I once had someone tell me that they did their estate plan with an online service. They did everything except print and sign the documents. And, they didn’t realize that absent that last step, they had no estate plan!
A recent case in the Probate Court involved a decedent who had filled out the estate planning attorney’s questionnaire and sent it to her lawyer in an email with comments about the changes she wanted to make to her Trust. The decedent sent an email to her family outlining her wishes for how her assets would be distributed. However, all along, the communications with the decedent’s lawyer and her family referred to changes to the Trust that still needed to be written up.
Within days, before she could meet with the lawyer, the decedent had gone for surgery and sadly contracted an infection that resulted in her death shortly after. Formal changes to the decedent’s estate plan had not been written up or signed by the decedent before her death.
The decedent’s son petitioned the Court to determine that the decedent’s wishes documented in the questionnaire and her emails effectuated an enforceable amendment to the decedent’s Trust. The Court determined there was no valid amendment to the Trust. Neither the questionnaire nor the emails were properly signed. And because the questionnaire and emails indicated the decedent’s understanding and intent that there would be formal documents yet to be written up, the Court ruled against the argument that the questionnaire and emails themselves constituted a binding amendment to the Trust.
The case is a good reminder that filling out a questionnaire or putting your estate plan wishes in an email is not enough. A binding estate plan requires that appropriate documents be written up and properly signed.
Planning Ahead Column
By Lisa C. Alexander, Esq.
Lisa C. Alexander, Esq.
JAKLE, ALEXANDER & PATTON, LLP
Main Line: 310-395-6555
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