By: Attorney Suzanne R. Sayward

1.      Elvis Presley.  Despite his wild ways during his lifetime, the King of Rock n' Roll was all about taking care of his family in his Will.  He directs his Trustees to use so much of the income and principal for the: 

"health, education, support, comfortable maintenance and welfare of: (1) my daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, and any other lawful issue I might have, (2) my grandmother, Minnie Mae Presley, (3) my father, Vernon E. Presley, and (4) such other relatives of mine living at the time of my death who in the absolute discretion of my Trustees are in need of emergency assistance for any of the above mentioned purposes..."

Elvis's Will went on to provide that following the death of his father and grandmother, his estate should be distributed outright to Lisa Marie once she reached age 25.  Elvis signed his Will in March of 1977 and died in August of that year when Lisa Marie was nine years old.  One estimate valued the King's estate at $300 million - nice birthday present for a 25 year old!

2.      Michael Jackson.  It seems fitting to follow the King of Rock n' Roll with the King of Pop.  Michael Jackson, who was briefly married to Lisa Marie Presley (his first marriage, her second marriage), died in 2009 at the age of 50 and was survived by his three minor children.  His Will is really quite simple (5 pages) because he leaves his entire estate to a separate Trust.  Now for most people, creating an 'inter vivos' or "living" trust means that the distribution provisions of their estate remain private.  However, given Michael Jackson's celebrated status, of course his Trust has found its way into the public venue.  The terms of the Trust direct that 20 percent of the estate be used for charitable purposes to help children.  The remaining 80 percent is distributed equally between a trust share for his children and a trust share for the benefit of his mother.  Michael either had less confidence in the ability of young people to handle a large inheritance or was the recipient of better legal advice than Elvis.  The Jackson children will be entitled to receive their shares from the Trust in a structured distribution at ages 30, 35 and 40.  One other item of note regarding Michael Jackson's Will: he designated Diana Ross as the alternate guardian of his minor children to serve if his mother could not.

3.      Leona Helmsley.   Having looked at two kings, let's move on to a queen, specifically Leona Helmsley, known as the Queen of Mean.  Ms. Helmsley was known for many acts of infamy during her lifetime, but she may be best remembered for leaving $12 million to a trust for the benefit of her dog, Trouble.  In keeping with her reputation for being nasty during her lifetime, she disinherited two of her grandchildren (Craig and Meegan).  She created trusts for the benefit of her other two grandchildren (David and Walter), but stipulated that distributions from the trust shares were conditional upon their visiting the grave of their father at least once per year.  Failure to do so would cause them to forfeit their share.  She even directed that a guest book be left at the family mausoleum and that David and Walter sign the book to evidence their visits.  Talk about exerting control from the grave!

4.      Princess Diana.  Yet another royal on our list, Princess Diana, died tragically in a car accident on August 31, 1997, at the age of 36.  At the time of her death, she had been divorced from Prince Charles for one year and three days.  She left behind her two young sons, Prince William, then age 15, and Prince Harry who was 12.  Princess Di's Will left her estate equally to her sons, in trust should they be under the age of 25 at the time of her death.  Following her death, Diana's mother and sister as the executors of her Will sought and obtained an order from the court increasing the age at which Prince William and Prince Harry would be entitled to receive their inheritance from age 25 to age 30. When Prince William received his inheritance last June, it was estimated to be valued at $16 million U.S. dollars.

5.      Marilyn Monroe.  Marilyn Monroe, nee Norma Jeane Mortenson a/k/a Baker, died from a drug overdose in August of 1962 at the age of 36.  Despite her relatively short life she made quite an impression on Hollywood and movie-goers all over the world.  She also managed to acquire and dispose of three husbands during her lifetime, but never had children.  Ms. Monroe signed her Last Will and Testament in January, 1961.  She left money to care for her mother, a bequest to her half-sister, and money to a few friends.  The residue of her estate was left 25 percent to her secretary, 25 percent to her psychiatrist, and 50 percent to her mentor Lee Strasberg.  Not surprisingly, controversy and delay ensued.  In September 2008 the United States District Court of New York issued the final ruling determining Marilyn Monroe's residency at the time of her death, and in 2010 her home was sold - almost 50 years after her death.  By the way, in 1947, Marilyn Monroe was crowned the first Queen of the Artichokes in Castroville, California, known as the artichoke capital of the world. 

 By: Attorney Maria C. Baler

 As the summer draws to a close and many of our clients' children head back to college or away from home, we thought it would be a good time to remind families of the importance of certain legal documents that allow a parent to obtain information and assist a child in the event of an unexpected financial or health care crisis.

When a child turns 18 he or she is an adult in the eyes of the laws.  As a result, parents no longer have the legal authority to make decisions on a child's behalf, or to obtain information about a child's medical condition, without authority or permission to do so. If your child would want you to assist with financial or health care decision-making if he or she became incapacitated, or would want you to be able to speak to a health care professional about his or her medical condition if your child became ill, your child must sign a power of attorney, health care proxy and HIPAA Authorization in order to give you that authority. 

Durable Power of Attorney - This is the document used to designate a person who can legally act on your behalf.  A Durable Power of Attorney signed by a child granting one or both parents legal authority to act on the child's behalf allows parents to deal with banking snafus, tax issues, and obtain access to credit card information and bank accounts.

Health Care Proxy - A Health Care Proxy appoints an individual who will make health care decisions for you in the event you are not able to do so for yourself.  If a child signs a Health Care Proxy naming a parent as their health care agent, the parent will be able to obtain information about and make decisions for an adult child who has a serious health issue.

HIPAA Authorization - Because a Health Care Proxy is only effective when a physician determines that a person is not able to make or communicate health care decisions for himself or herself, it is also important to have in place a HIPAA Authorization form.  HIPAA is the federal privacy law that imposes fines on medical caregivers who share information about a patient without permission.  This means if your adult child is in the hospital or the infirmary at college, you as the parent will not be able to obtain information about your child's situation unless you have written authority to do so.  A HIPAA Authorization form signed by the child would give parents that authority.

FERPA Authorization - In addition to the federal law which protects health care information, the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) precludes colleges from sharing any information about a child's financial or academic records with the parent without written authorization from the student to do so. Many colleges offer a form that students can sign authorizing parents to obtain this type of information.

We encourage you to discuss these matters with your child.  If your child would like to create one or more of these documents, please have your child call Grace Pena at our office at 781-461-1020 or send an email to Grace at pena@ssbllc.com.  One of the attorneys at Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC will speak with your child to collect some basic information, discuss attorney/client representation, and obtain instructions for the documents.  We can then prepare the documents and make arrangements to have them signed.  As an incentive to undertake this important planning, Samuel, Sayward & Baler LLC is offering to prepare these documents (other than the FERPA Authorization which is obtained from the college) at a reduced flat fee of $500 through September 30, 2013 (usually $725). 

Samuel Financial, Inc. is located at 858 Washington St. Dedham, MA 02026 and can be reached at (781)461-6886.  Securities and advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network, member FINRA/SIPC, a registered investment adviser. www.samuelfinancial.com

Staff News

Congratulations to our legal assistant Jennifer Poles (formerly Harlow) on her wedding to Michael Poles earlier this month!!