10 Estate Planning Mistakes to Avoid

Estate Planning Mistake #4: Failing to Update Your Plan After Separation — Barry White

Separation changes the relationship. It does not automatically change the estate plan.

The Barry White estate planning story shows why a major change in a relationship should trigger a review of your estate plan.

Barry White died in 2003 at age 58.

At the time, he had been separated from his wife, Glodean White, for years. He also had a longtime companion, Katherine Denton.

But White and Glodean had never divorced.

More importantly, White reportedly still had a will dating back to 1980.

His personal life had changed dramatically.

His estate plan apparently had not.

Barry White Was Separated, But Still Married

Barry White married Glodean James in the 1970s.

The couple later separated. Contemporary reports at the time of White’s death said they had never divorced. Los Angeles Times.

That distinction mattered.

According to a later report discussing the estate litigation, White’s 1980 will left his estate to Glodean, even though the two had not lived together for many years. Daily Journal.

Meanwhile, White had formed a relationship with Katherine Denton.

Denton was his companion when he died. But the old estate plan did not necessarily reflect that later relationship.

That set the stage for a dispute.

Katherine Denton Filed Claims Against the Estate

After White’s death, Denton asserted claims against his estate.

She maintained that White had promised to provide for her. She also claimed that White was the father of her infant daughter.

A court-ordered DNA test reportedly established that White was not the child’s father.

Denton also pursued claims concerning the financial relationship she had with White.

The dispute ultimately ended without giving us a simple answer about everything White intended. UPI

A report quoting counsel for White’s estate stated that Denton ultimately received the Encino home where the couple had lived.

The important estate planning point is not who deserved what.

It is that White’s relationships had changed while his estate planning documents apparently remained decades old.

Separation Does Not Rewrite Your Will

People sometimes assume that separation changes their legal relationship for estate planning purposes.

That can be a dangerous assumption.

Moving into different homes does not physically remove a spouse’s name from a will.

It does not automatically rewrite a trust.

It does not necessarily change a beneficiary designation.

It does not appoint a new executor, trustee, agent under a power of attorney, or health care representative.

Those arrangements need to be reviewed.

Divorce can change some of those rights automatically.

Separation may not.

The New Jersey Rule After Divorce

New Jersey provides an important automatic rule once a marriage actually ends.

Under N.J.S.A. 3B:3-14, divorce or annulment generally revokes certain revocable provisions benefiting a former spouse in a governing instrument.

The statute can also revoke fiduciary appointments of the former spouse and affect certain survivorship interests in jointly owned property.

But the statute speaks in terms of a divorce or annulment.

Separation alone is not the same thing.

In fact, the statute specifically provides that changes in circumstances other than those identified by the statute do not themselves cause the statutory revocation or severance.

That makes the period between separation and a final divorce particularly important.

Estate Planning During a Divorce Requires Care

The answer is not necessarily to remove a spouse from everything the day a couple separates.

A person going through a divorce may have legal obligations that limit what can be changed.

Court orders, marital agreements, beneficiary rights, property ownership, retirement plans, and other legal rules may all matter.

A spouse may also have statutory rights that exist independently of a will.

The right approach is to coordinate the estate plan with the divorce.

That usually means reviewing the documents early rather than waiting until the divorce is finished.

Questions may include:

• Should the existing will be changed?
• Who should serve as executor?
• Who is named as trustee?
• Who has authority under the power of attorney?
• Who is the health care representative?
• What beneficiary designations are currently in place?
• How is real estate titled?
• Who receives life insurance?
• What happens to retirement benefits?
• Are any changes restricted by a court order or agreement?

Not every document should necessarily be changed.

But every important document should be reviewed.

Divorce Is Also a Reason to Review the Plan Again

A final judgment of divorce creates another reason to review everything.

Even when state law automatically revokes provisions benefiting a former spouse, relying entirely on an automatic statute is rarely the best estate planning strategy.

The documents may now contain gaps.

A former spouse who was named executor may be treated as having predeceased you, leaving an alternate fiduciary in charge whom you no longer want.

A beneficiary designation may produce a different result than expected.

Property ownership may have changed through the divorce.

Your financial circumstances may also be completely different.

The end of the divorce should therefore trigger another comprehensive review.

The Barry White Estate Planning Lesson

Barry White’s mistake was not simply that he remained married.

People remain separated for many reasons.

The estate planning problem was allowing an old plan to remain in place while his family and personal relationships changed around it.

Your estate plan should reflect your current life.

Marriage should trigger a review.

Separation should trigger a review.

The filing of a divorce should trigger a review.

And the final divorce should trigger another one.

Barry White reportedly died with a will prepared more than two decades earlier that still benefited the wife from whom he had long been separated.

The litigation that followed illustrates the risk.

When your relationships change, do not assume your estate plan changes with them. Review the documents and make deliberate choices.

This article discusses publicly reported information concerning Barry White and his estate for educational purposes. Claims made in estate litigation may have been disputed or resolved without a judicial determination of their merits.

How long has it been since you reviewed your estate plan with an attorney?