Avoiding Estate Battles

As I have previouslydiscussed, the estate of Huguette Clark, the wealthy recluse who willinglyspent the last 20 of her 104 years in a hospital, has sparked a court battlebetween the distant relatives that would inherit her fortune under her first willand the caregiver and charities that stand to benefit from her secondwill.  The predicament surrounding Clark’sestate can teach us all something about how to avoid estate battles.

First of all, one of themost common situations involving a will dispute occurs when an estate isdivided unevenly.  If you have to intentionallyleave someone out, lay out your wishes in detail in every estate planningdocument you execute over the years. Many other will disputes occur amongst distant relatives, or “laughingheirs.”  Simple advice would be not toname distant relatives who you don’t know the name of.

Leaving collectibles isanother common issue.  In the case ofHuguette Clark, she left a Monet painting to the Corcoran Gallery that it doesn’t even want.  Before leaving tangibleitems, check first with the person or institution to see if it’s wanted.  If not, the charitable gift would go backinto the estate and be subject to tax.

An easy way to preventdisputes is to make contesting a will too risky for anyone to take.  A no-contest clause would leave a little bitto an otherwise disinherited child, and if they were to contest and lose, theywould get nothing.  Another option is to usea will substitute like a revocable trust that allows access to assets whilekeeping them out of probate.

See

 Paul Sullivan, How to Avoid an Estate Battle After You Die, The New York Times, June 14, 2013.