Advice for Same-Sex Couples After the Supreme Court's Ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges Ruling

Obergefell v.Hodges, the Supreme Court’s ruling making same-sex marriages legal in all 50 states, has major estate planning implications for same-sex couples. The Court held that same-sex married couples are entitled to equal protection under the laws and that their marriages must be recognized nationwide.  Same-sex couples must continue to be proactive in their estate planning, taking control of their will and trust planning and clearly setting forth their wishes in enforceable legal documents. Specifically, they should:  

Express their wishes concerning their medical care during periods of incapacity, through durable powers of attorney
Structure the distribution of their property — ideally in protective trusts — for the benefit of their surviving spouse and children after death
Establish trusts to preserve privacy and to avoid the delay and expense of guardianship or probate proceedings during incapacity and after death
Provide legal mechanisms that allow flexibility in administering those trusts to account for changes in the law or in beneficiary circumstances after death
Provide clarity and discretion to a trustee to make strategic tax decisions through trust administration after death (through various investment powers, and accounting and tax provisions)
Provide for family members other than a spouse or child through their estate plans
Make gifts to religious or other charitable organizations through their estates
Allow orderly operation and transition of businesses or professional practices through incapacity or death
But even though same-sex married couples are now entitled to equal protection under the laws of every state, the strength of those laws in ensuring dignity in disability and death and orderly and structured distribution of property after death is very limited for all couples.   Families (same-sex and otherwise) should always take control of their planning and leave as little to state law interpretation as possible. That is best done through careful planning with experienced professionals at Thomas Walters who can intelligently guide the family through the process.

Can Annie Get Your Gun? Important steps to take when including guns in your will or trust

Gun Trusts and Texas Gun Laws

A client came to see me last week and he was a collector of guns.  He had spent his life learning about and collecting very special firearms and wanted to pass his love of guns and his lifelong pursuit of collectable guns to his children.  While I often receive similar requests from my clients about family jewelry or other heirlooms, I had not considered the implications of a client wanting to give their gun collection to the children as part of their will or trust.  It occurred to me that this may be more complicated than giving your daughter your wedding china or giving your son your collection of tools. 

There are lots of laws which effect, restrict, limit and guide the ownership of guns.  Some guns require very specific ownership and are carefully monitored by the Federal Government.  In the case of my client he was a collector of antique machine guns from various wars.  He took great pride in the fact that he had carefully researched and chosen each firearm and that he had repaired them and now maintained them each in perfect working order.  But the National Firearms Act is very specific and carries with it heavy penalties for illegally owning certain types of guns, like those owned by my client.

In order to transfer the ownership of his guns, he needed something called a gun trust which would allow for the legal possession and transfer of his guns to his family members upon his death.  

In order to meet his goals and needs for the transfer of his firearms to his children, we worked together to create a separate trust, called a gun trust, to protect, preserve and pass the ownership of his special and unique gun collection. 

It is important to consult with a knowledgeable estate planning attorney no matter what your goals and needs might be, but sometimes, not consulting with an attorney can have very severe consequences, like passing along not just your possessions to your family members, but a harsh federal penalty as well for not doing it right.