LITIGATION

Ambrose Bierce, who wrote "The Devil's Dictionary", did not like lawyers. (He did not seem to like anyone, for that matter.) He defined litigation as "a machine into which you go in as a pig and come out as a sausage."

Litigation is very often interesting. It is an excuse to get out of the office, and you get to stand up in court and say things like "May it please the court ..." even if it is very likely that what you are about to say is not going to please the judge at all.

Litigation is also very hard work. For every hour a lawyer spends in the courtroom, he spends five or ten hours in preparation. For this reason, litigation is expensive.

I just finished trying a case involving a dispute over what a will meant. Did the gift of a home include the adjoining lot, or did the lot pass, as part of the residue, to other beneficiaries? These cases are particularly difficult because the person who knew most what the will was meant to say is deceased.

You can prevent problems by looking at your will periodically - say on your birthday. When you review your will, ask a lot of questions. Could anyone reading your will possibly misunderstand what you intend?

Have you acquired more assets since the will was signed? Are your beneficiaries still the same? If your assets are less, do you have some beneficiaries who should be preferred over others? Do you have an extra parcel of land somewhere? Do you have a bank account in another state? What about your safe deposit box? What are the PIN numbers needed to access any on-line records?

Are any brokerage accounts POD (payable on death) to particular beneficiaries, and are these consistent with your will? Do you want any taxes to be borne by the designated beneficiaries, or should they come out of residue? If a child dies before you, should his or her interest go to his or her children?

If you make sure that these questions are answered in your estate plan then your heirs will not have to try to resolve them later. We will be happy to look at your estate plan with you, and make sure that it does what you wish.