Paul R. Tierney Law

Posthumous Conception Gaining Popularity

A new survey suggests that the majority of people in the U.K., support the idea of posthumous conception.

Although it is a controversial subject, the practice of posthumous conception is growing more common. Posthumous conception involves using the frozen sperm or egg of a deceased person to conceive a child.

Because more and more people are using fertility clinics to assist with conception, there are more available eggs and sperm to use. Coverage of the practice usually focuses on isolated incidents.  However, it is not always clear how many people support the idea and would not have a problem with their widows or widowers having a posthumous conception.

The Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog reports in "How the Brits View Posthumous Conception" that a survey in the U.K. recently found that the majority of British people would approve of a posthumous conception.

While a survey in the U.K. does not necessarily mean that people have the same view in the U.S., quite often U.K. and U.S. views are closely related. If the practice of posthumous conception becomes more common and receives more popular support, the implications for estate planning could be enormous.

Estate laws generally assume that when a person passes away, all of his or her children have either been born or will be within in nine months, in cases where a widow was pregnant at the time of her husband's passing.

On the other hand, posthumous conception can occur several years after a person passes away. This will present challenges for estates that have been settled and for courts that will have to determine whether the posthumous children should receive a share of an already settled estate.

Reference: Wills, Trusts & Estates Prof Blog (Feb. 7, 2017) "How the Brits View Posthumous Conception".

The Greatest of All Time's Estate

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali recently passed away. The details of his estate plan are not yet known, but he left behind a large estate and family.

With the passing of Muhammad Ali, a true sports icon has left the scene. At this early stage it is not yet known what type of estate plan he had, but since he had a long bout with Parkinson's disease, it is assumed that he did have a plan.

The Daily Mail recently reported on what is currently known about his estate in "Ali's family to spar over his $50million fortune: Fourth wife Lonnie will act as executor as his NINE children, exes and brother prepare to enter the ring for a slice of inheritance."

The known details include:

• It is believed that Ali's fourth wife, Lonnie, will act as the executor of his estate.
• His known potential heirs include nine children, a brother and his ex-wives. However, it is not currently known which if any of them will inherit a portion of Ali's estate or how much. For that reason, it is not currently possible to know whether a challenge to his estate plan is likely.
• It is estimated that Ali's net worth at the time of his passing was approximately $50 million.
• Up until the time of his death Ali continued to earn money through the company he founded, GOAT LLC. However, he sold the majority of the company a few years ago and retained only a 20% interest in it.
• His estate also includes property in Arizona and Kentucky. It is also possible that his estate will include memorabilia from his fighting days that could potentially be worth millions.

Reference: Daily Mail (June 2, 2016) "Ali's family to spar over his $50million fortune: Fourth wife Lonnie will act as executor as his NINE children, exes and brother prepare to enter the ring for a slice of inheritance."

Even in Death Dean Smith Keeps Coaching

The world of college basketball recently collectively mourned over the passing of legendary North Carolina coach Dean Smith. We are now learning that Smith found a way to continue coaching his team by using his will.

Dean Smith is considered to be one of the greatest coaches in the history of college basketball. There can be no doubt that he changed the fundamental nature of the game. His teams used to play a slow, four corners offense that delayed the game as long as possible.

Coach Smith’s tactics led to so much stalling and lack of action that the shot clock was introduced to counter it.

However, if you talk to Smith's players and colleagues, they will say that his greatest influence was his coaching and the life lessons he taught his players. He included another lesson for them in his will: 180 former players will receive a check for $200 with instructions to have a dinner on the coach.

One player remarked that the lesson being taught is friendship. Bloomberg has more on the story in an article titled "Dean Smith Dinner Bequest Is One of His 'Lessons' to Team."

The lesson to be learned here is that wills and estate plans do not have to just be a cold distribution of assets. They are capable of many things, including teaching lessons to loved ones.

Contact your estate planning attorney about “lessons” you would like to leave through your estate plan.

Reference: Bloomberg (March 26, 2015) "Dean Smith Dinner Bequest Is One of His 'Lessons' to Team."

Mr. Cub's Will Contested

Legendary baseball player Ernie Banks, known to fans as "Mr. Cub," passed away recently. Now it appears that there are two disputes involving his passing, including a will contest.

Before passing away, Ernie Banks suffered a protracted illness. During that time he was cared for by a friend, Regina Rice. Initially, Banks' family praised Rice and thanked her for looking after the baseball player in his last months. However, it did not take very long after the funeral for the family and Rice to get involved in two disputes.

First, Banks' widow went to court to stop Rice from having Banks' remains cremated. For now that might be a moot point as no one claims to know where Banks' body is currently located.

The second dispute centers on some estate planning documents Rice allegedly had Banks sign last October. As well as making Rice his power of attorney at that time, Banks also signed a new will to leave his entire estate to Rice. His wife and children were specifically cut out of any inheritance with the only reason given that they would know why.

Banks' sons, however, through their attorney claim not to know “why” and claim that Rice coerced Banks into signing the will when he was too sick to do so.

ESPN Chicago reported the story in a recent article titled "Suitability of Banks' caretaker faulted."

This case is still in its early stages. Accordingly, it is too soon to speculate how it might turn out.

Unfortunately, this is not an unusual story. Anytime an elderly, ill person rewrites a will to exclude family, the will is likely to be challenged.

To avoid missteps, especially when it comes to changing your estate plan, be sure to contact an experienced estate planning attorney. He or she can help you avoid the courthouse front door.

Reference: ESPN Chicago (February 16, 2015) "Suitability of Banks' caretaker faulted."

Planning Lessons from the World of Sports

Several family run sports teams have failed over the years and the families have been forced to sell the teams. Some of the reasons for the failures can be enlightening for other family owned businesses if they wish to survive after the founder passes away.

Most of the time when a family is forced to sell its business, it is not big news. However, there is an exception for teams in major sports leagues.

Recently, we have seen the forced sale of the Los Angeles Clippers because the owner's racist rant came to light. The Los Angeles Dodgers were recently sold in part because of the bitter and protracted divorce of its owners. Now, the owner of the New Orleans Saints is in a competency dispute with his family that could force the sale of the team.

In recent memory, both the Chicago Cubs and Miami Dolphins have been sold because the owner passed away without properly planning for how estate taxes would be paid.

Forbes has more on these situations in an article titled "Another Family Sports Team Failure, Another Lesson Learned."

The article also includes lessons to be learned from sports teams for other family businesses, which include:

• Poor planning outside of the business can cause the business to fail. This is especially true if the failure to plan for estate taxes causes the sale of the business.
• Family businesses can thrive with good planning. Both the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Steelers have recently survived as family owned businesses after the owner passed away.
• No matter how much planning you do, bad things can still happen. The key thing is to plan well enough that the damage from any issues is contained.

Without question, one of the wisest moves you can make is to work with an experienced estate planning attorney. He or she has “been there and done that,” when it comes to the successful transfer of the business and preservation of family relationships in the process.

Reference: Forbes (February 16, 2015) "Another Family Sports Team Failure, Another Lesson Learned."