Stan Lee’s Tangled Web of Estate Planning and How to Avoid it in Your Own Life
Stan Lee, former Marvel Comics publisher and chairman, passed away this week at the age of 95. Lee is survived by his 68-year-old daughter J.C., who also had the challenge of handling her mother’s passage this past year as well. Stand and Joan were married for almost 70 years. It is yet unknown if Lee had a trust or a will. Several celebrities have foregone estate planning documents recently, including Aretha Franklin and Prince.
Estate planning can be an emotional process, and maintaining one can be especially tricky as a person ages, especially if the person has cognitive degeneration. This was a potential concern for Lee, who first claimed that his daughter had befriended three men and that all four individuals were conspiring to take advantage of him, then rescinded the claim three days later. It is best to decide the issues of who will take care of personal and financial decisions before an elderly person declines. “Older people get less confident in what they’re doing, and they get more susceptible to being influenced by other people who may not have the best of intentions,” said David Lehn, partner in the private client and tax team of Withers.
Lee admitted that in the beginning he worked with several attorneys and managers that either did not have the best intentions or were simply not trustworthy. Now, one of the greatest complications of Lee’s estate, and specifically his daughter, will be dealing with the numerous documents potentially floating around because of these past relationships. Even people without millions of dollars and a career creating iconic superheroes should prepare for the future they will and will not be in.
See Alessandra Malito, Stan Lee’s Tangled Web of Estate Planning and How to Avoid it in Your Own Life, Market Watch, November 17, 2018.
Special thanks to Carissa Peterson (Hrbacek Law Firm, Sugar Land, Texas) for bringing this article to my attention.