The Best LAID Plans

The easiest Small Estate Planning happens when the clients know exactly what they want. They take comfort in knowing that their best laid plans will come to fruition after they have passed away. But, (and there always is a but) please do not underestimate the lengths people will go to in order to corrupt your plans when there is enough money involved. The most recent situation I learned of arose from a 1967 Georgia trust that today, at least a few months ago, had a cash value of over $2,000,000. The settlor wanted to take care of his kids and grandkids. And that is where it went wrong. One beneficiary did not think she was receiving enough money. She went to Florida and adopted some “kids.” The thing is, the “kids” were grown men with living parents. No one contested the adoption in Florida. The beneficiary came back to Georgia where adoption law provides that adoptees are treated as natural children. They are afforded the same status, and guess what, inheritance rights. The beneficiary and the “grandkids” immediately filed suit in Georgia for their share of the trust. The other beneficiaries fought long and hard against this obviously reprehensible conduct. They lost. It was unfair, unconscionable, foul, and many other appropriate words, but they lost. The beneficiary in question played the Georgia law like a fiddle, and possibly was awarded attorney fees for the long, dirty battle.

Another case involved a homeless veteran. No one cared that he was living on the streets, cold, wet, hungry and hot. They didn’t care at all until they learned after his death that his estate was worth $500,000. Oh, how the fighting began. These types of cases sometimes result in changes of the law because courts cannot legislate. They can only intepret the laws they have been given. So n drafting a will or trust, an attorney should stay up-to-date on these cases to learn what not to do. Can you take care of your kids and grandkids? Absolutely, but know your kids and grandkids first. I feel pretty certain that the settlor above could not have imagined what his beneficiary would do, so documents sometimes have to be drafted based on the most unfair, unconscionable, foul, and many other appropriate relatives that may appear down the line. Take care of this before you are PLAYED to rest.