Last week, the representative of Whitney Houston filed her will with the Fulton County Probate Court in Atlanta. At the time of her death at the age of 49, Ms. Houston was not married and her will stated that her only child should receive her entire estate. Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of Whitney Houston and former husband and singer Bobby Brown, is currently 19 years old and will receive portions of the estate over the coming years. Though questions have been raised about the value of the estate, her daughter will receive a portion of her inheritance at the age of 21, 25 and 30. Like other wills, it involves several issues of interest to those creating their own estate plan.

Trust: Though currently an adult, her daughter will not receive the entire estate until she reaches the age of 30 because Ms. Houston’s will dictates as much. Instead, the estate assets she will receive will be placed in trust. Because the trust was created by the will, it is known as a testamentary trust as opposed to a living trust.

Codicil: Ms. Houston created her original will in 1993 but created subsequent amendments in 2000 and 2004. These amendments, known as codicils, are the only way you can change the terms of your will besides creating an entirely new one.

Ex-Husband: Ms. Houston divorced her husband in 2006 and her will left nothing to him. This is very common after a couple divorces, and there is no law that requires a person give anything to a former spouse.

The Law Offices Of Cheryl David is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

The saga of the Huguette Clark estate has made headlines since the millionaire heiress died in 2011. Having been the only inheritor of her late father’s estimated $400 million fortune, Ms. Clark left behind no close family members to whom she could pass her estate. Her distant family members are now claiming that fraud was involved on the part of her nurse, lawyer and attorney in the later years of her life that led to her disinheriting her family in her final will.

The family members point out that Ms. Clark’s personal nurse, who had served her for about 20 years, personally inherited $30 million under the terms of the heiresses will. This is in addition to about $26 million that Ms. Clark had given to the nurse while she was still alive, a sum that includes a $200,000 car and five different homes.

The family members claim that because of the fraud the New York Surrogate’s Court should throw out Ms. Clark’s will and instead adopt her second-to-last will as her last will and testament. This second-to-last will left much to her family, even though the closest relative are half grand-nieces and half grand-nephews. The two wills were created about six weeks apart from one another, and if the court determines that one is invalid because Ms. Clark did not have testamentary capacity, it may very well invalidate both wills and determine that the estate should be distributed under the New York laws of intestate succession.

The Law Offices Of Cheryl David is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Before the 48-year-old millionaire John Goodman faces a criminal trial in which he is charged with manslaughter for the death of a young man that was killed in a drunk driving accident Mr. Goodman was involved in, he chose to adopt his 42-year-old girlfriend and make her his legal child. An odd decision? Yes. But not one without its own sort of legal logic.

You see, Mr. Goodman also has two teenage children. Years ago he created an irrevocable trust naming both of those children as the trust beneficiaries. Because it is an irrevocable trust, the money it owns is typically not subject to a lawsuit against Mr. Goodman. After the DUI accident, Mr. Goodman is facing a significant lawsuit from the family of the man killed in the crash. Along with the potential criminal sentence, this could leave Mr. Goodman to spend decades in jail and lose much if not all of his fortune.

However, by adopting his girlfriend, she also becomes his child and is entitled to benefit from the trust. The trust is currently estimated to be worth about $400 million, and she can choose to use her one third share as she wishes. What this means is that Mr. Goodman’s girlfriend could then give him the trust fund money without him having to risk it in the wrongful death lawsuit he faces.

Though initially this move seemed to have some chance of success, the court has yet to rule on a challenge to the adoption claiming that it was fraudulent. A Florida probate court judge has also ruled that even if the adoption is legal, irrevocable trust funds may be subject to the wrongful death claim.

The Law Offices Of Cheryl David is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

With 2011 having come and gone, the numbers for who gave the most to charity are now in, and the top donor may surprise you. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, the list of America’s 50 most generous philanthropists in 2011 is topped by Margaret Cargill. The heiress to the Cargill agricultural fortune died in 2006, though her estate ranks as the top charitable giver of the year.

Cargill is one of the nations’ largest privately held corporations. From 1998 to 2011, the company has been ranked as the number one largest private company in the nation for all but two years. Based in Minnesota, the food, agriculture and fertilizer company had in annual revenue last year of more than $109 billion.

Though she died in 2006, Ms. Cargill left much of her fortune in the form of private stock in the family company. She split this gift between two charitable foundations, though it wasn’t until the sale of some of the stock the company held in a publicly traded corporation that the foundations could receive most of the money.

Ms. Cargill never had any children, and her $6 billion bequest is by far the largest left behind or granted in 2011. Other top donors include manufacturing magnate William S. Dietrich II, who granted a $500 million bequest, as well as Paul G. Allen, Microsoft cofounder, and George Soros, international finance tycoon.

The Law Offices Of Cheryl David is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

If there weren’t already enough reasons to compel you to start creating an estate plan, the estate battles of famous celebrities and wealthy families should serve as just one more reminder that you need to get started right away. As a source of costly and seemingly endless litigation, estate planning conflicts are all too often easily avoided if the people involved just take the appropriate steps. Let’s take a look as some of the common sources of celebrity estate planning conflicts.

Source 1: Second, Third, and Subsequent Marriages. When celebrities marry they often bring along wealth and fame, but also children from previous marriages and ex-spouses. Take, for example, Jerry Garcia. He had children from numerous previous relationships and ended up getting married for a third time shortly before he died. This left behind a mess of litigation involving guitars, merchandise, and the legacy of a widely-loved musician.

Source 2: May-December Romance. Remember Anna Nicole Smith and her marriage to Texas billionaire J. Howard Marshal? The two married when Smith was 26 and Marshal was 89. Marshal had two children, and at the time of death he left everything to one son and nothing to Smith and his other son. The litigation resulting from the estate ended up in years of legal wrangling and a a six-month trial.

Source 3: The Family Business. You don’t have to be Vito Corleone to know that the family business can lead to problems after the person who runs the business dies and leaves it to his or her heirs. A successful family business needs a carefully thought out estate plan to ensure the owner’s wishes are carefully laid out and that all children are accounted for.

The Law Offices Of Cheryl David is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Question 1: Who is the executor and what does he or she do?

Answer: An executor has the responsibility to settle a decedent’s estate. This means the executor has to take control of all the property a person leaves behind after death and use it to pay debts or distribute the property to new owners. Executors also typically begin the probate process by filing a petition with the court. Because executors must comply with all North Carolina probate requirements, they typically hire an attorney to advise them about the relevant rules.

Question 2: Can anyone be an executor?

Answer: No. Personal Representatives, the more common name for executors, must meet specific requirements in North Carolina. The person must be at least 18 years old, must be of sound mind and cannot have been convicted of a felony. There are other requirements as well, such as being literate, but the Clerk of the Superior Court—the judicial official that presides over probate matters—has the right to determine if a person is qualified. If the clerk finds the nominated person unsuitable it can appoint someone else to serve as personal representative.

Question 3: Is the personal representative the same thing as an executor?

Answer: Yes and no. A personal representative and an executor have the exact same duties. The only difference is that an executor is specifically nominated through the decedent’s last will and testament. A personal representative that isn’t nominated through a will is also sometimes known as an administrator. However, the three terms are sometimes used interchangeably, though they all convey the same responsibilities.

The Law Offices Of Cheryl David is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Your Asset List: Your digital assets can be as simple as an e-mail address or as complicated as an online business. Regardless of what you have, you need to write it down. Consider everything you have from your bank accounts and tax return filings to personal information such as digital music or family photographs that only exist on your computer. What about your phone? Does that have anything on it? Or your flash memory cards? You need to account for all of it.

Your Password And Access List: You should organize your login information into a single list. The list should contain all your access information including your logins and passwords, but don’t forget the other security information as well. For example, you may have a PIN associated with your bank account, or a security question that you need to answer to reset your password. You’ll have to review each of your accounts and the security information you have to develop a complete list that someone who is unfamiliar with your digital assets can then use.

Your Successor: Once you have everything, you’ll have to have it ready to give to someone when needed. Make sure you specifically address these issues in your power of attorney or your Will. You may also need to store your list in a safety deposit box or other real-world—as opposed to digital world—safe place so your successor can find it when needed.

The Law Offices Of Cheryl David is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Issue 1: Your digital world. What do you have out there that others would need to know about if you die or are incapacitated? If you have a blog that earns income, for example, you essentially have a small business that you’ll need to transfer to others to run. If you have a Facebook account, a Flickr profile, or any other social media properties, what do you want to happen to these? What are the policies of the websites themselves and how do these affect you?

Issue 2: Access to your digital assets. Most digital assets have passwords, login names, and other security measures that must be accessed by anyone whom you nominate to take them over for you. Beyond passwords you may also have pin numbers, secret questions that require specific answers or other measures you’ll have to prepare for.

Issue 3: Transferring your property. Who gets your passwords, account information, and other digital asset information if you are incapacitated or die? Do you have a financial power of attorney ready? Have you mentioned these assets in your Will? You’ll need a complete list of digital assets plus the methods to access them if you want to hand over your digital life to someone else. Speak to us today for more detailed advice about the best way to go about doing it.

The Law Offices Of Cheryl David is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Question 1: Who needs a Living Trust?

There is no one simple answer to this question, but in general, the more property you own the greater the benefit you may be able to receive by creating a living trust. A living trust’s primary role is to transfer property to your beneficiaries without having to go through probate. If you don’t have a lot of property to transfer, you may not have any need for a Living Trust.

Question 2: If I create a living trust do I still need a Will?

Yes. A Will is the only instrument in which you can make certain choices, such as naming an executor for your estate or naming a guardian to care for your minor children or incapacitated adults under your care. Also, a will can serve as a safety net for any property you haven’t transferred to your Living Trust.

Question 3: Is a Living Trust the only kind of trust I can, or need to, use?

There are a wide variety of trusts available and each is useful to different people in different situations. If, for example, you care for a child with disabilities and want to ensure the child has financial security if you were to die, you can create a special needs trust. This is not the same as a living trust and has different limitations and requirements. Regardless of your needs, you should talk to an attorney so he or she can advise you on the kind of trusts that may fit your needs and desires.

The Law Offices Of Cheryl David is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Fact 1: You can nominate a guardian through your Will.

North Carolina law allows all parents to nominate a guardian who will care for any of the parent’s children under the age of 18 should the parent die. Such guardians are known as testamentary guardians because they are nominated through the parent’s last Will and Testament. Upon approval by the court, the guardian will have the same authority to raise the child as a parent would.

Fact 2: You have to make sure your Will is valid.

While you can name your guardian in your North Carolina Will, an improperly created Will can result in your nomination not becoming the guardian. In the event your Will is determined to be invalid, the court will have to make its own determination on who should become a guardian. The person you nominated may still become guardian, but there is no guarantee that this will happen.

Fact 3: North Carolina courts will generally go along with a parent’s choice, but not necessarily.

When a parent, or parents, nominate a testamentary guardian, the courts in North Carolina will give this choice preferential treatment when naming a guardian, though it won’t necessarily approve the nomination in all situations. If the court finds that naming someone else would be in the child’s best interests, it will name that person instead of the person nominated in the Will.

The Law Offices Of Cheryl David is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.