The #1 estate planning mistake people make—and 67% of Americans are guilty of this—is not having an estate plan at all. Heche, unfortunately, was one of these people. Now, her 20-year-old son, Homer Laffoon—the oldest of her two sons—is headed into battle against her ex-boyfriend, James Tupper—the father of her youngest son—for control of what we can only assume is a sizable estate.
It’s an estate planning nightmare fit for the Hollywood big screen: it’s filled with drama, wild accusations, he-said-she-said mysteries, and more. Grab your popcorn, folks…
The story goes that, back in 2011, Heche emailed her lawyer, stating that Tupper should receive all of her assets, which should be used to raise both of her children, and—ultimately—be given to them.
She never signed a will, though, which raises the question of whether an email is valid as a holographic will. A holographic—or handwritten—will is actually valid in her home state of California, but only if it meets certain requirements. This email—if it even exists—does not meet those requirements.
When you die without a will, your assets are distributed following your state’s intestacy laws. In California, law dictates that a person’s assets be distributed, first, to the surviving spouse, or, if there is no spouse, split equally between the decedent’s surviving children.
At present, the court has granted her oldest son the role of “special administrator,” which means he can begin collecting and organizing his mother’s assets, but cannot distribute, transfer, or sell them. Tupper, however, has requested that court name a third-party professional fiduciary as the estate executor, claiming that Homer was estranged from Heche at the time of her death. Homer alleges that this is not true.
So, into a probate battle they’ll go. It will likely take the court 6-months to a year to name an executor for Heche’s estate, and—until then—Tupper and Laffoon will be in a holding pattern, unable to move forward. How could Heche have prevented her loved ones (and ex-loved ones) from getting dragged into such a stressful, time-consuming, and likely expensive probate face-off?
A legally-binding (and updated) will. All wills must be probated, so having a will wouldn’t have prevented the estate from going through the probate process. However, she would have named an executor who she trusted to distribute her assets per her wishes…and they would have known what those wishes were! The downside is that the probate process leaves room for creditors and predators to file claims against the estate, and it sounds like there are some predators at play in this case. Even if Heche had a will, chances are the probate process would become lengthy and ugly anyways.
A trust. We can assume that, in addition to significant financial assets, Heche probably also collects royalties from her many TV shows and films. Considering the additional probability that she held life insurance policies and investment accounts—and that she had two children, one of which was still a minor—her estate was probably an excellent candidate for a trust. By drafting and funding a trust, Heche could have bypassed the probate process altogether, and her assets would be distributed to whom she wanted, how she wanted.
If only Heche had worked with a qualified estate planning attorney and drafted a comprehensive plan, her estate wouldn’t be all over the news, her family wouldn’t be getting put through the wringer, and her legacy wouldn’t be tarnished by the chaos of what is sure to become an absolute probate nightmare.
If you’re like Heche (or 67% of Americans) and don’t have a will or trust in place, please contact the estate attorneys at Miller Estate & Elder Law today. You don’t need to be worth millions to need an estate plan. If you own anything at all, you have an estate that needs to be planned for. Don’t leave your family to battle it out in probate court after you die. Leave clear instructions, and a legacy of love.