Preservation | Family Wealth Protection & Planning

Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul, died Aug. 16, 2018. Within days, her four sons filed court documents alleging that she died without a will or trust. If the court filing is confirmed and no will or trust is found, her estate will be considered “intestate.” In other words, Franklin gave no indication as to how her assets should be distributed when she died and the matter will need to be resolved under state law.

Listen, I get this. Time permitting, I like to do things myself, and in the information age, you can learn how to do almost anything on the internet. But should you try to draft your own estate plan or use a website to do it for you? I asked myself that question and gave it a whirl. Based on my experience, here are four key reasons I don’t recommend it.

After months of emotional and financial turmoil, a finalized divorce can be a welcome end to a stressful time. Now what? Before you move on with your life, make sure you truly sever all financial ties to your former spouse by updating, or even creating, your estate plan. Failure to do so can lead to unintended beneficiaries such as your former spouse claiming your assets at your death, resulting in costly litigation that can drag on for years after you die.

A good friend of mine called me in a panic the other day. She and her husband were leaving town for vacation and were worried about not having their estate plan in order. She asked how to name guardians for their four minor children, should she and her husband die.