Problems Of Celebrities Reveal Much About All High Value Estates

The woes of the estate of Robin Williams has been well covered on this blog and serves as a good example of the flaws that can emerge even with the best of planning. However, many of the travails of his estate are endemic to high value legacies and require great diligence to protect against while planning. Here are some tips from a great article about planning for celebrity and high value estates:

• Use a trust with a pour over provision in a will to avoid details about the estate from emerging in probate.
• For clients with intellectual property or publicity rights, transfer the interest to a trust in order to avoid estate tax problems caused by those types of property.
• Make sure that the bulk of the wealth is protected from creditors; for families, a limited partnership, LLC, or trust may offer a great combination of protection and flexibility in managing the assets.
• Maximize the advantages that can be found in the federal estate tax by using the exclusions of both spouses and shop for states that have favorable tax and probate laws.
• Always make sure that a fiduciary is fully vetted before appointment. The lure of easy money siphoned from a large estate can easily corrupt, as a result, making sure the fiduciary will always act in the best interest of the beneficiaries is key

See Anthony Greco, Woe The Weak-Willed Celebrity, Private Wealth, July 10, 2015.