Blunders 7Don’t make these same mistakes when
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preparing your assets for your family’s future.
I’ve tried to impress upon my parents the importance of preparing a will or trust for their life
savings to avoid the need for courts or attorneys as well as family wars over who gets what. If they
won’t listen to me, are there some short-form examples that estate attorneys provide to support my
efforts in convincing my parents to plan before it’s too late? Q:
By Kristen M. Jackson, Jackson Law P.A.
A:Too many people try to
save a penny by not hiring
an attorney to assist
in protecting their assets. Death too
often inflicts horrifying anguish upon
beneficiaries. Of the thousands of examples,
the following are a few selfinflicted
blunders that may assist in
explaining the importance of estate
planning.
1. A second marriage for both husband
and wife, each with children
from previous marriages.
The couple combined all of their
assets, including a home purchased
by the husband during his
first marriage. The husband died
and his second wife died a month
later. Result: The second wife’s
10 Central Florida Lifestyle | August 2019
children got everything; the husband’s
children got nothing.
2. A divorced father designated his
minor child as beneficiary of his life
insurance. At his death, a court-supervised
guardianship was required
to manage insurance benefits until
the child turned 18. Result: Thousands
of dollars lost from unnecessary
legal fees.
3. A mother’s revocable trust left her
estate to her three children. Unaware
of his substance abuse problem,
she named her oldest son as
trustee. At death, she had $195,000
in the bank, which he withdrew,
squandered on drugs and is now
homeless. Result: The other two
children got nothing.
4. Parents gave their daughter a new
car for her 18th birthday. They
titled the car jointly with their
daughter, who caused an accident
that killed two people. Result:
The parents were sued for wrongful
death and their life savings
were severely decreased to pay for
damages.
5. A retired engineer wrote his own
will by copying legal text from his
parents’ wills written 50 years earlier.
Result: When he died, his wife
owed hundreds of thousands of
dollars in estate tax that could have
been avoided entirely with proper
trust planning.
6. A man divorced and remarried, living
happily with his second wife for
20 years before his death. He had
a $300,000 life insurance policy
from his employer naming his first
wife as beneficiary. It was never updated
after his divorce. Result: His
first wife received all life insurance
money; the second wife got none.
7. To avoid probate, a widow deeded
her condominium to her daughter.
Two years later, the daughter
died. Result: The deceased daughter’s
son, as the rightful heir to his
mother’s estate, filed probate, obtained
title to the condominium
and evicted his grandmother.
Don’t impact your family with
self-inflicted blunders. See an estate
planning attorney today.
Kristen M. Jackson is the founding
partner of Jackson Law PA
(407-363-9020). She is experienced
in estate planning, real estate law,
business and contract law. Her firm
has earned an AV rating by Martindale-
Hubbell signifying the highest level of
professional excellence as obtained
through opinions from members of
the bar and judiciary.