Episode 25: Litigation in the Living Room: Tackling Estate Wars

Estate Planning Lawyer, Peter Klenk

Litigation in the Living Room: Tackling Estate Wars

Hi folks. It’s Peter Klenk, Klenk Law. Getting together one more time to talk about all this fun, death, and taxes stuff. Yay.

So, you know, it all comes our way, guys. And it’s nice just to be organized about it. And if you have questions about things, of course, reach out to me.

But today, what we’re talking about is litigation in the living room — tackling the estate wars. Sounds like a great title. But what are we talking about?

Disputes. You know, when you’re dealing with trusts and estates, these things are usually family matters. They come out of the living room, right? The disputes come from people sitting around talking to people about what they’re angry about.

And a lot of times what happens stays in the living room. It simmers. Estates stay open for years and years. And bad feelings, right? They go through.

So let’s just talk about what that really is and try to help with some ideas of avoiding it.

First, in all these subjects that we talk about, it kinda boils down to the same thing: You gotta be honest with yourself and honest about the people you’re dealing with. Look, there’s just not that many families where everybody gets along and everybody is honest.

If you have that family, God bless you, because the odds are there’s always somebody, right, that’s gonna be in conflict. And that’s not bad. I mean, that’s just the way life is. Not all kids get along. It’s just the way it is. Not all siblings get along — especially daughter- and son-in-law. Don’t always get along with folks, right?

Disputes can come. Most of the things we see can be avoided if you really put some planning into it. But guys, be honest. I joke about death and taxes, but that’s what it is.

It’s unpleasant. You don’t really want to sit around talking about it. But you got to, right? To avoid this.

Otherwise, you end up with families that don’t speak to each other and people spending a bunch of money and bad blood. And your wishes are not being respected. And that’s really the goal here — to make sure that what you want happens.

This is your stuff we’re talking about. You put it together. You put a lot of hard work into this over your lifetime. And it should go and be enjoyed by whomever you want after you go.

So let’s make sure that happens. And mostly, again, avoiding the litigation is to do good planning.

Now, what litigation are we talking about?

Well, when somebody passes — remember — you don’t get to take it with you. It all stays. It all goes somewhere. But there is a system to oversee that process. And it’s been that way since the beginning of time. Right? Some priest or some king was overseeing how the assets passed between family members and the rules.

In the States, we have fifty different probate systems — one for each state. They’re all different. And there are these rules that have come up about who’s supposed to get what and how the process works.

So you want to work within that because over the centuries, ways have developed to make sure that your wishes are respected. But if you don’t follow those rules, well, now you really are potentially opening it up to some type of dispute.

And of course, somebody from their living room calls a lawyer and says, “Here’s what the will says.” And they say, “Well, that’s kind of odd,” and off you go. Right?

So in part, this is gonna be about communication too. It’s not easy talking to your heirs about what you’re planning to do. But if there’s a dispute brewing out there, waiting, I’m gonna prompt you to try to make sure that everybody’s on the same page before you go.

Whether they like it or not — that’s not the point. Make sure that everybody understands what your wishes are.

What is the litigation?

Well, once you pass — whether you use a revocable trust or a will, beneficiary designations — any interested party has a right to go to court. In Pennsylvania, it’s called the Orphans’ Court; in New Jersey, Surrogate’s Court. Depends on where you’re at.

They can make a claim and say that they should be getting more money. And there are any number of ways you can do that. You can talk to our litigation department. There’s tons of ways you can challenge and dispute things.

Then the court has the authority to oversee and look into the evidence that people bring to them and decide what’s being done.

Well, it’s a very expensive, time-consuming process. Rightfully so — it should be very slow and methodical to get the right answer.

Data has to be gathered. Subpoenas, witnesses, records have to be brought in. Experts have to testify. It gets to be this very complicated process that very few people enjoy going through — and again — can make for bad feelings for generations between family members as you go through.

So it will be there. Your situation will be sorted out. But with some planning ahead of time, this thing can be all sorted out with some ruffled feathers maybe — but done within a year — rather than families being dead set against each other for generations, and taking years to sort out.

So, planning is essential as we go through. Being honest about the people you’re dealing with and having some clarity about your plans.

And sometimes, I’m just letting you know — we’ve been doing this — I’ve been doing this since I was in the Navy, as a JAG lawyer back in Desert Storm. I’ve been doing this a long time.

So you might have some ideas you’re gonna come up with — might sound really good to you — but if you talk to me about them, I can tell you where the trouble is hidden. Right? The potential conflicts that are gonna exist.

And hopefully then we can work through and avoid that. So we can get you where you want to go, guys. Let’s just do it in a way that gets you what you want as we go through.

Alright. Well anyway, if you have questions, give us a ring: 215-790-1095. That’s our main office. We’ll connect you and schedule a time with the right person for you to speak to in whichever department you need. We’d be happy to help you out.

So be well, and like and subscribe, please, so that as I release more of these, we can talk more in the future.