Estate planners and probate lawyers are anxiously awaiting Congress’s next move with regard to the estate tax. As many folks know, there is no estate tax in 2010. Heirs to billion dollar fortunes are making out like bandits if their benefactor dies in 2010 – kind of weird thing to read, isn’t it? But it’s true. Famous New York Yankees owner and billionaire George Steinbrenner died this year, and there have been others. One thought that’s been bandied about is that Congress could make the new estate tax retroactive to 2010. If this doesn’t put a rush on a probate I don’t know what will. Here’s a good update on the estate tax, where it stands now, and where it could go. Keep your local estate planner’s number handy. You may need it soon.
Posts Tagged ‘Probate Attorney’
Estate Planning – For What?
Thursday, August 5th, 2010Revocation of Prior Wills
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010It’s not uncommon to execute more than one will in your lifetime. In fact, estate planners recommend you have your will and estate plan reviewed on a periodic basis in order to ensure your estate will be distributed effectively and in a way that makes sense. After all, circumstances change. When a new will is executed, prior wills are revoked. Even though this is true, it is good practice to destroy prior wills to avoid possible confusion later.
In the Matter of Woodfield, 968 So.2d 421 (Miss. 2007), the Mississippi Supreme Court considered whether the withdrawal of a probated will containing such a revocation clause revived an earlier will. In this case, the executor initially sought to probate a will created by the testator in 2001. When a contest arose, the executor withdrew the 2001 will and sought to probate a will that had been signed by the testator in 1973. Importantly, the 2001 will had a clause revoking all prior wills. The executor argued that the withdrawal of the 2001 will revived the 1973 will. The Mississippi Supreme Court said that if the 2001 will was properly attested and executed, the 1973 will was revoked upon execution of 2001 will. Additionally, the Court cited case law from as far back as 1855, which stated, “a will duly executed according to the statutes, though prevented from taking effect in consequence of some matter dehors the will, as the incapacity of the person to whom the disposition is made to take, is a revocation of a former will.” Crosby v. Alton Ochsnew Medical Foundation, 276 So.2d 661, 669 (Miss. 1973) quoting Vining v. Hall, 40 Miss. 83, 107 (1866). See also Hairston v. Hairston, 30 Miss. 276 (1855).
Estate Tax Update
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010For those of you out there wondering just what is going on with the estate tax right now, here’s a good article by Kathy Kristof with a synopsis of what’s happening with the tax and what you might expect in the future. With these fluctuations in the estate tax, now is the time to plan your estate. If you already have a will, visit an attorney and review it to make sure your estate is protected for 2011!
Estate Tax: Will They or Won’t They?
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009Estate planners across the country are keeping an eye on Capitol Hill, where Congress is debating the future of the estate tax. The current estate tax exempts the first $3.5 million of assets from estate tax liability. In 2010 the estate tax will disappear completely, but if no action is taken the tax returns with a vengeance in 2011 at the much lower exemption rate of $1 million.
The current bet is that the 2009 rate with be extended at least for a year. Many in Congress would like to see the 2009 rate of $3.5 million per individual or $7 million per couple made permanent. A vocal group of Republicans would like to see the estate tax permanently repealed, but given their current minority status, that is unlikely. Here’s the latest from Bloomberg.com.
Th estate tax situation is obviously still developing, so stay tuned.
Probating a Lost Foreign Will
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009The Mississippi Court of Appeals recently found that Section 91-7-33 Miss. Code Ann. does not bar the initial proving of a lost foreign will in Mississippi where the will disposes of property in Mississippi. See In the Matter of the Estate of Artis High, Deceased: Arbella High Watt v. Gracie Cobb, Joe High and David High No. 2008-CA-00799-COA.
The Court of Appeals reversed a Chancery Court decision which held that where the testator was domiciled in another state, and the will was a lost will, the will could not be probated in Mississippi until it was first probated in the state of domicile.
The Court of Appeals emphasized that part of Section 91-7-33 which provides that the original “may be proven,” and aptly pointed out that the statute does not include mandatory language such as the word “must.”
Estates in the News
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009A couple estates have been in the news recently.
Mississippi native Steve McNair’s wife recently filed an inventory in his estate. According to the inventory, the estate’s estimated value is $19.6 million. I’m curious how much legal fees have been incurred by McNair’s failure to leave a Will. An inventory is often waived in a Will. Since McNair died intestate (without a will) his administrator, in this case his wife, was required to provide an inventory to the court. In an estate the size of McNair’s, this was probably costly, or at the very least time consuming.
Also in the news is the battle among Martin Luther King, Jr.’s heirs. I’ll bet Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the great men in our country’s history, never dreamed his family would fight over his estate one day. This is yet another example of the importance planning your estate. Who says probate isn’t interesting?