611 Druid Rd E • Suite 105 • Clearwater, FL 33756 • 727.441.9022
Meridian One Building • 4350 West Cypress Street • Suite 225 • Tampa, FL 33607 • 813.405.4846
ARETHA, PRINCE, TOM AND…YOU
What do these famous musical artists all have in common?
They all died leaving their vast fortune in a very messy state
of affairs. It is not a club you want to join. Franklin with four
children, Prince with six siblings and Petty with a wife and two
daughters from a former marriage either died without a will or
had a trust with language open to interpretation that subsequently
led to a lawsuit.
With something as basic as a will and/or living trust, why would
such wealthy and hopefully well advised people not have a will?
In Franklin’s case, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, so
it was not sudden. She had time and that may have been the
problem, she thought she had more time and procrastinated.
Prince was “only” age 57 before his drug overdose. No need to
hurry at such a young age. Petty had a will and a trust, but the
language is now left to interpretation by a judge.
Dying without a will means dying “intestate” which leaves it
to the law and/or the probate courts to decide who gets what.
It took two years for a judge to rule that Prince’s six siblings were
the rightful heirs. So if you think you are procrastinating, not
to worry, you have a will – just not the one you probably want.
So quit procrastinating. You are not going to die just because
you have an estate plan.
What does all of this mean to you? It means if you do not have
a properly drafted estate plan or you have not reviewed it in the
past five years, NOW is the time to call your advisors (lawyer,
accountant and financial planner) together to obtain their collective
knowledge and recommendations.
It would all be easy if it was just about “having” a will, living
trust, power of attorney, health care surrogate, and living will.
A simple estate plan leaves the estate to the surviving spouse and
then equally amongst the children. However, things are often not
90 TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE | JULY/AUGUST 2019
V. Raymond Ferrara, CFP®
Chairman
Chief Executive Officer
Eric R. Ebbert, MBA, CFP®
President
that simple. Maybe one of the children isn’t prepared to handle the
inheritance, another may be in a shaky marriage, maybe a family
business is involved and children need to be treated differently,
maybe there is a special needs child and the list goes on.
In addition, these documents are equally helpful during life.
They give you the opportunity make decisions in case of your
disability or incapacitation. Whom do you want to act on your
behalf if you cannot? Under what terms and conditions do you
want medical treatment to end?
Having documents is one thing, but making sure that they
say unequivocally what you want is another. In Petty’s trust, he
used the terminology “equal participation” with regards to his
wife and his two daughters; but does that mean management
of and/or distribution from the trust?
Will you leave the estate directly to the children, or perhaps
better to the children in a trust with liberal terms of distribution
which might also provide asset protection from creditors or in the
case of a divorce? Naming a trustee is another tough decision.
A relative, business partner, lawyer, or a trust company?
Many resist the use of a trust company because of the
additional costs, which can sometimes be quite high, and the
lack of a relationship with the beneficiaries. These are just two
of the reasons that we helped form a national trust company
almost twenty years ago for our clients. They get lower cost in
most cases and the trust continues the relationship with us – your
trusted advisor who came to understand your wishes and values.
Most of our clients have found it beneficial to discuss these
difficult decisions with us before visiting a lawyer. We always offer
a complimentary consultation so join our club instead of Aretha’s,
Prince’s and Tom’s. We are available in either our Clearwater or
Tampa office. Please do not procrastinate further.
About ProVise Management Group, LLC: ProVise is a financial planning and investment management firm registered with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) and has been in business since 1987. Our 14 professional advisors serve approximately 1100 clients in over 30 states. As of 3/31/19 we
were managing approximately $1.365 billion for our individual, corporate, not-for-profit and 401k retirement plans. Please visit our website at: provise.com.
Investment Advisory Services offered through ProVise Management Group, LLC. The information herein is general and educational in nature and should
not be considered legal or tax advice. Tax laws and regulations are complex and are subject to change.