James Brown – The saga continues - estate planning for blended families

The legal battle over James Brown’s estate continues, despite an apparent break-through agreement between the respective parties. Specifically, the settlement provides that one-half of Brown’s assets would go to his charitable trust to educate his grandchildren and needy students in and Georgia and South Carolina.

The remainder would be split between Brown’s surviving spouse and some of Brown’s adult children. However, this is in contrast to the dispositive provisions provided in Brown’s Will and Trust.

Louis Levenson, an attorney for some of Brown’s adult children said that “…[r]ather than take the delay, rather than pay the cost and rather than risk an all-or-nothing outcome, the parties who were most interested…elected the wiser course, which was a settlement.” A significant portion of Brown’s estate has been lost due to this lawsuit. Nevertheless, the Judge said approval of a settlement will have to wait because of tax risks.

James Brown situation is one of a blended family. In the Brown case, Tomi Rae Hynie, the woman who says that she is Brown’s final spouse and the mother of his young son, claimed that the Will and Trust were not valid.

Blended families now outnumber traditional nuclear families. And, the number is likely to grow, based upon current divorce statistics and trends. Estate planning for blended families is complicated and potentially caustic. The circumstances surrounding the merging of two families, typically divorce or the death of a spouse, often produce emotional and psychological consequences that can have considerable and unpredictable effects. Even when blended family members seem to get along, estate planning can be complex. The potential for suspicion and acrimony among blended families can be so great that some people simply choose to avoid addressing the issue of inheritance altogether or to not update their estate planning documents until it is too late.

Regardless of whether children are reared in a traditional nuclear family or in a blended family, great care should be give to protect any inheritance, both for them and from them. As per the case of James Brown, an inheritance can quickly diminish through will contests due to lack of proper planning.

By: Todd C. Ratner, Esq.

Comments

[pakistanjobspk]

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[Shazia]

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[gary]

In addition to the inheritence being deminished by attorney fees, it will no doubt have lost quite a bit of value due to the market. Any idea who did the planning for the estate?

This is a great blog. Keep up the good work.

Gary