Brian O’Connell: Common Estate Administration Errors to Avoid

Brian O’Connell is a respected and reputable West Palm Beach Estate Litigation and Trust Lawyer. He is an attorney and expert in estate planning and administration, probate, and estate trial litigation. He and his firm, Ciklin Lubitz & O’Connell West Palm Beach, have developed a winning reputation for protecting the rights of estate owners and their families over the years. We met with Brian O’Connell to discuss his insights on some of the most common and damaging estate administration errors that he encounters on a regular basis. He says most people hold many misconceptions about these complicated matters. Here’s what we learned.

 

Brian O’Connell Estate Trial Lawyer West Palm Beach: on Common Estate Administration Errors

In an earlier conversation with Brian O’Connell estate trial lawyer Palm Beach, he explained that many people have misconceptions about estate trusts that lead them to either forgo a valuable legal service that can save their family and loved ones a great deal of money and hardship. Naturally, with such misconceptions come serious potential errors in the drafting and execution of such arrangements.

 

Chief among these, Brian O’Connell says, is a failure to understand the plan. He explains that even well-educated and wealthy clients sometimes become passive when they meet with their estate planner. When this happens, they often let the estate planner make all the decisions for them. This often leads to outcomes the estate owners or the family of the owner do not want or agree with. To avoid this, he advises his clients to listen actively and to not accept any planning detail that is not in their best interests.

 

Brian O’Connell told us that outdated beneficiary designs are another common misstep. Many rulings and cases involve defunct or out of fashion beneficiary designs. He advises his clients to understand that what a Will says does not always affect who inherits some assets. Also, beneficiary designs should be updated when the law changes, Brian O’Connell says.

 

Finally, Brian O’Connell explains the importance of funding revocable trusts. Many estates, he explains, include revocable trusts. These trusts own assets that can avoid probate and can be helpful in the planning of disability issues. They are not created to save on taxes. In many cases, estate owners skip this step and fail to transfer legal assets to the trust.

 

Brian O’Connell Estate Trial Lawyer Palm Beach 

Of course, as a respected Estate Litigation and Trust Lawyer, Brian O’Connell understands these common missteps well. Oftentimes, he is able to set estate owners and their families’ minds at ease by clarifying these misapprehensions about trusts and estate law. He has saved his clients millions of dollars in errors where things might have otherwise gone badly awry.