Tom Clancy Estate In Family Fight Due To Poor Estate Planning

The following is an excerpt from an article entitled, " Tom Clancy Estate In Family Fight Due To Poor Estate Planning," published at the Probate Lawyer Blog:

The Tom Clancy Estate has been valued, based on probate court filings, at $82 million. It includes a $65 million ownership stake in the Baltimore Orioles, a rare, working World War II tank, a $7 million mansion overlooking the Chesapeake Bay, and more than $10 million in business interests based on his works.

Clancy left his mansion and another property to Alexandra, along with a Ritz-Carlton condo owned jointly by the married couple -- plus any other joint bank or investment accounts (which do not pass through probate and would not be public record).

The famed author wanted the rest of his estate divided between a series of trusts he created. His will specifies that one-third go to a trust for his wife, another one-third to a family trust (benefiting his wife and all of his children), and a final set of trusts for the four adult children from his first marriage, as well as grandchildren.

He also left a portion of the residue of his estate (it's unclear how much) to the Hopkins's Wilmer Eye Institute, which was founded based on a $2 million donation Clancy made in 2005, and where Clancy was treated for an eye disease.

Seems like he had his estate well planned, right? Unfortunately, his estate planning was not as thorough or well-thought-out as his meticulously-detailed novels.

Click here to read the rest of this interesting article.