Jerry Orbach, who starred as Detective Lennie Briscoe in the popular “Law and Order” television series, died a decade ago, but a battle is brewing over his Chase bank account, according to a recent story in the New York Post.

The Chase bank account in dispute belongs to Orbach’s Mingoya Productions company, and is currently under the control of the actor’s former accountant, Patricia M. Black. Orbach added Black as a signatory to the company’s account a year before he died in 2004.

Black also served as executor of the estate of Orbach’s wife Elaine, who inherited his entire estate and who died in 2009. After Elaine died, her sister, Rita Hubbard, replaced Black as executor. Hubbard contacted Chase to inform them of the change in executor and request that Black be cut off from access to the account.

Chase says that Black has not responded to its many phone calls and letters, and is unwilling to turn the account over to Hubbard because it is unsure who the rightful owner of the account is since it has no proof that Elaine was ever a co-owner of Mingoya Productions.

Hubbard’s attorney says that Elaine’s estate is the sole owner of Mingoya Productions, and is therefore the rightful owner of the account.

A lawsuit has been filed in Manhattan to resolve the dispute.

This is the unfortunate effect of not having your estate planning set up properly. Many, many years after your death, your loved ones could still be dealing with the fall out.

Unlike many lawyers, we have specific procedures for ensuring your family doesn’t get stuck dealing with the Court when something happens to you.

If you would like more information about getting your affairs in order and handled well, call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk. We normally charge $750 for a Family Wealth Planning Session, but because this planning is so important, I’ve made space for the next two people who mention this article to have a complete planning session at no charge. Call today and mention this article.

If you read my blog post last month, titled 5 Fast & Furious Estate Planning Lessons from Paul Walker’s Estate you know I don’t like it when estate planning attorneys fail to take care of their clients. Now, Oscar-winning actor Philip Seymour Hoffman’s recently filed will provides another cautionary tale for all of us when it comes to estate planning mistakes.

Here are four things Hoffman’s lawyer could have – and should have – done differently:

Create a Revocable Living Trust. Hoffman was a public figure who valued his privacy. Yet by creating a will instead of a revocable living trust, he let the world in on his private life. We now all know that his son will inherit everything at age 30 and we’ll also know the total size of his estate when it’s inventoried and filed with the Court, as it must be. A will is public record, so every detail is available to anyone interested enough to look it up. A revocable living trust would have allowed him to keep his private wishes private and his son’s inheritance his son’s business, instead of everybody else’s.

Update your plan. Hoffman created his will in 2004 but never updated it, so his two youngest daughters are not mentioned or provided for in the will. His estate has been valued at $35 million, and his executor is his long-time companion who is also the mother of their three children. After born children are provided for by law, but Hoffman lost out on the opportunity to specifically direct their interests.

Cover your assets. While Hoffman did create a trust for his son Cooper, naming Cooper’s mother as sole trustee, that trust will dissolve once Cooper turns 30. And all assets distribute to Cooper outright at that time. Instead, Hoffman could have created a Lifetime Asset Protection Trust that would have kept Cooper’s inheritance safe from divorce, creditors, lawsuits and bankruptcy forever PLUS provided incentives to Cooper to grow the assets of the trust rather than squander them.

Use tax-saving strategies in your estate plan. Since Hoffman was not married to his long-time companion, there will be a monster sized estate tax bill to pay, both state and federal. The use of other tax-advantaged estate planning strategies like an Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust (ILIT) would have preserved assets and resulted in much more money going to Hoffman’s family and much less to the US Government.

To put the proper protections in place for your family, contact our office to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk. We normally charge $750 for a Family Estate Planning Session, but because this planning is so important, I’ve made space for the next two people who mention this article to have a complete planning session at no charge. Call 626.355.4000 today and mention this article.

Paul Walker, who starred in the Fast & Furious movie franchise, died tragically in a high speed car accident in Los Angeles last November at the age of 40. His estate was opened at the end of January in the Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara probate court, revealing that he left assets of approximately $25 million. He is survived by his 15-year-old daughter, Meadow.

So what can we learn by looking at the probate of Paul Walker’s Estate?

Put assets in a trust. Paul Walker intended to avoid the Court process called probate by creating a revocable living trust. A trust makes everything totally private and keeps it all out of Court. Unfortunately, while Paul Walker had a Trust, it wasn’t properly funded – in other words, his assets were never transferred into the trust … and this is an all too common estate planning failure, even when working with a lawyer because most lawyers simply do not handle trust funding, the single most important part of estate planning.

Properly fund your trust. The contents of Walker’s estate, who will inherit it and when, are now public knowledge because Walker’s lawyer didn’t take the necessary steps to make sure his Trust was properly funded. Sadly, this isn’t even a case of malpractice (though it should be) because it’s common practice in the world of estate planning lawyers. When you plan your estate, the most important thing you can do is ensure your assets are transferred properly.

Name guardians for minor children. Walker’s daughter, Meadow, is still a minor and he did name his own mother as guardian. But if he had not, there could have been a family fight, and a judge would have stepped in to make the final decision about who would raise Meadow. By nominating guardians you can avoid family fights over your children (and the assets that follow them) or ever having a judge – a total stranger – decide who will raise your children.

Don’t wait to do estate planning. Walker was 28 when he created his will in 2001. While we don’t know what prompted him to create an estate plan so early – perhaps it was the birth of his daughter- he did the right thing in planning early. Everyone over the age of eighteen should have a will, and if you have children you’ll want a more comprehensive estate plan so they are always protected and provided for, no matter what.

Keep estate plans updated. Not only did Walker’s attorney not ensure his assets were titled properly, but he never updated Walker’s plan from the original version created 12 years before he died. Walker’s net worth changed significantly during that time. If his estate is $25,000,000, as we’ve read, his family must pay over $5,000,000 in estate taxes. I think that’s unconscionable because with proper planning that could have all been structured to pass on to his family instead of the Government. To make sure all of your assets go to your family, you should update your estate plan at least every three years.

To learn more about putting the right legal and financial protections in place for your family, contact our office to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk. We normally charge $750 for a Family Estate Planning Session, but because this planning is so important, I’ve made space for the next two people who mention this article to have a complete planning session at no charge. Call today and mention this article.

On January 1, 2013, Congress passed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. If you have not reviewed your estate plan following the changes made to the estate and gift tax laws by this legislation, you need to ask yourself these 10 questions then schedule a meeting with your Family Trust Lawyer to ensure you have the answers:

1. Should your estate plan be updated to reflect the new laws, any new assets you may have acquired, or any other changes in your life over the last year?

2. Are your assets being tracked and documented so that if anything happens to you, your family knows exactly how to access your accounts and everything else you own?

3. If your family has a LLC or limited partnership, has it been maintained properly so as to comply with applicable tax laws?

4. If you made gifts to family or friends during the last year, are you within the exemption limit for the year?

5. Are you maximizing ALL opportunities for income tax deductions in 2013?

6. Are the people you designated as executor, trustee and beneficiaries of your trust still the right choices?

7. Are you employing the best strategies for year-end charitable gifts and contributions?

8. If you donate cash to a charity from an IRA, are you doing so properly?

9. Are there any opportunities to use a trust to protect your assets?

10. What should capital gains management strategies (or timing of long-term losses) should you be considering?

If you would like more information about creating or updating your estate plan, call our office today to schedule a time for us to sit down and talk. We normally charge $750 for a Family Wealth Planning Session, but because this planning is so important, I’ve made space for the next two people who mention this article to have a complete planning session at no charge. Call today and mention this article.