Michael Jackson Estate | One Lesson You Can Learn

While at first are thought the Michael Jackson estate would be a complete mess, it turns out he did do some things right in setting up his estate plan. I may blog about the things he did right in a future post, but right now I want to talk about a lesson you can learn from something Michael Jackson did wrong in regards to his estate plan.

There was utter confusion when he passed away with regard to his estate plan.

This is a no-no in my book.

As Oakland County estate planning lawyers, we make sure, to the extent clients allow us, to make sure the whole family is on the same page with regards to the client’s Michigan estate plan.  Michael Jackson’s family had troubles finding the last will and testament and seemed to have some confusion as to who was supposed to administer the estate.

Get your family on the same page as you.   Let them know you have an estate plan.  If someone is serving a particular role in your estate plan.  Let them know what that role is and how you expect them to fulfill their duties.  Provide them copies of the documents.

The more your family members are kept in the loop of the planning, the better chance there will be no confusion or hurt feelings when that estate plan needs to spring into action.

Christopher J. Berry, Esq., A Bloomfield Hills Elder Law Attorney, is a Partner with Witzke Berry PLLC, which practices in the areas of Estate Planning, Michgian Long-term Care Planning, and Michigan Medicaid Planning.