It happened again! Successful, smart, responsible Scottsdale couple signed well drafted estate plan documents with another law firm and after signing, promptly threw the documents in a drawer. Fast forward 10+ years, numerous asset acquisitions in their individual names and an unexpected death, the surviving spouse engaged DeAngelis Legal to sort out the mess. DeAngelis Legal found personal and business assets titled (i) in each of their individual names, (ii) as community property with right of survivorship, (iii) and with beneficiary designations. In each case, the titling frustrated the intent of the estate plan. DeAngelis Legal assisted the surviving spouse transfer the survivorship and beneficiary assets and prepared and filed the documents necessary to open an informal probate to transfer the remaining assets in the deceased spouse’s name. As a side note, the surviving spouse promptly funded their new trust to avoid this issue in the future.
