It’s always tragic when someone passes away before they have had the opportunity to live a long and fulfilling life. The details are still being released regarding the circumstances surrounding her death but Brittany Murphy is another young hollywood star who’s life was cut short.
Being an estate planner, when someone famous dies the first thing that comes to mind (for better or worse) is whether or not they wrote a will. To many young people, death seems like a far off occurrence and estate planning is something that can always be put off until another day.
Well Brittany was not one of those people, she seemed to grab life by the horns and had either the forethought or expert guidance to have a will written to distribute her assets in the event of untimely death. The only trouble is, she did not keep her will current and now her husband, Simon Monjack, may be forced out of their home.
Brittany created a will but left all of her assets to her mother because the Will was written before she met and married Simon, a british screen writer. The house and other assets were contributed to a living trust created by Brittany, but no codicil to include her new husband as a beneficiary is thought to exist.
How exactly the dust will settle has still yet to be determined but hopefully Simon has a good relationship with Brittany’s mother and they can work out some arrangement for the short term. In California, a community property state, a souse who is not named under a will is only entitled to half of the community assets of the marriage. Any individually owned assets, and the community portion owned by the decedent, can be distributed to whomever is named in a valid will or trust. Since the couple shared Brittany’s home it is likely that her mother, her named beneficiary, will control the assets and determine when Simon may have to move out.
So help yourself and learn a lesson from the death of Brittany Murphy. Get a will and keep it up to date because young or old, you never know when your time may come and you need to protect the ones you love.
{ 0 comments… add one now }