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| A 70-YEAR-OLD GAVE THE ESTATE TO HER 28-YEAR-OLD HUSBAND Rejecting his trust officer's previous advice, a Florida rancher decided to take all his money out of the living revocable trust and to leave it by will to his wife. They had married nearly 30 years previous after the untimely death of his young first wife. A widower, with three small children, he found happiness with the second wife ... and they had one child of their own. When he died, at age 73, his wife was 70 and inherited his $12 million estate with, of course, no tax payment of any kind. Soon, to the dismay of her four children, she was repeatedly seen in the company of a 42-year-old man. The children's mild complaint turned into a major one when the Widow Rancher announced her intention to marry the younger man. A major family fissure resulted; weeks went by without communication. Some hope was rejuvenated a few months later when she announced she was getting divorced from her husband of just one year. Although everyone suspected she "bought him out" for about a million dollars, the whole family was relieved to be rid of the problem. Soon, however, they were again enmeshed in controversy. The Widow Rancher announced her intention to marry a 28-year-old man who worked on the ranch. Bitterness increased. She married. Soon after the marriage, she made a new will, leaving the entire estate to this, her third husband. Then, just five months after the wedding, she died. The third husband received the entire estate; the children were disinherited. Had the Rancher kept the trust in the first place, he would have left half the estate in two trusts, a By-Pass and a Q-Tip. Each of these trusts allows the founder to give income to spouse ... and to determine where the money will go at her death. When the Rancher rejected his trust officer's advice, he had no idea that he was creating a situation by which his entire family would be disinherited. The Q-Tip Trust would have avoided at least half of the disinheritance. |
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