EVERPLANS HELPS DELAWARE COUNTY WIDOW SAFELY TRANSFER LATE HUSBAND'S GUN COLLECTION

In 2018, a couple came into our office wanting to get an estate plan set up. Just 4 short years later, the husband passed away.

They weren’t wealthy, but they wanted to make sure their children were provided for when they passed away. With guidance from experienced estate planning attorney Greg DuPont, they decided to set up a family trust, a will, and advance directives.

One major reason why they wanted to create an estate plan was that the husband had a large gun collection. The wife knew very little about firearms and didn’t want to be responsible for them when he died. The husband wanted to be very careful that his collection was passed on to the right person at his death. He carefully vetted out his friends and found someone that would be as responsible with them as he was. Soon after his death, his gun collection was gone from the house. A very bittersweet moment for his wife.

His friends knew exactly what to do with his guns, and when to come get them, because he outlined specific steps in EverPlans. EverPlans is a software that we provide to all our estate planning clients. It’s an easy way to organize your documents and share them with those who need it. The couple was able to share the gun-specific part of the plan to their friends, the inheritance-specific part to their children, etc. Everyone had their own link.

When asked about how the original estate planning process went, the wife recalled that it afforded her to opportunity to have an open and honest conversation with her husband about what they wanted at death. With guidance from an expert attorney, they were able to keep emotions out of the conversation. They each wanted different things, and that was okay.

Because of the planning they had done together, the wife knew exactly what her husband wanted in his final days.

A week after her husband’s death, the wife came to us again asking, “What do I do now?”. Within just a few minutes of talking to Greg, she knew exactly how to wrap up her late husband’s estate. Now, she doesn’t have to go through the probate process. She has avoided a costly and prolonged estate administration.

So, what would have happened if this couple didn’t get draft an estate plan? There are a few possibilities. The wife likely wouldn’t have known what to do with her late husband’s guns. She could have unknowingly broken state or federal laws trying to distribute them. She also may not have known what her husband wanted in regard to his last days, like what medical treatment he wanted and didn’t want.

By creating an effective estate plan, and your beneficiaries will never have to wonder what you truly wanted. You can avoid probate costs, excessive taxes, and more hardship. Every adult needs to have an estate plan, no matter their net worth.

The estate planning attorneys at the Law Offices of DuPont and Blumenstiel are here to help you take some of the unknowns out of dying. If you’d like to get an estate plan set up, call us at 614-389-9711.