The start of the New Year is the perfect time to start thinking about estate planning…

As the holidays fade into memory and another year passes, we at Streeter Law Group cannot help but to reflect. After all, at one time or another, we were little girls or boys, sitting at the dinner table, getting picked on by a favorite aunt or uncle.

And as we aged, we saw more seats added to the holiday table as our families grew. Sadly we also watched a few seats become vacant as well.

We saw our bigger siblings get older and our smaller siblings become not so small.

And we watched ourselves slowly take the place of our parents, and our parents take the place of our grandparents, and our grandparents take the place of our great grandparents.

The beauty of it all is that something changes every year without fail, which is why the start of the New Year is the perfect time to take inventory of our lives and to give consideration to estate planning.

If you happen to be that person who was once seated at the kids table, now grown up with kids of your own, you should consider having an estate plan drafted. If for no other reason than to legally choose your children’s godparents or make certain your spouse inherits everything should something happen to you.

Or if you are parents who’ve transitioned into grandparents and you already have an estate plan, now is the perfect time to give consideration to whether updating is needed. …Especially if your babies have had babies of their own. In which case, you might want to consider adjusting beneficiaries.

As for our experienced grandparents potentially transitioning into great grandparents… Hopefully by now you have an estate plan. Even so, now is a great time to reflect on your health and your wants.

Are you for example worried about your or your spouse’s mental capacity? Do you or will you need Medi-cal benefits? Are you or will you need to move into a nursing facility? If so, wouldn’t you like to protect your own estate and monies from unnecessary costs attributed to receiving such care or benefits?

Whichever group you fit in to – wherever you sit at the holiday table, there is room for reflection and consideration.

The start of a new year is a natural time for looking back and planning ahead. When better to give thought to your estate planning needs?

Life frequently changes. An effective estate plan should reflect those changes.

Imagine this. After spending years working towards building a career, you meet the person of your dreams, fall in love and marry.

The two of you have a baby girl and naturally you want to give consideration as to who should be her godparents. Being savvy, you understand the necessity of an estate plan in regards to making the guardianship of your child legal should anything happen to you and your spouse. You schedule an appointment with an estate planning attorney for a few weeks out, sit down with your spouse, and the two of you start pondering who you trust enough to raise your little girl.

You make a list of family and close friends. Since you married late, you reason that your parents are too old to be burdened with the responsibility.

You have a sibling. Your wife does not. However, you and your sibling don’t get along particularly well. Scratch that idea.

You think about the married couple you spend all your free time with. They are very close and dear friends. But they have made it clear they have no interest in having children of their own. You worry they wouldn’t be able to offer yours the attention and affection she deserves. And so, you cross them off the list.

On the other hand, you have another friend who adores children, yours especially, and would love one of her own. The trouble is she is single and doesn’t make a whole lot of money. Furthermore, you and your spouse share traditional values which lead you to believe children need both a mother and father. Another one bites the dust.

Finally the deliberation comes to an end. You choose your godparents. They are a married couple, long time friends, have similar values, love for children, and are expecting …Eureka!

You make the call. They accept. Fast forward a few weeks later. Your plan is drafted and signed.

But suppose in the next two years your child’s godparents divorce, your single friend marries, and your little girl becomes a big sister.

Life has a way of taking some unusual, sad, unpredictable and wonderful turns. Updating or revising keeps your estate plan relevant in the face of such change.

Located inside a Streeter Law Group estate planning binder in a section labeled Trust Assets, are a couple of pages entitled the Personal Property Memorandum. For some, these pages remain blank, but for others they are of extreme use.

Why?

It’s only natural when deciding the particulars of your estate plan, to give first consideration to your home, and who you wish to inherit it. The next couple of considerations usually involve monies and automobiles. But it takes a while before you give any consideration to the cookie jar that looks like a rooster, or the clock that resembles a frying pan.

What are we talking about?

We are talking about those items whose value is more sentimental than financial.

We are talking about the cookie jar, clock on the wall, family bible, your father’s wedding band and your grandmother’s depression era china?

Maybe these are things you wish to leave to your spouse or children. Or maybe for argument sake, you want to leave the cookie jar to your niece who has admired it for years – the clock to your neighbor who really appreciates its humor – the family bible to your oldest son.

In any case the personal property memorandum can help.

But couldn’t you just list these items in your Will?

You absolutely could. However, if you wished to make any changes to your list, you would need to update your Will. Whereas with the personal property memorandum, you simply make certain the memorandum is signed, and referenced in your Will.

Yet, maybe the greatest benefit of a personal property memorandum is that it can help eliminate or reduce animosity between loved ones. Say for example you leave all these items to your children to be distributed in equal shares.

This strategy is both logical and fair, but it doesn’t take into consideration what relationship each child might have with certain items, and what their feelings are as to who should get what.

The personal property memorandum makes clear your intentions and provides direction, which in the end, might ease hard feelings among siblings.

In truth, maybe the personal property memorandum isn’t for you. But therein lies the beauty. If you have a Will, you can choose to use or not use the memorandum, and if you change your mind, make the adjustment, sign the page and call it a day.

Who says an estate plan can’t be funny? Certainly not this guy …

Charles Vance Miller was a prominent Canadian attorney who practiced law from 1881 until his death in 1926. Miller, who died a childless bachelor at age seventy three, made some smart investments and built a considerable estate for himself.

Aside from being an accomplished attorney and investor, Miller also fancied himself a prankster and practical joker. His humor often poked fun at the greedy. It was said he believed everyone had a price. The trick was finding what it was.

One of Miller’s favorite pranks was leaving one dollar bills on the sidewalk then watching people’s expressions as they scooped them up.

Miller himself died on Halloween day, 1926. But even death wasn’t obstacle enough for his wit.
Charles Vance Miller was survived by an iron clad Will forged in the fire of the man’s unusual sense of humor.

In the Will, Miller bequeathed valuable shares of an Ontario Jockey Club to three men. (Two of which were outspokenly opposed to racetrack gambling).

Another provision bequeathed the use of a Jamaican time share to be shared amongst three attorneys who greatly despised one another.

Yet another provision, bequeathed one share of the Kenilworth Jockey Club to every practicing minister in three nearby towns. The shares were agonized over … and ended up being worth half a cent each.

But those pranks failed in comparison to one …

In his Will, Miller requested that all remaining possessions be sold and converted into money within nine years of his death, so that in the tenth year, the money could be used to pay one Toronto mother who within that ten years, conceived the most children.

The event would come to be named “The Great Toronto Stork Derby.”

Having died during the roaring twenties, it was very doubtful that Miller had any idea the nineteen-thirties would usher in a great depression.

If the desperation caused by the depression was the fuel, then Miller’s generous offering was the fire. The press ate it up. People were proverbially glued to their seats to see who would win.

In the end, four families split the reward. The mothers had nine children apiece for a payout of one hundred twenty thousand dollars each.

By all accounts, the money was put to good use. Instead of frivolous spending, the money reportedly went towards purchasing homes, automobiles, and educations for the children. And the rest as they say … is history.