• 14
  • June
    2010

Florida estate planning attorneys are in frequent contact with survivors of people who died with no estate plan. These survivors need to make many decisions about their late loved-one's affairs, and do so at exactly the worst time to face important decisions. 

No situation exemplifies this dilemma better than survivors of servicepeople killed in the line of duty. People in the military are usually young and in good health, and have not made plans for the ending of their lives.

A recent article by the L.A. Times followed the problems of Wesley Bauguess after her husband Larry, an Army major, was killed in action in Pakistan. Suddenly she had to make potentially life-changing decisions: 

Such as, what to do about her husband's survivor benefits. In shock and grieving, she decided to receive the benefits in the names of her young daughters, aged 6 and 4.

Unfortunately, the consequence was that the children had to file tax returns. And pay a tax rate of 36 percent. In 1986, Congress passed a "kiddie tax" to prevent wealthy individuals from sheltering income under their children's names.

That tax is just one of the many hidden factors that surviving spouses must try to avoid, and do it at exactly the time they are under the most extreme stress.

The military has a checklist over fifty items long, including where to bury the deceased, how to retrieve personal effects, life insurance, taxes, Social Security benefits, children's college plans, probate issues, and more.

Military or civilian, it is always better to make plans ahead of time. Not in a rush and under stress.