Jarvis Law Office

B.B. King’s Estate Faces Lawsuit from Photographer

There often seems to be confusion in settling the estates of celebrities and a lawsuit filed recently against the estate of B.B. King adds his estate to the list as Billboard reports in “B.B. King Estate, Universal Music Sued By Photographer.”

King is known to have fathered at least 15 children by 15 different women. It is going to be difficult to sort out who gets what. With that battle underway the last thing the estate needed was to face a lawsuit.

Photographer Glen Craig alleges that pictures he took have been used without permission on King’s albums since 1971. The pictures have been used on several different albums, including those that have come out within the last year.

Craig is suing King’s estate and Universal Music Group, which produces King’s albums.

At this time there is very little detail available about the lawsuit, but it should be cause for great concern for the estate. The penalties for copyright infringement can be very high.

Reference: Billboard (July 11, 2016) “B.B. King Estate, Universal Music Sued By Photographer.”

Retirement Is Good Time to Review Estate Plan

Most estate planning attorneys suggest people review their estate plans every couple of years to make sure the plans continue to meet the needs of the person's current situation and goals. At a minimum, attorneys advise that any significant life changing event should trigger an estate plan review and possible update.

Retirement is a significant life changing event and a good time to review your estate plan as retirees have special considerations that need to be reviewed in their plans.

Recently, Wealth Management discussed this in “Estate Planning for an Aging Population.”

Things to consider include:

• Gifting Provisions – Many estate plans include provisions to allow ongoing gifting should that be necessary to avoid the estate tax. Retirees who know their estates will fall under the estate tax exemption might want to remove those provisions as they could be a tool unscrupulous people use in elder financial abuse schemes.
• Where to Live – The state you live in during retirement and where you create your estate plan can be very important as income taxes, state estate taxes and estate planning laws are different in different states.
• Retirement Trusts – These are interesting vehicles for people with IRAs who are planning on leaving money in the accounts for the benefit of their children. The trust allows the children to disclaim a portion of the IRA for the benefit of their own children. Thus, if the child does not need the full amount because he or she has plenty of other assets, the IRA funds can continue to grow and be available when needed by your grandchildren.

Talk to a qualified estate planning attorney about these and other estate planning matters.

Reference: Wealth Management (July 5, 2016) “Estate Planning for an Aging Population.”

Special Needs Create Additional Estate Planning Challenges

There are extra challenges for parents of children with special needs including passing on assets, according to a recent Market Watch article entitled “Parents of special needs children plan for two futures.”

There are two major legal vehicles parents will want to know about and consider taking advantage of:

• Special Needs Trusts – People with disabilities should not inherit assets outright as it could jeopardize their eligibility for government benefits. Instead a special needs trust should be created to hold assets for the benefit of the person with disabilities. These trusts must be created in a specific way, so the assistance of an estate planning attorney is necessary.
• ABLE Accounts – These accounts are not yet available, with the exception of in Ohio, but they will be very soon. These accounts will allow some people with disabilities to have assets in their own name and under their own control, with some restrictions. Parents should be able to set up these accounts for their children and take advantage of the annual gift tax exemption to fund the accounts. Different states will have different ABLE account systems, so parents should shop around and consult experts.

Reference: Market Watch (July 7, 2016) “Parents of special needs children plan for two futures.”

Parents and Adult Children Have Different Views on Elder Care

A new study of the expectations of different generations when it comes to their wants for old-age care is revealed in a Money article “Here’s What Your Aging Parents Say They Want You to Do for Them.”

The results of the study is disturbing as it shows that parents and their adult children have different expectations of the children’s roles in the parents’ elder years.

Some of the different expectations are:

• 90% of parents do not want their children to support them financially, but nearly a third of children expect to do so and are willing to.
• Most parents expect their children to act as their executors, but many children have no idea they are expected to fulfill that role.
• More parents expect that one of their adult children will be a caregiver for them than there are adult children who believe they will have to do so.
• Similarly, more parents think their adult children will help them handle financial decisions than there are children who think they will be asked to do so.

All of the above are potential sources of conflict between parents and adult children.

An elder law attorney can work on the communications within the family and perhaps resolve conflicts before they get started.

Reference: Money (June 28, 2016) “Here’s What Your Aging Parents Say They Want You to Do for Them.”

The Impact of Your State Residence on An Estate Plan

Your choice of state residence can be quite important as Barron's Penta Daily discussed recently in "How Community Property States Are Different," because it has implications for your estate plan.

The main difference between community property states and other states is in how marital assets are considered to be legally owned. In a community property state everything acquired during a marriage is considered to be equally owned by the husband and wife except for any inheritances solely made to one of them. Property acquired before the marriage is not community property.

This is different from other states where spouses can continue to acquire separate property after marriage.

Among the points to be considered are:

• Capital Gains – Community property states have a benefit for surviving spouses because the spouse receives a step-up basis on an entire home, for example, instead of only half the value of the home in other states.
• Gifts – If one spouse gives a gift of community property without the permission of the other, the spouse who did not make the gift can revoke it later.
• Life Insurance Trusts – Funding a life insurance trust for the benefit of a spouse needs to be done from non-community property or the entire purpose of the trust will be defeated.

An estate planning attorney can guide you on the legal implications of your state of residence or a state you are considering for a home.

Reference: Barron's Penta Daily (June 28, 2016) "How Community Property States Are Different"

Some Common Mistakes When Creating a Trust

Trusts can be quite complicated. And, your attorney will need your help in gathering all the information required and if that does not happen there can be problems as Barron's Penta Daily discusses in "Five Killer Mistakes Trust Lawyers Make."

Common mistakes include:

• Inheritance Planning – An attorney can make sure all of your current assets are planned for, but if you are expecting to receive a large inheritance in the future, then your attorney needs to know about that so it can be planned for as well.
• Multiple Attorneys – If you have different attorneys for different estate planning documents, then it is more likely that there will be contradictions in those documents. That can be expensive to sort out.
• Multiple Beneficiaries – It should not be assumed that one trust will work for everyone you wish to name as a beneficiary. Treat them as uniquely as circumstances require.
• Decanting – Attorneys and clients need to discuss whether the client wants trustees and beneficiaries to be able to modify the terms of the trust at a later date, to include "forum shopping" when it comes to finding more favorable state laws.
• Trust Termination – It is not always a good idea to create a trust that terminates at a specific time no matter what happens.

An estate planning attorney can guide you through the process of creating a trust but does need your assistance.

Reference: Barron's Penta Daily (June 18, 2016) "Five Killer Mistakes Trust Lawyers Make"

Pornography Collection Sparks More Controversy for Jackson's Estate

While the IRS and the Michael Jackson estate remain in a battle over millions of dollars another controversy has come to the surface as Fox News reports in "Michael Jackson's estate fights back at report detailing singer's creepy porn stash."

One way the estate could pay those taxes is by profiting off of the expected renewed interest when the 10^th anniversary of the singer's death comes in 2019. However, the latest revelations could make that more difficult.

At the time of his death Jackson was disgraced, but hoping to make a comeback. Although he was found not guilty of child molestation charges the accusations had taken a toll on his popularity. Much of that was forgiven by fans after Jackson passed away.

Now, those charges are back in the news as a police report has been released that details the singer's pornography collection.  

The estate claims everything in the police report is false. However, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Office has confirmed that the released documents appear to be their reports generated during the investigation into the child molestation charges.

In order to maximize the value of Jackson's music and publicity rights, Jackson's estate will have to hope fans either forget or forgive these latest revelations. If fans do not, the estate's fight with the IRS over the estate tax will take on even more importance.

Reference: Fox News (June 22, 2016) "Michael Jackson's estate fights back at report detailing singer's creepy porn stash."

Is Death the Time to Settle Old Scores?

Differences within families can sometimes be settled while others are carried right to the end but a German man named Hubert Martini decided to carry things to extremes as the Guardian reported in "Last slights: man writes own obituary banning relatives from funeral."

Most people tend to minimize their differences with family members and not look for disagreements that could hurt other family members. However, there are some people who just cannot do that.

Hubert Martini was definitely not one to let conflicts with family members go, so he wrote his own obituary, which was dutifully printed by a newspaper when he passed away. In it, Martini wrote that his five siblings and their families were all banned from his memorial service.

While most people do not go so far as to ban certain relatives from their funerals, the desire to take shots at disliked family members is not all that rare. Many people have sought to do so in their wills or by creating separate documents that should be distributed at their deaths to air their last grievances with family members.

The problem? This often creates discord in the family and hurts even those family members who are not mentioned negatively. People who want to use their deaths to settle scores should first consider whether they really do want other family members to take the collateral damage.

Reference: Guardian (July 1, 2016) "Last slights: man writes own obituary banning relatives from funeral."

Judge in Prince's Probate Case Denies Media Request

Courts have traditionally been flexible in allowing courtroom media coverage but high profile estate cases are a different matter as reported in the USA Today article "Prince estate judge: No cameras at Monday hearing."

Previously, in the probate case involving his estate, the judge barred cameras, audio recordings and sketch artists. News organizations have sought to intervene in the matter to gain access, but the judge recently declined their request to be heard for the time being and allowed that he might schedule a hearing on it later.

Prince was notorious for being extremely private about his personal life so it can be surmised that he would not want the media and television cameras near legal proceedings concerning his estate. Nevertheless, given the fact Prince did not have an estate plan his estate must go through the probate process, which is open to the public by default.

If the entertainer had taken the time to prepare an estate plan that avoided probate, then he could have distributed his estimated $300 million fortune in a way that preserved his privacy.

Reference: USA Today (June 25, 2016) "Prince estate judge: No cameras at Monday hearing."

Estate Planning Does Not Have to Be a Challenging Task

Taking a step-by-step approach to estate planning can make the process simpler as described recently in the Go Banking Rates article "Your Estate Planning Checklist: How to Create a Financially Sound Estate Plan."

For many people simply following these steps with the help of an estate planning attorney will be enough to create a solid estate plan:

• Get a general durable power of attorney so someone can manage your finances if you are unable to do so.
• Get a power of attorney for health care as well so someone can look out for your medical needs.
• Create a living will so doctors and hospitals know what procedures you want them to use or not to save your life.
• Create a will to decide who will get you possessions and take care of your children.
• Create a living trust so most of your assets do not have to go through probate.
• Write out instructions for your funeral if you wish to do so.
• List all of your accounts and important legal documents so your executor knows what to look for.
• Plan for your pets to be cared for if you have any.
• Make sure someone can access your digital accounts after your pass away.
• Review your plan every year to make sure it is up to date.

An estate planning attorney can guide you through the process of making an estate plan less daunting.

Reference: Go Banking Rates (June 22, 2016) "Your Estate Planning Checklist: How to Create a Financially Sound Estate Plan."