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“The Widow Lincoln” Sheds Light on Financial Lessons for Widows

As Mary Todd Lincoln’s character in “The Widow Lincoln” faces dozens of unpaid bills for home furnishings, clothes and jewelry, she asks, “How will I ever pay these debts? I am nothing. I am no one.” On top of moving out of the White House, mothering her sons and moving forward with her life, Lincoln must deal with all these financial stresses. She no longer has her husband to rely on for emotional support, income or an identity. It’s a crisis many women in the 21st century face, too.

A recent article in U.S. News & World Report, titled “Modern Money Lessons from Mary Todd Lincoln,” reports that experts recommend participating in money management throughout marriage and preparing for the possibility of one day being on your own, like many women eventually are, due to divorce or death.

Becoming a widow often means a drastic change and a new way of life, whether in 1865 or 2015. For many, it means understanding how to manage finances by yourself and experiencing less income, along with debilitating grief. 

The original article urges women to know their money thoroughly, regardless of life stage. Keep all financial paperwork, experts says, including estate planning documents, well-organized and easily accessible.

For example, couples should be able to answer these questions long before retirement:

• If my spouse were to die, how would that affect the household’s income?
• What would an expensive illness do to our retirement savings?
• If either spouse were to die, would the survivor be prepared to take over the management of the finances?

Both spouses need to have a basic grasp of monthly costs, saving and investment strategies, and the way to get to their funds quickly in an emergency. In addition, here are some tips for widows from the original article:

Replace Any Lost Income. Losses sustained from a pension, Social Security, and a spouse’s salary losses may be buoyed by the proceeds from a life insurance policy or other sources of money. Term life insurance, especially for young, healthy people, is relatively cheap. Consequently, it may make sense to purchase a 20- or 30-year policy before you reach your 40s.

Select Your "Trusted Person." Single seniors should have an individual who’s able to make financial decisions for them in case they become incapacitated.

Manage Your Financial Risk. Studies show that women tend to invest more conservatively than men. While spouses tend to balance each other out, when women become widows, it can mean that they might be overly cautious in their investments, creating a risk to inflation.

Experts also generally recommend holding off on any big moves during the first year following a spouse’s death, since the grieving process can interfere with good decision-making. Mrs. Lincoln could barely manage day-to-day tasks and wasn’t willing or able to leave the White House for more than a month after Abe died.

This story might be 150 years old, but its lessons still resonate today.

Contact Robert A. Gordon of Redkey Gordon Law Corp, an experienced estate planning attorney and be prepared come what may.

Reference: U.S. News & World Report (February 23, 2015) “Modern Money Lessons from Mary Todd Lincoln”

Divorced? Time to Update Your Estate Plan and Beneficiaries

Failure to do so — or to alert all relevant parties to the changes — could result in certain assets and benefits unintentionally going to your former spouse or his or her family upon your death.

A MarketWatch article, titled “Just divorced? Don’t forget to separate your estate plans,” shares a true life story of why we all need to pay close attention to our estate plans after a divorce.

Robyn Lewis executed a will in 1996 that named her then-husband to receive her property after her death. The property included the house—a home that had been in her family for generations. In her will she designated her then-father-in-law as the secondary beneficiary. Robyn ended up divorcing her husband, but no record was found of a change in her secondary beneficiary after the divorce.

Robyn passed away five years ago, and guess what? Her ex in-laws stand to inherit a $200,000 home even though she and her husband divorced eight years ago.

New York’s probate laws stipulate that a divorce automatically cuts out the ex-husband from a will. However, the laws do not cut out the secondary beneficiary—in this case, Robyn’s ex-father-in-law. He brought a copy of the 1996 will to the court.

Robyn’s family claims that she wrote a new will after her divorce that changed the beneficiaries, but they can’t find it to prove the change. As a result, last year a New York appellate court decided to uphold the 1996 will. Lawyers for Lewis’s family are appealing.

The lesson here is to stay on top of your estate plans. For Robyn (before she passed) and her family, it means drafting that new will and making sure that key individuals have a copy or know where to find it. Be certain that all of your estate planning documents— not only your will—but your power of attorney and health care proxy—clearly state your wishes and intentions.

Divorcing couples who have used an estate planner are counseled to work individually with a new attorney to avoid conflicts. A qualified estate planning attorney will ensure that new documents designate the correct individuals and state that they revoke and replace the older documents. Remember, beneficiary designations also should be reviewed and changed. The proceeds from these accounts and policies pass directly to the named individuals—regardless of what a will may say. The original article suggests that you obtain written confirmation from an insurance company that they received and made your beneficiary changes.

In addition, IRA money can be divided and rolled over into separate accounts by sending a letter to the plan administrator with proof of the divorce. Qualified retirement plans, however, such as company-sponsored ones, take a little more planning. Speak with your attorney about how to go about doing this because it involves a court order called a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. This gives you the right to a portion of the spouse’s 401(k) or other qualified-plan assets, pursuant to the divorce settlement.

Find out more by speaking with Robert A. Gordon, an experienced estate planning attorney from Redkey Gordon Law Corp.

Reference: MarketWatch (The Wall Street Journal) (February 23, 2015) “Just divorced? Don’t forget to separate your estate plans”

Mr. Cub’s Dementia Causes Much Debate over Estate

Ernie Banks died on January 23rd at age 83 from a heart condition.  Interestingly, his death certificate listed dementia as a “significant condition contributing” to his death.  Why is that important? Well, three months before he died, Banks signed a new set of estate planning documents, including a power of attorney, healthcare directive, new will, and a trust.

Ernie Banks signed a new set of estate planning documents that left his caregiver and talent agent, Regina Rice, in control of everything. This new will and trust totally left out his family members and named Rice as his sole beneficiary. Rice would stand to inherit not only whatever assets and wealth Ernie Banks accumulated during his life, but the right to control (and profit from) his name, likeness, and image.

Since Banks had dementia and made these changes a mere three months before his death, his children are planning to take Rice to court over Banks’ estate.

Forbes reports in a recent article, titled “Estate of Ernie Banks In Turmoil As Caregiver Claims To Be Sole Heir,” that the Banks children are claiming Rice coerced their father to sign the new estate planning documents, by controlling and manipulating him, using her position of trust and confidence to take advantage of his dementia to their detriment.

The parties already have been slugging it out over Mr. Cub’s wishes. Banks said in multiple past interviews that he wanted to be cremated when he died and have his ashes spread over Wrigley Field. His ex-wife, along with his children, sued to stop the cremation and won the right to have Banks buried. Interestingly, even though the couple was estranged and in the middle of divorce proceedings, Banks’ wife still was considered his next of kin, which gave her the right to control his burial arrangements.

As far as the fight over controlling his image and inheriting his assets, the Forbes article points out that it will certainly be much more complex and drawn out than the duel over how to bury the baseball great. Individuals can leave their assets to whomever they want, but they must be of sound mind and free from what the law calls “undue influence.” Families often fight over whether a will truly represented the decedent’s wishes, or whether it was signed under coercion, manipulation, fraud, or other improper influence.

Since Rice was in a position of trust over Banks, the law says that it is assumed on a preliminary basis that she did exercise undue influence. She’ll need to show that she did not commit undue influence, instead of the children being required to prove she did.

Although it remains to be seen how this will end, it’s already certain that this is a tragedy for the legacy of a baseball icon. Unfortunately, this isn’t uncommon. This type of fighting and court action occurs frequently up and down the economic ladder.

You can prevent an estate battle in your family with the help of Robert A. Gordon, an experienced estate planning attorney of Redkey Gordon Law Corp, long before a loved one has dementia or is possibly mentally incompetent.

Reference: Forbes (February 19, 2015) “Estate of Ernie Banks In Turmoil As Caregiver Claims To Be Sole Heir”

Family Feuds over Multimillion Dollar Estate

Dr. Richard Grossman amassed his fortune as the founder of the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles, one of the first to use a hyperbaric chamber to prevent infections in burn victims and speed their recovery. He retired from his medical practice in 2013. Lawyers for his children and widow now disagree on what Grossman intended to do with that wealth before he died.

If you aren’t crystal clear on your wishes in your estate planning documents, you may leave behind much speculation after you pass.

A recent article in the Thousand Oaks (CA) Acorn, titled “Battle over Grossman estate intensifies,” describes the contentious fight over a noted physician’s estate between his wife and his children from a previous marriage. With all of the assets going to the wife, the children assert that the doctor had advanced dementia and wasn’t able to make his own decisions.

The children are claiming that the doctor and his wife had a prenuptial agreement when they married in 2000 that kept the property of each separate. The children are seeking to keep her from selling Grossman’s main asset, Brookfield Farms. They believe that the doctor wanted to keep the estate in his family. They want the estate to be distributed in trust for the benefit of the doctor’s grandchildren and one of his children suffering from a neurological condition who needs family support to care for him.

Whether you own a million-dollar farm or a modest home in the suburbs, avoid fights like the Grossmans’ and seek out the assistance of Robert A. Gordon, an experienced estate planning attorney from Redkey Gordon Law Corp, to make sure that your intentions are clear and carried out.

Reference: Thousand Oaks (CA) Acorn (February 19, 2015) “Battle over Grossman estate intensifies”

Lawsuits upon Lawsuits – Battles over Marlon Brando’s Estate

In part due to questions about his true intentions as expressed in his will and trust, Brando’s estate was involved in more than two dozens lawsuits by 2009 — five years after his death. He passed away on July 1, 2004, at 80 years of age, suffering from a host of ailments including dementia and lung failure.

Marlon Brando once said “The only thing an actor owes his public is not to bore them.” Ironically, the public hasn’t been bored one bit since Brando’s passing as issues over his estate have made many headlines.

Right before his death eleven years ago, Marlon Brando couldn’t leave his bedroom and was so paranoid that he wanted the room padlocked at his death so no one would steal the buttons off of his shirt!

A recent article in Reelz, titled “Marlon Brando's Legacy Marred by Dozens of Lawsuits,” reports that even with this somewhat questionable mental state, Brando signed an amendment to his will just 13 days before his death. This new will replaced his personal assistant of 50 years and his long-time business manager with new executors. Although there have been claims that Marlon wasn’t competent and that the will change was a forgery, his new executors have kept tight control over his estate, image, and legacy—suing everyone from a furniture company selling a Brando chair, to Madonna (Madonna?) for using his image in a concert. The executors also have made a development deal for his private island in the South Pacific that will turn it into a swanky, eco-friendly resort for the rich and famous.

Is this what Brando wanted, many ask.

Likewise, many of Brando’s closest friends and loved ones have sued his estate, arguing that the executors have failed to honor his intentions, such as refusing to honor gifts and promises that were made while he was alive to these long-time friends and associates.

The Reelz article cautions that people often make the common mistake of assuming their executors will honor their true wishes. They think this even when such intentions are expressed verbally and when the will and trust aren’t changed to include the new wishes. The lawsuits filed involving Brando's estate were based on this precise issue. There was no one who said Brando told them they would receive more who actually got what they wanted. His estate spent millions of dollars on legal fees, and no one was happy with the results.

Don’t leave your affairs up to chance! Talk to Robert A. Gordon, an experienced estate planning attorney from Redkey Gordon Law Corp, and set out specific, detailed instructions in your will or trust to avoid headaches and litigation such as those of the Brando estate in the future.

Reference: Reelz (February 20, 2015) “Marlon Brando's Legacy Marred by Dozens of Lawsuits”