Toledo Free Press:  “One of the biggest things that most of us procrastinate on is the dreaded task of creating a will or some other kind of estate plan. After all, we are all going to live forever right? . . . f you really think about it, should one really consider a do-it-yourself method for something so important? After all, we are talking about your life savings, all your belongings and things that are dear to you and where it all will end up when you are gone. . . . To try to do something like this yourself, may be like trying to perform surgery on yourself.  Most of us would probably opt to have the specialist perform the surgery for fear of how we would come out of it. What if you try to save a few bucks and mess it up?

Estate planning attorney Mark Cornwall article called “Planning Pays Off When Leaving Money to Children” discusses the common problem of sibling disputes after their parents are gone and how proper planning by the parents before death can go along way to preventing disputes from arising.  He says:

“when it comes to the sibling rivalry after the parents are gone, it doesn’t so easily come to a halt. In fact, it grows worse because the siblings left behind still believe that money is more important than loving the sister you never got along with during the past 20 years. . . . However, this type of unforeseen rivalry can be easily avoidable by putting enough thought into your revocable trust during the course of your estate planning.  As for leaving money to children, there is much to take into consideration depending on the age and temperament of the child. The older you get, the more outrageous it seems to leave a large sum of money to an 18-year-old.”

Contractor Mag:  “Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president of the United States, said it: ‘In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing.  The next best thing is the wrong thing.  And the worst thing you can do is nothing.'   This is the story of two brothers, Joe and Moe. Joe, now age 68, did the right thing by creating his estate plan at an early age, monitoring it and updating it as necessary.  Moe, now age 72, on the other hand, was a champion procrastinator.  As you will see, he did very little estate planning and what he did was out of date.”

Wall St. Journal:  “The estate tax is set to come roaring back in January. That sets the stage for a perverse calculus: End it all—or leave a massive bill for your heirs to deal with.  It has come to this: Congress, quite by accident, is incentivizing death.  When the Senate allowed the estate tax to lapse at the end of last year, it encouraged wealthy people near death's door to stay alive until Jan. 1 so they could spare their heirs a 45% tax hit.  Now the situation has reversed: If Congress doesn't change the law soon—and many experts think it won't—the estate tax will come roaring back in 2011.

Wealth Strategies:  “When an estate has firearms, the executor must be careful to avoid violating federal (and state and local) firearms laws. These laws strictly regulate possession of, and access to, certain weapons, the transfer of permissible weapons, and bar certain persons from owning or having any access to firearms. Failure to comply with these laws may result in criminal liability, including stiff punishments and fines, and forfeiture of any weapons involved.  Careful estate planning can help with compliance with some of these laws.”

U.S. News & World Report:  “Every year, thousands of consumers bypass lawyers and create their own wills, powers of attorney, and other estate planning documents with the help of online tools and books. As one might expect, lawyers don't like this do-it-yourself approach. They say it breeds mistakes, since when it comes to legal issues, one size never fits all. Do they have a valid point, or are they just trying to protect their own livelihoods?”

The Indiana Bar Association sued United Financial Systems Corporation and people associated with the company for the unauthorized practice of law in Indiana.  The case is State ex rel. Indiana State Bar Ass'n v. United Financial Systems Corp., 926 N.E.2d 8 (Ind. 2010).

UFSC sold wills, trusts and estate plans to residents of Indiana and other states through a system involving door to door sales people who received commissions based on the cost of the estate plans.  It's most expensive estate plans sold in 2009 cost $2,695 of which only $225 was paid to an attorney to draft the documents.  The sales people who sold this estate plan were paid commissions of $750 – $900.

The Court concluded that UFSC was engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.  It said that “UFSC's business model has marginalized the attorney's role to such a degree as to cross the line of permissible practices.”  The court found that “UFSC's profitability stems from the sale of insurance products related to the trusts created by the estate plans.”

The following is from the Indiana Supreme Court's opinion:

UFSC is an insurance marketing agency. . . . In 1995, UFSC began to market and sell estate planning services, including wills and trusts. The company is headquartered in Indianapolis and does business in Indiana and twelve other states. In Indiana, from October 2006 through May 2009, UFSC sold 1,306 estate plans from which the company grossed over $ 2.7 million.  . . . During roughly this same period of time, 0.09% of UFSC's total nationwide income and 18.8% of UFSC's nationwide fee income was derived from the sale of estate planning services in Indiana. . . […]

New York Times:  “In death, Michael Jackson has had the comeback he always wanted. . . . Over the last year, the Jackson brand has generated hundreds of millions of dollars, and experts in the management of celebrity estates say that in the long term it might very well equal or eclipse the value of what until now has been the ultimate entertainment estate: that of Elvis Presley, which earned $55 million last year,”

Bargaineering.com:  “the whole business of dying is all together unpleasant and one of the reasons why people avoid thinking and talking about it.  Unfortunately, it’s also one of the biggest financial mistakes you can make for your family. . . . But unless you just don’t care about your family, making a few end of life decisions before it’s the actual end of your life can simplify things for your family.  So today we’ll discuss six documents you need but absolutely hate thinking about.”

New York Times:  “The disappearance of the federal estate tax this year has created confusion and frustration among the wealthy, even among those who stand to benefit from it. And this has sent them in droves to amend documents that they may have to change again next year.

Wall St. Journal:  “There's one group of young people who have little trouble recognizing their need for a will: military personnel.”

Professor Paul L. Caron of the University of Cincinnati College of Law has written an excellent article entitled “Ten Estate Planning Advantages of Limited Liability Companies.”  Here's the abstract:

In the eight years since the Service blessed the Wyoming limited liability company (LLC) statute, there has been an explosion of interest in LLCs, which are now available in 48 states and the District of Columbia (with Hawaii and Vermont the lone holdouts). See Bruce P. Ely, “The LLC Scoreboard,” Tax Notes, Dec. 25, 1995, p. 1661. Although much has been written of the uses of LLCs in tax and business planning, comparatively little commentary has focused on the role of LLCs in estate planning. The LLC treatises generally devote little attention to estate planning issues, and there have only been a few estate planning articles that discuss the advantages of LLCs compared to S corporations, limited partnerships, and trusts. (A listing of these treatises and articles appears at the end of this article.) After a brief introduction, this article discusses 10 estate planning advantages of LLCs compared to the other forms of organization.

Forbes:  “Here's how to protect your vacation retreat from the taxman and intrafamily strains. . . . So the couple is using a ‘qualified personal residence trust‘–a device blessed by Congress and the Internal Revenue Service–to ensure that after they're gone the Connecticut property isn't lost to estate taxes, family squabbles or competing priorities.

Yorkregion.com:  “Benjamin Franklin famously said ‘In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.'  Each may be inevitable, but most of us only prepare to deal with the latter.  Les Kotzer has seen what can happen to families when there isn’t a plan in place.  The Thornhill lawyer often finds himself settling thorny estate issues, providing regular reminders how even the simplest things we can do while we’re alive, can help loved ones when we’re gone.”

Forbes:  “The federal estate tax is coming back . . . . Act now to protect your family's assets.  The federal estate tax lapsed on Jan. 1, 2010. But under current law, it will rise from the ashes on Jan. 1, 2011, and at that point–unless Congress intervenes–only $1 million per estate will be exempt from a stiff 55% tax.”

Mirror:  “Michael Jackson's estate has raked in close to a billion dollars in the year since he died.  The huge sum – from record sales and lucrative deals brokered by the estate – is 47 TIMES what the debt-ridden King Of Pop made the previous year.”

Investopedia:  “Many of us like to think that our children and grandchildren will be responsible enough to handle a large inheritance, if we can afford to give it to them. But the reality is that many children and young adults are not quite ready for the pressures and responsibilities that come with inheriting wealth. There is a way for you to use wealth as a positive motivator, monetarily rewarding younger generations for their achievements – it's known informally as an incentive trust. When used in a careful, sensitive manner, this type of trust can be an effective tool for promoting success within your family and reinforcing the values that matter to you.”

Estate planning attorney Mark Cornwall's article explains what a revocable trust is and why people (married and single) need one to protect their family and loved ones.