Individuals with highly-valuable personal property often expect to have a positive impact on others after they die. They believe that their resources should go to their loved ones who they named as beneficiaries or who should inherit as heirs under intestate succession laws.
Unfortunately, bigger estates tend to go hand-in-hand with a greater likelihood of legal complications and family disputes. People who know that a loved one has valuable property may develop a sense of entitlement. They may also decide that damaging their relationships with one another is worth it if they can inherit more of the property owned by their loved one.
The bigger an individual’s estate becomes, the more important it is for them to develop a robust, thorough estate plan. Otherwise, their family members could end up fighting intensely over the property that they leave behind when they die and diminishing the size of the estate as a result.
No-contest causes aren’t an option
In many other jurisdictions, people with high-value resources may choose to add special clauses to their estate plans penalizing unnecessary probate litigation. No-contest clauses can be a powerful deterrent against greed-motivated lawsuits, but they aren’t an option in Florida. State law prohibits the enforcement of such clauses, although the inclusion of one does not necessarily invalidate a will. Testators may need to come up with more creative solutions for preventing their loved ones from fighting over their property.
Trusts and attempts to bypass probate are useful
Many people choose to fund trusts as a way of diminishing the likelihood of probate litigation. Trusts tend to be more difficult to contest than wills and give testators an opportunity to describe their legacy wishes at greater length than a will does.
There are also other ways to keep high-value assets out of probate court and to protect them from probate litigation. Testators can file transfer-on-death designations for financial assets and sign deeds for real property. They can make gifts to their family members or add their spouses as co-owners for their most valuable holdings. Reviewing (with a skilled legal team) the specific assets that a testator hopes to pass on to others after they die can help them find the best solutions available given the contents of their estate.
A thorough estate plan can minimize conflict among beneficiaries and protect assets from liquidation to pay for probate litigation. Individuals who have achieved professional success and who have assets worth protecting may need to be more cautious about their estate plans rather than assuming that their high-value assets will ensure that their legacy is a positive one.