Today I continue my in depth review of Michael Jackson’s Trust. Part 1 is here, and you can download a full copy of the Trust here. Today we start talking about the real meat of the trust — the dispositive provisions. In other words, who gets what? Article Three of the Trust provides that upon… Read More
An In Depth Review of Michael Jackson’s Trust – Part 1
I don’t want people to think that I’m obsessed with Michael Jackson. I’m not. However, I am very interested in proper estate planning, and I think that others should be too. The Michael Jackson case is useful because it can show “ordinary” people what to do and what not to do with regards to their… Read More
Michael Jackson’s Revocable Living Trust Posted
I must have missed the news yesterday, but thanks to Julie Garber’s Wills and Estate Planning Blog I found out that Michael Jackson’s Revocable Living Trust was posted yesterday at the News of the World site. Â As I have previously written, MIchael Jackson had a “pourover” will that was filed with the Court back in… Read More
Download complete Michael Jackson Trust here
I have compiled the complete copy of Michael Jackson’s Trust here.
Michael Jackson Did Not Leave me $5,000,000 in His Will
However, I just received an email from a scam artist claiming he did. I hope that everyone knows that these types of email are always false and are always scams. Michael Jackson did not leave you money in his will, and the widow of the prince of Nigeria doesn’t need your help getting $10,000,000 out… Read More
Surge in Online Wills Possible — This is not a good thing
Professor Beyer over at the Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog links to an article in L.A. Times titled, Wrangling over Michael Jackson’s Estate could revive sales of online wills. While it is a good thing for people who have no estate planning documents to take steps to get them done, an online will is not… Read More
Valuation, Timing, and Michael Jackson
Today I am going to use the Michael Jackson case (yet again) as an example to discuss the important issue of timing when determining the value of assets included in a Decedent’s estate for estate tax purposes. As I’ve written before, the estate tax generally is imposed upon the value of a decedent’s estate at… Read More
Valuation, the Estate Tax, and Timing
I’m out of town for the weekend, so blogging will be light. But I wanted to ask a quick question for people to ponder. I’ve written that the estate tax applies to the value of property owned by a decedent at death. The question I have is this. Is it the instant before death, or… Read More
Kiplinger.com — 4 Estate Planning Lessons from Michael Jackson
I was interviewed last week by Kiplinger Magazine regarding some of the legal issues involving the Michael Jackson estate. The article has been published and is here.
Valuation — A Critical Component of Estate Planning for the Wealthy
As I have previously written, the estate tax is imposed upon taxable estates of more than $3,500,000. Any amount over $3,500,000 is currently taxed at the rate of 45%. As an estate planning attorney, my clients generally fall into one of three categories: People whose assets are far below the lifetime exemption People whose assets… Read More