Even fun loving Jimmy Buffett could not prevent a family fight over his fortune. While most hotly contested probate cases stem from a battle between a new wife and the descendant’s kids from a prior marriage, this one is more perplexing. Buffett’s long time wife, Jane, is in a fight with Buffett’s long time business manager over who should be in charge of administering his trust.
The Probate Process and Trust Basics
When assets are placed in a trust, they typically skip probate. Every trust has three parties: A settlor who creates the trust, a trustee who administers the trust, and beneficiaries. In this instance Jimmy Buffett was the settlor, Jane is a co-trustee with Buffett’s business manager, and Jane is also the sole beneficiary.
In Charleston, SC and Myrtle Beach, SC, the process is very similar to Florida where the Buffett trust is in litigation. Trusts skip probate, but they are litigation in probate court when there is an issue. The problem here arises because Jane and the business manager have had a falling out.
Unavoidable When Money is Involved
Money is a powerful tool for good, and bad. In this instance it’s tearing Buffett’s legacy down by creating legal battles over Buffett’s enormous estate.
Buffett’s eldest daughter is siding with the business manager over her mom, which is creating endless stress and drama for the family. When you have that kind of tension and a significant value, a legal dispute is likely.
In our practice, the bigger the estate, the bigger the fight. We’ve handled many cases between the kids from a former marriage and the new wife. Most often, the more money involved, the harder it is to resolve amicably.
If Jimmy Buffett, the king of laid back vibes, couldn’t figure out how to reduce family stress and fight over money, who can?
When to Hire a Lawyer
Everyone needs an estate plan. Most of the time it works, but sometimes as in Buffett’s case there is just too much money involved.
Lawyers come in all stripes. You need to find someone who fits your needs on the estate planning front. On the probate side, it’s not all litigation. We’ve had plenty of success working out resolutions without necessitating legal action. It’s much more difficult to negotiate a resolution without a lawyer because it’s usually too emotionally challenging and parties typically need to understand the strength of their legal case.
Unfortunately for Buffett, his best efforts didn’t prevent a legal fight. Most of the time that’s not true, and the case would be much worse if he had done nothing at all.
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