However, we can only discuss the many reasons why you should have an estate plan so often. If you are reading this, then by now you know what many of those reasons are and you have heard them many times before. The real question is, if you know the reasons why you should have an estate plan, what is it that is stopping you from taking the next step and getting one?

The answer to that question will be different for different people. For some people it is time. For others it is the perceived expense of estate planning. Some people do not really want to think about their own mortality. It is important to think about why you have not yet gotten estate plan. What is your reason? If we know your reason, only then can we really help you understand how to overcome the problem and move forward with an estate plan.

If you would like to discuss why you do not have an estate plan, we would love to hear from you. We would like to talk about your reasons for not having one so that we can address them with you one on one.

It is still early in the estate process, but at this point it appears that Lakers owner Jerry Buss did a good job in planning his estate. The big issue with his estate was the ownership of the basketball team. The value of the team is high enough that there are obvious estate tax issues. Buss needed a way to leave the franchise to his family without forcing a sale to pay the estate tax. Initial reports indicate that he did this and his children will inherit the franchise. That is good news for Lakers’ fans.

It also good news for business owners everywhere. It lets you know that it is possible to leave your business to your family and not lose it to the estate tax. There are several different ways to accomplish this. If you have a business that you would like to leave to your family, then talk to an estate planning attorney about what your options are and how to pick the best option for your business and for your family.

Generally, Marley’s family has been very protective about how the late singer’s image and likeness can be used. They have even only supported one official documentary out of fear that the singer’s image might be tarnished. Rita Marley filed a lawsuit against Booker that alleged Booker was using the singer’s image to promote concerts and sell merchandise in violation of the family’s copyrights and trademarks. Booker maintained that before he passed away, Bob Marley had given him permission to do so. Booker filed a counter suit on that basis.

In this case, the sides were able to reach a settlement that resolved the issues between them. The problem is that the family fight occurred in the first place. Bob Marley’s mistake might have been telling one person one thing about his property, but not making it clear in his estate plan that he had done so. These situations often lead to family arguments. For most people the argument will not be about valuable, important image rights. However, even something as minor as telling a child that he or she will receive a particular item of personal property, but not making mention of it in your estate plan can lead to problems for your family.

New York is not one of the states that has such a law. If you think that it should, it would be a good idea to contact your state representative in Albany and express your concerns. Of course, even after doing so, it will take a long time for the legislature to enact any new law that takes care of the issue.

Someday, New York might have similar legislation to what is being considered in Nebraska. Until that time, there are things that you can do to make things easier on your relatives. The simplest thing to do is to just make sure that someone responsible can find your user names and passwords for the websites that you frequent. You can also make your accounts and access to them a part of your larger estate plan. If you do not do that, then your relatives will have to jump through the hoops just to update your Facebook page to let your distant friends know what happened to you. Talk to an estate planning attorney about the best option for your digital assets.

The new trend is to offer what they call estate planning organizers. Supposedly, you can use these organizers to gather all of the information that you need to plan your estate. Once, you have it all organized, then you can take it to a real attorney and get your estate plan done more easily. While that may sound like a good idea, it is completely unnecessary. These organizers are selling for hundreds of dollars. That is unnecessary money spent before you even start your actual estate planning. A few file folders are really all that you need to organize your documents to take to an estate planning attorney.

Of course, that is not the only problem with these organizers. Many are merely being used as loss-leaders to later sell people the worthless Living Trusts. Know who you are dealing with online. Make sure that before you spend anything to get an estate plan you are dealing with a licensed attorney.

In the early years of the United States, if one of the goals of your estate was to free slaves, then Thomas Jefferson would have been an excellent choice to designate as the Executor in your Will. Out of all of the founding fathers, Jefferson was the most outspoken in condemning slavery. The only reason he did not free his own slaves was that as property under the law, the slaves were subject to the claims of Jefferson’s many creditors. In 1798, a wealthy man named Tadeusz Kosciuszko nominated Jefferson to be the Executor of his Will, which left money that was to be used to purchase and free slaves. However, by the time that Kosciuszko passed away in 1817, Jefferson was in poor health and had to decline to serve as Executor. Eventually, litigation over the estate ensued and the money was never used to free slaves.

Make sure that you update your Will and name a new Executor when the person designated is no longer able to serve in that capacity.

Ustinov created a Will in 1968 and then got remarried a few years later. His Will is subject to Swiss law. The courts in that country ruled that the Will was too old and invalidated by the intervening marriage. Because of that ruling, Ustinov’s estate is treated as if he died intestate. Ordinarily, that would mean that the estate would all go to his wife. However, he had children from his previous marriage. They claim that Ustinov later created Trusts in England that are still valid. Apparently, the Trusts leave the majority of the estate to the children. The parties have been fighting about the estate for 9 years and there is no end in sight.

The real issue is that Ustinov did not update his Will when the circumstances of his life changed. He should have updated his estate plan when he got remarried. He then should have looked at his plan every few years to make any other changes. His failure to do so has many people believing that his entire estate has been spent on lawyers.

About a month before he passed away, Hemsley wrote a Will and left everything to a woman he claimed was his “beloved partner.” A man named Richard Thornton came out of nowhere to challenge the Will and claim that he was Hemsley’ half-brother. However, people familiar with Hemsley did not know about a brother. Recently, DNA tests confirmed that Thornton is Hemsley’s brother, which would ordinarily make the Will contest case much better. However, Thornton missed the deadline to have the DNA results entered in evidence in the case and the Court will not consider them.

Make sure that you hire an experienced Probate attorney as soon as you think you might want to contest a Will. You do not want to miss any important Probate deadlines.

Originally, Bobst’s estate was divided according to Letters Testamentary that he left behind. However, his heirs have recently discovered that after writing the Letters, he made a Will. This Will has just been discovered. Now, the Courts have had to reopen the estate to determine which document should be used in distributing the assets of the estate. The Court has recently decided to hold a trial on the matter. Obviously, this will be very expensive and witnesses may be difficult to track down, assuming that they are still alive.

Mae sure that if you create a new estate plan, that you destroy the documents of your old one. You should also make sure that your estate plan can be easily found. You do not want to have your estate reopened thirty years after the fact.

1) To determine how a person’s property will be distributed after he or she passes away. This is the oldest purpose of estate planning and what is usually thought about when people hear the term. There are many ways that an estate plan can serve this purpose.

2) To determine how a person’s financial and healthcare affairs will be protected if he or she is incapacitated. This is a much newer purpose of estate planning, but it is equally important.

3) To determine who will care for a person’s minor children if the parents pass away. Not all estate plans serve this purpose as not everyone has minor children.

That’s it. An estate plan is a collection of legal documents that serve one of those three purposes.