Here is the link to a free online article or commentary about Robin Williams’ estate, estate taxes and whether there was proper estate planning to secure inheritances and save on the Federal Estate Tax: http://epilawg.com/2014/08/robin-williams-estate-subject-to-california-probate/
Robin Williams’ Estate Plan
- Anytime a celebrity passes away, financial writers and estate planning attorneys often ponder the estate, and estate administration matters
- Think actor Philip Seymour Hoffman who passed away in 2014, leaving three children, a will and a trust for one child
- In Robin Williams’ case, writers are pondering whether the commercially successful comic had enough sense to create a decent estate plan in light of reported financial woes
- Did he have a revocable trust? (Evidently Hoffman did not, but he could easily have afforded one)
- Robin Williams’ Napa estate is on the market for about $30 Million after he had two costly divorces, which reduced his estate and finances
- More pressing, perhaps, is whether he had a liquidity plan to pay the estate taxes
- …….. a what ….?
Common Estate Planning Error for Wealthy: No $$ to Pay Estate Tax
- A recurring challenge for the wealthy is not having enough “stuff”. The wealthy do a fine job of having a large net worth; it’s having enough cash when you die
- Having enough cash to pay Uncle Sam the estate tax 9 months after you die.
- Sure, Williams was rich, but was he cash rich?
- Will that Napa Valley estate need to be sold quickly to raise cash to pay the Federal Estate Tax?
- This issue is easily addressed (cured?) by a simple insurance trust and a little bit of planning. Hopefully Robin took care of this. For the financial sake of his family, heirs and beneficiaries.