Celebrities Update Their Estate Plans Too

I’m sure everyone knows who Britney Spears is.  She is a famous pop star, has a Vegas Residency that rakes in millions of dollars?  Sound familiar??

Ms. Spears had an estate plan prepared for her a long time ago.  She probably has managers and attorneys who drafted legal docs before she ever got married or had kids.  It was recently in the news that she is making changes.  Her Will and other docs were written a while ago and now need a tune-up.  She has two boys, who will soon be teenagers.

Previously, Ms. Spear’s estate plan stated that when she passes her children would inherit everything.  That’s pretty standard in estate planning documents.

The issue with a Will or estate docs that were drafted a long time ago is that they can become outdated.  In the case of Ms. Spears her documents were drafted and didn’t include any distribution stipulations for a child’s inheritance, should she have any.  Now she has two sons, Sean and Jayden, who would inherit her entire fortune.  Ms. Spears net worth is around 200 million dollars.  Its not the wisest decision to open the vault to 18-year-olds all at once.

It has been said that her new estate plan has a trust for the boys.  This trust gives them limited access at 18, and then they get more access at 25.  They will get access to the entire fortune at the age of 35.

Due to the fact Ms. Spears has a conservatorship over her these change must be approved by a judge, but it is doubtful there will be any problems.  This estate plan sounds like a wise decision.

Money will be held in the Trust for the boy’s health, education, maintenance, welfare and support.  A trustee will be in charge of distributing funds and will be held accountable if they do not handle the money appropriately.

We have written these stipulations into many of our trusts. It is not uncommon for a parent to hold money in Trust for the well being of a child or even a grandchild.  The age parameters are different.  Some parents even require a certain level of education be completed in order to receive their inheritance.

If you are interested in more information or if you haven’t updated your estate plan in a while and would like to make changes, give our office a call  818.887.9401.