Thomas Kinkade painted serene, peaceful images of ozy cottages, gardens, streams, villages and rural churches. After his passing in April his story has been the opposite of what his paintings portrayed. Complications have arisen from his girlfriend. Thomas was in the process of being divorced but it had not been finalized. In 2000 he had set up a Trust and Pour-Over Will. So what is the problem you may ask? His girlfriend whith whom he lived with until he died has produced not one but two hand written wills that seem to defy his earlier wishes expressed in his earlier documents. If you would like to read more about the story you can find it here on the Forbes website. Debroah Jacobs wrote the article. Here is part of her summary.
What can others learn from this sad tale? The time between a separation and divorce is tricky, estate-wise. By law, spouses are entitled to inherit a minimum portion of each other?s assets (a third to a half, depending on the state), and unless they waive that right in a prenuptial agreement, it continues until the divorce is finalized. So it?s best for those who have separated to immediately revise their wills and trusts to leave the soon-to-be-ex no more than the required minimum.
You won?t be able to change your 401(k) since by federal law that money goes to a spouse, unless he or she has signed a form giving up rights to it. And in many states once a divorce is started you can?t change the beneficiaries of a life insurance policy or IRA until it is finalized.
It always comes down to planning and not procrastinating when changes need to be made. If Mr. Kinkades wishes had changed he should have gotten his attorney involved. Good adive for us all, good planning is no accident.
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