Lessons that You Can Learn from Michael Jackson's Will

When Michael Jackson died, there was a great deal of conversation in the media about who would inherit his estate. It was believed that he had over $400 million in debts but that when his assets were sold or invested, that he would have about $500 million in his estate. Most of the “experts” on television thought that he would not have a will and that there would be a court fight between his mother, who quickly proceeded to get herself appointed as the administrator of his estate, and Debbie Rowe, who is the mother of two of his children (and his children would be his heirs under California law). It was something of a surprise when a will that was signed in 2002 surfaced and was admitted to probate. This will ended all of the speculation of how his estate would be distributed. In addition, the will named who he wished the court to appoint as the guardian of his children and named a back-up guardian in case his first choice would not or could not serve.

Since the will was submitted for probate, it became a public document and can be viewed here: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/8016703/Michael-Jacksons-Will

The will is fairly short and gives Jackson’s entire estate to the trustee of the Michael Jackson Family Trust. Since the trust agreement was not attached to the will, the world will never know exactly how the estate will be distributed.

What does the Michael Jackson will teach you about estate planning? First, there will be no squabbling among your relatives and others if you have a will. A properly signed, witnessed and notarized will that is submitted for probate will dispose of your assets as you wish, not as your family, or ex-relatives, or the lover that you never married, or a probate judge wishes.

Secondly, if you do choose to create a trust, the rest of the world will never find out how you wished to have your estate distributed. For some of us, that is an important consideration, for others, they don’t care because they believe they have nothing to hide. This will also shows us that if you set up a trust, you must re-title all of your assets into the trust. This is because if you have no assets that you own as an individual, then you don’t need to probate a will. Unfortunately, most people who create trusts do not remember to put all of their assets into the name of the trust. So they must have a will and submit that will so the assets that were not in the trust can be distributed the way that you want.

And thirdly, someone, hopefully the executor that you have chosen, knows where the will is located so that it can be probated. If you have had a will signed but cannot remember where you have stored it, then it is as if you had never signed the will. Once you have signed your will, keep it in a safe place and tell your executor and successor executor where you are putting it so that they will know where to look when the time comes.

So, here are three estate planning lessons to learn: 1) have a properly drafted, signed, witnessed, and notarized will; 2) if you have a living trust, make sure that all of the assets that you own, either as an individual or as a tenant in common, are re-titled into the name of the trustee of the trust; and 3) make sure that your executor and successor executor know where your will is located and can get the original to submit to the court.

Please feel free to forward this blog post to friends, family, colleagues, listserv members or favorite bloggers. Or if you would like to run it (in whole or in part) in any publication or quote from it, simply include my name and URL: http://www.mortgagelicensesolutions.com. No prior permission needed. To inquire about joining my list to receive my blog posts or my availability to speak to your group or write an article for your publication, please email me at RGronsky@Gronskylaw.com. Thank you!