11.29.06

How much estate planning do you get for $14?

Posted in Living trusts, Planning, Tax planning, Wills at 8:32 am by gbroiles

Last month, I wrote briefly about Suze Orman’s Will & Trust Kit. After writing that post, I decided perhaps I was unfair by commenting about the program without using it myself, so I ponied up $14 to get a first-hand opinion.

As I mentioned before, the trust(s) created by the program use California law, no matter what state you live in. A joint trust created with this program says that all property transferred to the trust will be community property. A joint trust created by this program also waives each spouse’s rights under California Family Code section 2640. Don’t know what community property is, or what section 2640 says? Too bad.

Briefly, Family Code section 2640 says that spouses have the right to be repaid for separate property they bring to the marriage, or contribute to community property during the marriage - e.g., if you own a house as a single person, then get married, and later get divorced, you don’t need to split the equity you already had in the home at the time you were married.

I think it’s amazing that the program expects people to waive their rights under 2640 without explaining what that means - that’s potentially a decision with consequences in the tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars, in the event of divorce.

Also, many people want to put separate property into a joint trust for ease of management - a well-drafted trust will preserve the separate property character of separate property assets which are titled in the name of the trust. The Suze Orman trust does the opposite.

Before printing any documents, the program makes you agree to a disclaimer that says you should consult an attorney. Unfortunately, if you’re not in CA, it may be difficult to find an attorney who wants to give you a legal opinion about CA law.

The trust included does absolutely no estate tax planning. It’s good that the authors are up-front about this, but it would be helpful if the materials on the outside of the box explained that if you’ve got more than $1 million in property, the authors think you should avoid using their program and see an attorney instead.

Ultimately, to generate an estate plan using this software, you’re going to have to click over and over again to “AGREE” to a disclaimer that tells you these documents should be reviewed by an attorney before they’re actually used; that the authors are not providing legal advice; that the authors accept no responsibility for your actions. Would you hire an attorney who gave you documents while asking you to sign a document agreeing not to sue them if the document turned out to be useless, or worse?

The trust created by the program can be modified entirely after the death of the first spouse - so there is no protection in place to preserve assets for the joint children if the surviving spouse remarries or needs Medicaid-funded nursing home care.

The documents provided to change beneficiaries for IRA and 401(k) plans have no discussion of - and make no provision for - planning for “stretch” IRA distributions, and in fact make “stretch” planning impossible, which might potentially mean losing out on tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the missed stretch opportunity.

Even though the attorney who co-wrote the software is licensed in California - and California is the forum state mentioned in the choice of law clause - the estate plan makes no provisions for California property tax planning for beneficiaries who may inherit real property. If you’ve lived in California, you’ll appreciate the importance of preserving your Proposition 13 property tax assessed value for your children, and their children .. if your estate plan was drafted with that end in mind. There may be similar issues for people who live in other states - I’ve got no idea if there are or not, and you probably don’t either, unless you find someone who knows your local law.

The program doesn’t cost much money and has some educational value. So it’s not a total waste. The plan and the documents it produces are a long way away from what a good estate planning attorney can produce - but what’s really missing here is an overall understanding of the family’s assets, values, risks, and opportunities .. together with a comprehensive plan to address those circumstances.

I’m an estate planning attorney in CA - but I don’t really think of a software package that costs less than a large pizza as a meaningful competitor, especially after trying it out to see what it produces. I wouldn’t mind at all if potential clients of mine used the software to play around at home to get comfortable with some of the terminology and issues that are part of putting together a real estate plan - but there’s no way I’d recommend this to someone I cared about as a good way to create an estate plan that they actually planned to sign and use.

I’m still shocked by the decision to make trusts for all states subject to California law - that’s the kind of advice that can only be given responsibly by someone who understands California law, the law of your state, and your personal circumstances. There are cases where I might choose to have a client’s trust be governed by the law of another state - but those cases are relatively rare, and I can articulate clear, concrete reasons to do so. A blanket choice that everyone, everywhere, should use California law strikes me as inappropriate.

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