George Lucas’ sale of Lucasfilms to Disney is being touted as an estate planning move because his heirs no longer have to be concerned about running the company after his death. It can also be considered an income tax move because he is taking advantage of the 15% capital gains tax rate before it is increased to 20% on January 1. I think it is a creative move because the Star Wars franchise has to rebound from the nadir of Jar Jar Binks and the 3 most recent episodes.
Trusts are like beer, chocolate, and coffee in that there is not anything they can not do.
For those who fear the probate process and think that it takes years, the below case will not quell their fears. A trust subject to probate administration in Cincinnati is being terminated after 160 years. Most probate matters are concluded in 1/160th of that time.
To finish Estate Planning Awareness Week, Forbes has linked an oft repeated story of celebrity estate planning mistakes of varying degrees. There are some lessons to be gleaned, but I take exception to the Chief Justice Burger inclusion. Every version of this link I have seen repeats ad nauseam that he made a mistake by drafting his own will and not creating a trust. What no one explains is that the Chief Justice drafted his will after his wife had died. Once she was gone, a trust would not have provided any estate tax benefits. Just as one should not rely on the “fact checkers” during this election season, one should not trust writers who endlessly cycle the same point of view on a story without objectively thinking about it. They might be as credible as Candy Crawley.