Wakefield Massachusetts Estate Planning & Elder Law Blog

While every Massachusetts resident over the age of 18 should have an estate plan, there is even more reason for entrepreneurs to outline what should happen to their business assets after their death. One notable example is Prince.

In April of 2018, Forbes reported that though two years had passed since the death of Prince, world-renowned American musician, his family had yet to receive a cent from his estate. This is despite the fact that he was worth an estimated $200 million at the time of his death. So, why the delay? The talented musician allegedly failed to plan his estate or write a will. This is an issue because in the absence of estate planning, property previously owned by the deceased goes through a complicated process before distribution. This may take several years to resolve.

When it comes to your health care, it is never too early to create a Massachusetts advance directive regarding the medical options you prefer. According to the American Bar Association, you should carefully consider each aspect of the directive before you put your health care choices in writing.

Your priorities and concerns will affect the outcome of these considerations as you prepare your advance health care plan.

If you are ready to begin your estate plan, you may be thinking about who to name as beneficiaries in your will, and how you can divide assets fairly. However, not everything goes in a will. At Curley Law Firm LLP, our legal team assists people in identifying which assets to include in the will, and which may need to be addressed through other methods.

Joint tenancy property, which is any property that has a joint owner, will become your co-owner's property when you die, as FindLaw explains. For example, if you and your spouse own a home together, there is no need to put the house in the will. If you are not married and you want to leave your house to someone, you may have the option to add them as a joint owner and forgo mention of the property in the will.

One important element to remember about estate planning is that it is rarely a singular process. Wakefield residents asked to serve as executors or personal representatives may be asked to continue to serve in (or return to) the roles over a period of months, years or even decades. This is especially true in cases involving intellectual and artistic assets, as the future use of those assets will have to be done with the permission (and at times, the oversight) of the estate. In certain cases, litigation may even result of an estate-protected element's representation. 

That is exactly what happened with the stage adaption of the iconic American novel . Famed screenwriter Aaron Sorkin was authorized by Harper Lee (the novel's author) to adapt the story to a Broadway script shortly before her death. Yet despite the novel tackling racial issues that remain relevant in today's world, its treatment of those issues reflects the attitudes of the time when Lee wrote the novel decades ago. Thus, reports say that Sorkin attempted to introduce more contemporary elements into the story. Representatives from Lee's estate, however, were concerned about how those changes would impact the perception of the novel's iconic characters. A lawsuit was filed objecting to the changes. After discussions, the estate agreed to drop many of its objections in return for some of new content to be removed. The producers of the play agreed, and the production is now set to begin its run on Broadway.