IANAL At that level of wealth an estate plan (a trust, pour-over will, power of attorney, health directive, asset listing, etc) would be more efficient (less costly in time and money to...
IANAL
At that level of wealth an estate plan (a trust, pour-over will, power of attorney, health directive, asset listing, etc) would be more efficient (less costly in time and money to administrate, and less contestable if trustor was sound of mind) than a will. In California, you need to go through probate which usually means the heirs need to hire an attorney and wait (months to years depending on the complexity of the estate, even longer if the heirs fight) for a local court to approve any judgments and distributions.
That's not to say a trust is fool-proof, since the successor trustee may be incompetent or even drain the estate assets for themselves.
Doesn't sound like the money went to the people Brown would have wanted it to, but it all seems pretty fair. Lacking a will, deciding who the money would go to based on an investigation of closed...
Doesn't sound like the money went to the people Brown would have wanted it to, but it all seems pretty fair. Lacking a will, deciding who the money would go to based on an investigation of closed friends would open up a whole can of worms.
I'm not sure what the take away from this article is, but it makes me think that I should write a will (at 30)!
IANAL
At that level of wealth an estate plan (a trust, pour-over will, power of attorney, health directive, asset listing, etc) would be more efficient (less costly in time and money to administrate, and less contestable if trustor was sound of mind) than a will. In California, you need to go through probate which usually means the heirs need to hire an attorney and wait (months to years depending on the complexity of the estate, even longer if the heirs fight) for a local court to approve any judgments and distributions.
That's not to say a trust is fool-proof, since the successor trustee may be incompetent or even drain the estate assets for themselves.
Doesn't sound like the money went to the people Brown would have wanted it to, but it all seems pretty fair. Lacking a will, deciding who the money would go to based on an investigation of closed friends would open up a whole can of worms.
I'm not sure what the take away from this article is, but it makes me think that I should write a will (at 30)!