It’s hard to miss the major mistakes celebrities make—their lives and deaths are public and not always pretty. Expensive mistakes on a grand scale aren’t what most of us deal with, but there are good lessons to learn from their mistakes, says a recent article from Market Watch, “Sharon Stone’s missing $18 million, Prince’s estate back in court: what to learn from celebrity estate mistakes.”
Incapacity Planning
Eight years after Prince’s death, his estate is back in court, while Sharon Stone was in the news when she revealed $18 million in savings disappeared while she suffered a life-threatening illness more than two decades ago. For conservatorship stories, while we aren’t hearing much about Britney Spears anymore, Jay Leno has filed for conservatorship for his wife Mavis, who has dementia, and musical legend Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys faced conservatorship issues when his caretaker wife died, and another caretaker had to be named.
It Can Happen to Anyone
We expect people with great professional success to be surrounded by a small army of trusted caretakers, estate planning attorneys, accountants, managers, and others. And we’d also expect them to want to keep as much of their lives private as possible. But as headlines show, people who are incredibly talented performers aren’t necessarily skilled in the legal and business aspects of their lives. Learning more about celebrity estate planning mistakes helps us realize that mistakes can be made by anyone.
In 2001, Sharon Stone suffered a stroke. It took seven years for her to overcome the effects of the stroke, and she counted on others to manage her affairs. When she was finally able to start taking control of her life, she found everything had been put into someone else’s name, and $18 million was missing from her bank account.
Checks & Balances
While she’s not forthcoming with details, this was likely a trusted person abusing their role as Power of Attorney, where a fiduciary agent was appointed without enough oversight. For regular people, an experienced estate planning attorney could create a plan where, in addition to a Power of Attorney for certain accounts, like running the household, more considerable assets are placed in a trust, and the trustee is not the same person as the POA. Checks and balances need to be built into an estate plan to protect individuals in case of incapacity, and this can only be done with the help of an experienced estate planning attorney.
Courts can step in because taking over another person’s finances as their power of attorney is supposed to be a fiduciary process — meaning the person appointed acts in the other person’s best interest. But it’s also common to have overconfidence in other people and their fitness for the job — some can be up to no good and some are just not up to the task.
Learn From Celebrity Mistakes
A meeting with an estate planning attorney should include discussions about who is qualified to serve as an Agent under a Power of Attorney and how their actions may be reviewed. In many instances, trust is not the issue, but competence is. Are they capable of managing the affairs of an incapacitated person? If not, another person should be selected, regardless of whose feelings might be hurt by the decision.
Public news about celebrity estate planning mistakes can be the wake-up call we need to get our own legal plans in order. Ensure you have appointed someone capable and trustworthy to act on your behalf in case you become incapacitated. Contact our office today – we can help you get started.
Reference: Market Watch (July 13, 2024) “Sharon Stone’s missing $18 million, Prince’s estate back in court: what to learn from celebrity estate mistakes”
