Blog & Resources

Crafting an estate plan for a client means listening to what the client wants, explaining options to the client and then drafting a plan to meet the option selected. At times, a client’s circumstances require imaginative ideas. Here are some examples of imaginative estate planning that Klenk Law has utilized recently.

1. Protectors:
It remains a mystery to me why more estate planning attorneys do not use Protectors. A Protector is a person or persons you appoint to oversee a trustee with the power to fire and replace the trustee without the need of an attorney or a court hearing. No court hearing or attorney is necessary? Perhaps that is the reason why estate planning lawyers don’t use them? I use them in almost every trust. Even the most trusted person or bank can have problems, and if these problems negatively affect the trust, the Protector can “protect” the beneficiary without months of litigation.

Today, people utilize the Internet and social media more than ever before, raising new issues for estate administration. Many people receive bank, credit card, and utility statements electronically, and practically everyone has a Facebook account. Electronic mail and Facebook may hold important information for a personal representative seeking to administer an estate.¹ Obtaining access to that information, however, is a brand new area in probate law.

In some cases, the personal representative may know the password to the decedent’s email, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. In these cases, accessing bills and statements as they come in is relatively easy. But is a personal representative² authorized to access these accounts? In situations where the personal representative does not know the password, how can they obtain it?

One of the first calls I received after reporting for duty as a United States Navy JAG in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was from a family in Burlington County, New Jersey. The week before the call the family had buried their Grandfather. The Grandfather had been a WWII Navy vet. After the funeral they looked at his Will and found that his estate plan included a burial at sea. They wanted to know what to do.

A common question we receive from potential clients is, “What happens to my things if I die without a Will?” This is usually followed by the question, “If I die without a Will, doesn’t everything just pass to my wife/husband?” or by the question, “Does the State get all my things if I die without a Will?”

A common question we receive from potential clients is, “What happens to my things if I die without a Will?” This is usually followed by the question, “If I die without a Will, doesn’t everything just pass to my wife/husband?” or by the question, “Does the Commonwealth get all my things if I die without a Will?”