WHITNEY HOUSTON’S ESTATE SERVES AS LESSON IN PLANNING

Many Florida residents can probably agree that ideally, it is best that family members are not left quarreling after a person's passing. In an already emotionally trying time, perhaps the last thing that should cause further stress to loved ones is uncertainty involving matters such as how a person's assets should be divided and what a person's health care wishes are. Thankfully, a well-planned estate serves to protect against this scenario.

Unfortunately, one celebrity did not leave as clear and well-planned an estate as perhaps she could have. According to reports, Whitney Houston's family quarreled over what some speculated as estate matters.

Whitney's 21-year-old daughter married a man who had been raised as a son by Whitney since he was 12-years-old. While the nature of the relationship between her daughter and this man provided much fodder for the tabloids, it was also the source of some quarrels in Houston's family. Perhaps it is not only the nature of their relationship, but also the fact that Whitney's daughter turned 21, an age in which she could begin receiving her inheritance.

Whitney's daughter, as a result of perhaps poor estate planning, would have become a millionaire when she turned 21. Because Whitney never updated her will or created a revocable living trust, her daughter inherited a lot of assets that she was perhaps not capable of handling -- at least according to some of her family members. This is the result, according to the family members, of a failure on Whitney's part in updating her estate.

In order to preserve assets and distribute them in a way that will be of maximum benefit to loved ones, it is vital that estate planningis done thoroughly and carefully. What's more, the estate needs to be continually updated so as to accommodate for any familial changes -- like a divorce or birth of a child.

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On behalf of J. Kelly Kennedy, Attorney/CPA, PLLC, which has been acquired by Rignanese & Associates, PLLC.

Source: Forbes, “Whitney Houston’s Family Is Fighting - Is Estate Money To Blame,” Danielle and Andy Mayoras, March 31, 2014