For Your Information
The Knight and the Wealthy Witch
Once upon a time in a far distant Kingdom a Knight wooed and won the hand of a sweet and beautiful maiden. They lived happily together in a small castle for many years and were blessed with two fine children whom the Knight and Lady both loved dearly. Over the years Dame Fortune looked favorably upon them, bringing lands to their care and gold to their castle.
Then Fortune turned her face away, and the Lady died suddenly.
The Knight and his children grieved for a long while; but, in the fullness of time the Knight married another beautiful woman who-unknown to him-was the Wicked Witch of the East.
It is widely known that a virtuous Knight and a wicked witch cannot long abide in the same castle, so eventually the Knight petitioned the King for a divorce. This was granted.
In the joy of no longer having her in his life, the Knight failed to recall he had put his name to a document granting all his land, all his gold, and the castle to the Witch upon his untimely death. When he was struck in the throat by an arrow and died on the field of battle; the Wicked Witch of the East became a wealthy woman.
The children he so loved were left with nothing.
A Fable for Our Time?
Maybe so. Currently a newly-wed couple has a less than 50% chance of staying married. And, it makes no difference if the couple consists of a Virtuous Knight and a Wicked Witch, a Virtuous Lady and a Cruel Warlock with a roving eye-or just two ordinary people who "grew apart" (as the saying goes.) The odds are still less than 50-50.
In such instances it is important to attend to matters in a way that will transfer assets properly to the people you want to receive them. The Knight in the fable would certainly have wanted his hard earned assets to pass to the children he loved rather than to the Wicked Witch he didn't.
Even if you aren't going through the trauma of a divorce or the death of a spouse, you will be wise to take some steps to assure that the consequences of the Knight's failure to remember doesn't happen to you and your heirs. Doing some estate planning is essential in this regard.
Estate Planning Overview:
Attorneys:
To do the task properly, you'll need an attorney who specializes in (or does a lot of) estate planning. In spite of all the jokes out there about lawyers, there are times when we need one to help us; and, estate planning is one of those times. You want someone who's good at it.
Wills:
Everyone ought to have a will that specifies how assets and belongings are to be distributed after death. However, it is important to remember that wills go through probate (a court proceeding) and the costs can reduce an estate by ten or fifteen percent. You'll want to avoid probating as much of your property and assets as possible to avoid that expense.
Trusts:
Everyone should consider establishing a family trust. One of the advantages of a trust is that property held in it will not go through probate but pass on to heirs directly.
Assigned Beneficiaries:
Life and accident insurance, 401k and 403b accounts, regular IRAs, and Roth IRAs will have assigned beneficiaries and will not go through probate. The assets will pass directly to your heirs in the ratios you have specified.
Periodic Review:
Once these items are in place, you should certainly check them when conditions (like marriage) change, but also check them from time to time to make sure the structure of your estate plan says what you want it to say. Our Valiant Knight would've wanted to do that had the arrow not found him unexpectedly; which is the moral of the fable, death mostly happens unexpectedly.