trial at a Los Angeles tax tribunal in 2017 – could be worth more than $1 billion.” The outcome of this trial could impact celebrity estate planning.

Howard Weitzman, the estate’s lead attorney, that the Michael Jackson name has “experienced a commercial rebirth thanks to the savvy executors who have managed the estate’s assets.” He estimates that Jackson earned no more than $50 million for the licensing of his name and image when he was alive and doesn’t think that what’s been done since Jackson’s death should impact what the estate pays.

It is important to note that this is the first time ever that the IRS is pursuing estate taxes for name and likeness earnings after a celebrity’s death.

If the estate loses the case, Michael Jackson’s heirs will be hit with a huge tax bill. If the IRS wins, this will probably be the first of many celebrity estate cases that it will pursue.

You are probably not worth $434 million and your heirs won’t be faced with this kind of issue when you die.

However, knowing what your estate is worth and putting into place the correct type of plan to protect these assets for your loved one is critically important. If you don’t have a will, you should consult an estate attorney and get one written today. Otherwise, the government will decide what will happen to your assets and your family will have no say in the matter.

For information about estate planning, go to www.diesmart.com.