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Cannon Financial Institute

Don’t Hold a Steel Orb Outside in a Thunderstorm: Ways Clients Damage Their Estate Plan

An electrifying conversation with Cannon Executive Vice President and Personal Trust Curriculum Chair Daniel Smith

“Daniel! Wow. Congratulations on Winning the Alaskan Invitational Pétanque Tournament. Sort of like winning the Iditarod without the sled dogs.”

Daniel is nonchalant as usual. “Thank you. I found it less challenging than the alligator wrestling championship I won last year in Florida.”

When not engaged in his many other pursuits, Daniel serves as the Curriculum Chair for the Cannon Trust Schools because of his expertise in estate planning. I caught up with him at the Cannon Trust School in Hilton Head, SC. He had just delivered his new talk: “Don’t Hold a Steel Orb in Your Hand Outside in a Thunderstorm: Or Ways Clients Damage Their Estate Plans.”

 “Have a seat,” Daniel says, which I do with alacrity. We are in the Pirate’s Lounge overlooking the Atlantic. Immediately the waiter standing behind Daniel pours me a glass of vintage Côtes de Montravel, a delicate vin blanc from the département of Dordogne in Southern France.

The wine is complemented by smoked prosciutto on organic whole grain bread. Says Daniel, “it’s an amusing wine but not one to be taken too seriously. This vintage is appropriate because it has a hint of sweetness which balances the saltiness of the prosciutto.”  Cool.

“So, Daniel, what is, uh, you know Pétanque?”

 “First, and I don’t wish to come across as censorious, its pronounced ‘pay-tonk’ and not ‘peetank.’ It’s a form of outdoor bowling invented in the Aquitaine region of Southern France. You know, the area first ruled by Charles the Bald.”

I nod since I have no idea what he is talking about.

Daniel sips his wine.

“The game?”

“Yes, sorry. The game. Very exciting. The different players take turns rolling hollow steel orbs towards a wooden ball. You want to get as close as you can. The other team tries to get closer or to knock your ball out of the way.”

“And?”

“That’s it.”

Sounds as exciting as mowing the grass. “Since this is an outdoor sport, I guess you don’t play it in a thunderstorm because holding a steel orb would make you a magnet for lightning.”

“I don’t recommend it. In my talk, I use this as an example of mistakes people make in estate planning.”

“Holding a steel orb in the air?”

“No. Being struck by lightning. But I mean this as a metaphor. Often clients will be pre-occupied with events in their lives such as professional obligations, or sports, traveling, yacht racing, or hot air ballooning. When a life change occurs, they forget to change their estate plans.”

Daniel said such an event provides a perfect opportunity to have a serious discussion with your client about issues surrounding their wealth including testamentary dispositions. For instance, one of your UHNW clients has a child. “Obviously anyone who has a child must immediately make changes in their wills and trusts.”

“Wouldn’t clients do this immediately without prompting?”

“You would think so but Heath Ledger, for example, did not change his will after the birth of his daughter in 2003.”

Yikes. That guy had made a lot of money and residuals from his films will continue for decades.

Daniel takes a sip of his wine then says, “I’m never drinking this again. It’s too sweet.”

“Uh, Heath Ledger’s money… “

“Sorry. Under his will, everything went to his parents. This is said to have caused unhappy differences with others who had been prominent in his life, such as the mother of his child.”

I’m surprised by this. Someone like Heath Ledger would have had the best financial and legal advice money could buy. But Daniel pointed out that celebrities have to act on the advice given to them by their professional advisers.

“Some big stars die without having made any sort of last will and testament,” Daniel says, with Prince being a very recent example. “You can think of Prince’s lack of preparation as a lightning strike on his entire estate. Lawyers will be busy for years sorting out his financial affairs.”    

“What else can cause a damaging lightning strike to a client’s estate plan?”

“A classic mistake which attracts lightning like a cell tower is having a will drafted by someone who doesn’t know what they are doing such as The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.”

“She’s an attorney?”

“No. I mean the author, Steig Larrson. He wrote his own will which the courts held invalid.”

“Drafting your own will seems foolish.”

“True enough,” Daniel says, “but even the most brilliant people do it including George Washington.”

“Washington?”

“Yes. He drafted his own will and did it so poorly it took forty-seven years to go through probate.”        

Yikes. The Father of our County. Who would have thought?

“One last question, Daniel. If you are in the middle of a game of Pétanque and a lightning storm rolls in, you do stop playing, don’t you? I mean you don’t want to be standing outside in a thunderstorm holding a metal orb.”

“No, you don’t, but recently one player did, and a lightning strike killed him which is why I use this as a metaphor.”

“Who?”

“A guy in the Alaskan Invitational Tournament I just won. He was the best player in the world, but I was ahead of him by a few points. Because he was determined to beat me— which he would have anyway—he kept playing while the rest of us ran back to the clubhouse. That’s how I won the tournament.

“Did he have a will?”

“No.”

“Thank you, Daniel!”

 

To learn more about this topic, register for our  Cannon Trust I program.

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Contributing Writer: Subject Matter Expert Charles McCain