Philip Seymour Hoffman needed a trust - Maybe You Do Too

Philip Seymour Hoffman needed a trust - Maybe You Do Too

By Robert S. Meyring

March 2014

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Academy Award winner, recently died under questionable circumstances in New York City. He had three children and was not married to the mother of his children. He did have a will that was about 10 years old and drafted by a property lawyer. I did read that the net worth of Mr. Hoffman's estate is about $35 million currently, but that doesn't consider the royalties that will be earned in the years and decades after his death. Because Mr. Hoffman's estate will be earning money long after his death, it will be necessary for his surviving family to keep his estate open for years to come. Much like the estates of Martin Luther King Jr. or Elvis Presley, it's quite likely the estate will earn far more than the deceased ever did during their lifetime. 

If Mr. Hoffman had a trust, he would have been able to keep the handling of his estate private, but since he only had a will and that will was filed with the probate court (or Surrogate Court in New York) that will, and everything filed with it, is open to the public.

In addition to estate privacy and long term management, Mr. Hoffman would have also benefited from a Trust because the amount of estate tax that will be paid from his estate could have been reduced and the tax bill deferred. According to one report, it's likely that Hoffman's estate will end up paying up to $15 million in estate tax or "death" tax. The death tax bill in Hoffman's estate will be due near the time when his estate assets are delivered to his survivors.

A trust could have also guaranteed that Hoffman's children would receive specific portions of his estate and future royalties. Rather, one report stated that due to the way Hoffman's will was written, two of his three children could potentially be disinherited if the unmarried mother of his children remarries and her future husband disinherits her children. When Hoffman had his will drafted, he had only one child. If he had a trust he could have more easily updated his trust with the arrival of each child than he could have updated his will.

Trusts are not just for those who have millions in their estate. Most of my trust clients simply want to make the handling of their estate easier for their children and family. They also want control of their estate by keeping the trust private and the estate out of the probate court. Trusts can also help children preserve disability benefits, help family pass the business to the next generation, and help parents assert thrifty control over their surviving children. As trusts and estates attorneys, our job is to make trusts available and useful to help our clients achieve their planning goals.

Robert S. Meyring, of Meyring Law Firm offers complimentary phone consultations at 678-217-4369. The Meyring Law Firm is located 200 feet east of the railroad crossing on Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta. More information at www.MeyringLaw.com.